Culinary Manager

We are seeking a Culinary Manager (CM) to lead the kitchen operations at MAKE Café, a farm-to-table café with global flavors. The CM blends culinary excellence, operational oversight, and workforce development. You will be responsible for menu creation, food quality, and kitchen efficiency, while training/coaching participants working in the kitchen. You will partner with the Executive Director (ED) on the restaurant concept, values and vision, and the Restaurant Manager (RM) to ensure a profitable, high-quality dining experience.

MAKE stands for Merging Agriculture Kitchens and Employment. Our social enterprise restaurant and urban farm located in San Diego provides an exciting learning platform for our participants to gain critical social, communication and job readiness skills. We operate an urban farm and cafe to provide a paid, real-world work experience for low-income refugee and immigrant women and youth. Our vision at MAKE Projects is to see San Diegans cross social, racial, economic, and geographic lines as we gather over a common love of food, flavors, and culture.

We believe in the power of food to bring diverse populations together, unite a community, and educate each other about our history and differences, as well as our commonalities.

Job Title:
Culinary Manager

Full-time, Salaried in San Diego

About MAKE Projects:

MAKE Projects is a social enterprise that operates a global-inspired, locally-sourced café while providing hands-on culinary and hospitality training to participants in our programs. Our mission is to combine exceptional food with meaningful workforce development, creating opportunities for participants to grow skills, confidence, and professional experience.

Position Overview:

We are seeking a Culinary Manager (CM) to lead the kitchen operations at MAKE Café, a farm-to-table café with global flavors. The CM blends culinary excellence, operational oversight, and workforce development. You will be responsible for menu creation, food quality, and kitchen efficiency, while training/coaching participants working in the kitchen. You will partner with the Executive Director (ED) on the restaurant concept, values and vision, and the Restaurant Manager (RM) to ensure a profitable, high-quality dining experience.

Job Responsibilities:

• Set BOH standards and collaborate with ED, RM and MAKE advisors to develop training programs to ensure service excellence
• Write daily log posts and properly address all service or personnel issues
• Be on site for service five days a week to ensure employee development and service standards are being met
• Customer Relations: work with FOH management to maintain high levels of customer satisfaction by addressing customer complaints or concerns promptly and professionally and implementing strategies to enhance the overall dining experience
• Be able to quickly and directly communicate a comprehensive knowledge of MAKE values, policies and standards
• Mentor and provide regular performance feedback to BOH crew
• Partner with Human Resources + ED regarding team member coaching and development strategies
• Assist ED with recruiting and ensure best practices are used to build a strong team
• Work with Human Resources to follow company practices, including delivering regular feedback, course correcting and enforcing policies
• Maintain a culture of accountability with staff when performance expectations are not met, including delivering disciplinary action when necessary

Operational Leadership

• Oversee day-to-day BOH operations to ensure smooth functioning of the restaurant
• Ensure proper training of BOH crew by following company training manuals
• Work with ED to set and ensure staffing, COGS and operational budgets, and support site management to operate within them
• Work with ED, RM and Farm & Gardens Manager to ensure menu items are in line with company values and site themes
• Ensure staff is following SOPs for stocking, rotating and storing of product, inventory, and ordering
• Ensure proper equipment and facilities maintenance schedule
• Ensure staff maintains a clean, safe and organized workplace
• Uphold all health and safety regulations in the kitchen and all…