Kitchen Lead

The hiring establishment is a bustling family amusement park known for its vibrant atmosphere, engaging attractions, and excellent food and beverage offerings. Within this lively environment lies a fast-paced restaurant and cafe that serves a diverse and dynamic flow of guests year-round. The amusement park combines entertainment, leisure, and culinary experiences to cater to families and visitors seeking both fun and quality dining. This restaurant and cafe operates year-round, welcoming visitors throughout the seasons, with high attendance during peak times such as weekends, holidays, and special events. The company values a positive, energetic team environment and is dedicated to maintaining high standards of food quality, safety, and guest satisfaction while managing fast service speed and operational consistency.

The role on offer is for a Kitchen Lead, a full-time, year-round position essential to back-of-house operations. Reporting directly to the Food & Beverage Manager and the Executive Manager, the Kitchen Lead plays a pivotal role in overseeing the daily kitchen activities and ensuring smooth workflow and high-quality food preparation. The position demands flexibility and availability during weekdays and weekends, including holidays and peak attendance periods. This role is perfect for an individual with leadership experience in a kitchen setting, who thrives in a high-volume, fast-paced environment and has a strong commitment to food safety and sanitation.

As a Kitchen Lead, the candidate will be responsible for hands-on food preparation, managing line execution, and guiding kitchen staff. The responsibilities extend beyond routine cooking duties to include motivating and mentoring a diverse team composed of permanent and seasonal employees. The Kitchen Lead will take a proactive role in training and supervising staff, assigning daily tasks, and ensuring appropriate staffing levels to meet operational demands. Attention to detail is essential, as this role includes monitoring food quality, portion sizes, presentation consistency, and adherence to standardized recipes. The Kitchen Lead also plays a critical part in supporting guest satisfaction by maintaining excellent operational standards during busy rushes and slower off-seasons, helping adapt food preparation based on fluctuating attendance and seasonal patterns.

In addition to direct kitchen supervision, the Kitchen Lead is entrusted with key roles in food safety and sanitation compliance, ensuring all health codes and park policies are strictly followed. This includes overseeing cleaning schedules, temperature logs, and safe food handling practices while keeping workstations organized and equipment properly maintained. The Kitchen Lead also assists with inventory management duties such as stock counts, rotation practices like FIFO (First In, First Out), and communicating product needs to management to avoid shortages. This role requires high-level communication skills, multitasking capabilities, and the stamina to stand for long periods and lift weights up to 40 lbs.

The Kitchen Lead is integral to the administrative and operational support of the kitchen, contributing to scheduling, labor management, and documenting training. The role encourages continuous improvement initiatives in kitchen efficiency, menu execution, and staff development, ensuring the restaurant remains a favorite dining destination within the amusement park. This position offers a unique opportunity for culinary professionals who seek to cultivate leadership skills, advance their careers in the food service industry, and engage in a family-friendly, fast-paced environment with diverse challenges and rewards.