About the Role

The Assistant Kitchen  Manager is responsible for overseeing the smooth operation of kitchen functions within the school feeding program. This role involves developing and maintaining standard equipment requirements, controlling and tracking inventory movements, ensuring adherence to health and safety standards, and liaising with stakeholders to secure program buy-in. They will also manage stock and inventory, prepare budgets, update operational dashboards, and provide training and mentorship to staff. The goal is to ensure efficient kitchen operations, accurate data management, and successful program scalability.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Kitchen Management

• Oversee all functions within the kitchens, ensuring smooth operation and adherence to standards.
• Develop and maintain a list of standard equipment requirements across kitchens, facilitate the acquisition, distribution, and monitor maintenance and replacements of kitchen equipment to enhance smooth feeding processes.
• Control and track inventory movements from the warehouse to the dukas and across all kitchens, maintaining proper documentation.
• Conduct monthly stock takes and manage inventory at the duka level, ensuring accurate documentation and systematic delivery to schools.
• Calculate the monthly cost per meal for each kitchen to analyze trends and ensure the cost per meal (CPM) aligns with the organization’s budget.
• Prepare and manage weekly petty cash budgets and requisitions.
• Update operational and financial dashboards for reconciliations, providing daily updates with accurate information.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

• Develop and enhance existing Standard Operating Procedures, ensuring all kitchens/production centers and staff meet minimum health and safety requirements.
• Monitor and enforce adherence to standard operating procedures by staff members across all production centers.
• Address all food safety concerns that may arise while maintaining documentation.
• Conduct spot checks in the kitchen/production centers to ensure all procedures are being followed.

Stakeholder Engagement and Community Liaison

• Scout different schools within a region to develop a database for scalability.
• Liaise with the community team to hold stakeholder meetings, obtaining buy-in from headteachers for the school feeding program.
• Maintain good relations with stakeholders and promptly address any issues that arise.

Stock and Inventory Management

• Make monthly projections for all required items for all schools and share requisitions with relevant departments.
• Maintain records of stock movement from the warehouse to the duka and kitchen levels.
• Track stock movements and vegetable inventory per kitchen in liaison with the Program Associate to ensure minimal wastage.
• Monitor daily projections, consumption, and stock management using AppSheet and ensure the data is up to date and accurate.
• Conduct monthly stock takes and update stock movement analysis to guide inventory movements to ensure minimal waste.
• Ensure data accuracy and prompt updates in reports by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing information and trends on projected meals per day, daily consumption, penetration rates, and utilization rates.

People Management and Capacity Building

• Vet new staff recommendations, follow through on hiring, and ensure they have necessary health certifications.
• Organize training, refresher courses, and mentorship on data accuracy and operational excellence.
• Maintain an updated staff database and ensure any changes are confirmed through the people team.
• Monitor the utilization of AppSheet by cooks, ensuring data is accurate and promptly updated.

Desired Candidate Profile

• Bachelor’s degree in Food and Beverage Management, Nutrition, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Minimum of 1 year of experience in kitchen operations management, preferably in a large-scale or institutional setting.
• Proven experience in inventory management and cost control.
• Strong understanding of food safety standards and best practices.
• Excellent project management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Proficiency in using digital tools for data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Flexibility to travel to different kitchen locations as required.