Divisional Culinary Operations Manager

Work and Perks

POSITION SUMMARY

The Culinary Operations Manager serves as a hands-on expert and field leader responsible for elevating food quality and execution across multiple restaurants within a division. This position bridges culinary standards, training, and operational execution, ensuring that every kitchen delivers consistent, brand-standard food. As a key member of the Operations Excellence Team, the Culinary Operations Manager partners directly with DVPs, Directors of Operations, General Managers, Kitchen Managers, and hourly BOH (Back-of-the-House) teams to assess performance, implement best practices, coach behaviors, and drive continuous improvement.

This role requires a blend of culinary skill, operational acumen, leadership presence, and analytical thinking — all aimed at improving Guest satisfaction, reducing waste, and achieving measurable gains in food quality scores and cost performance.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS &

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Operational Execution & Quality Improvement
  • Conduct in-restaurant culinary audits to assess adherence to recipes, prep systems, cook times, portioning, and plating standards.
  • Identify and resolve execution gaps that impact food quality, temperature, presentation, and timing.
  • Partner with operations and culinary leadership to implement corrective action plans and track progress.
  • Ensure all restaurants follow current menu specifications, recipe builds, and kitchen systems consistently.
• Food Safety & Compliance
  • Ensure all restaurants maintain compliance with federal, state, and local food safety regulations, as well as brand standards for sanitation and cleanliness.
  • Conduct food safety and sanitation audits during market visits, verifying proper food handling, storage, labeling, and temperature control procedures.
  • Coach Kitchen Managers and BOH Teams on best practices for preventing cross-contamination, managing allergen awareness, and maintaining safe prep and holding conditions.
  • Partner with Operations and Training teams to ensure all Team Members maintain current food safety certifications and understand safe food handling expectations.
  • Monitor corrective actions following food safety audits, supporting restaurants in developing and sustaining long-term compliance behaviors.
  • Serve as a field subject-matter expert on foodborne illness prevention, sanitation systems, and health department readiness.
  • Continuously assess and communicate opportunities to strengthen food safety programs, training materials, and operational processes to leadership.
• Training & Coaching
  • Deliver hands-on, in-market culinary training to kitchen managers and hourly Team Members.
  • Reinforce brand culinary standards through side-by-side coaching, demonstrating proper techniques and reinforcing best practices.
  • Maintains a leadership presence in assigned restaurants to validate the proper execution of all training programs and rollouts, and ensures training environments are both positive and safe.
  • Develops Kitchen Managers and Lead Head Coaches (Manager) to assist with consistency and follow-up of BOH training programs in restaurants.
  • Partners with restaurant managers and Directors, Operations on identifying & certifying new restaurant BOH hourly Head Coaches and regional Lead Head Coaches.
  • Support new menu rollouts by preparing teams to execute new items flawlessly.
  • Act as an on-site resource for culinary problem-solving, offering guidance on prep efficiency, station organization, and food flow.
• New Restaurant Openings & Market Support
  • Serve as the culinary training lead for new restaurant openings within assigned markets, ensuring new teams are fully prepared to meet brand standards from day one.
  • Coordinate and deliver opening kitchen training, including recipe execution, prep systems, food safety, and line setup.
  • Partner with Operations and Training teams to ensure seamless handoff between opening and sustaining phases.
  • Audit food quality and kitchen performance during and post-opening to identify early opportunities for improvement.
  • Provide feedback to the Senior Manager of Culinary and Training teams to continuously enhance the new restaurant opening (NRO) culinary…