Kitchen manager

We’re looking for an experienced Kitchen Manager to take ownership of our busy Tweed Heads kitchen and lead our BOH team.

Next Door is a high-volume café with a fast-paced breakfast and lunch service. We’re looking for someone who loves being on the tools, but also understands that running a great kitchen is about much more than cooking.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who can run service, lead and develop a team, manage prep and stock, control wages and COGS, and keep a busy kitchen organised and operating consistently.

Most importantly, we want someone who genuinely enjoys building a strong kitchen and making it run well.

You'll take responsibility for the day-to-day operation and performance of the Tweed kitchen, including:

• Leading the kitchen team during service

• Running fast, organised breakfast and lunch services

• Maintaining food quality, consistency and presentation

• Managing kitchen prep and production

• Managing ordering, stock levels and deliveries

• Monitoring food waste and COGS

• Managing kitchen labour and roster efficiency

• Building and maintaining the kitchen roster

• Training, developing and supporting BOH team members

• Managing staff performance and maintaining clear standards

• Ensuring food safety, cleanliness and kitchen organisation

• Making sure recipes, prep and procedures are followed consistently

• Working closely with our FOH Manager and ownership team

• Identifying operational problems and helping improve efficiency

Next Door is a systems-driven business.

We use platforms including Restoke and Deputy to manage recipes, prep, procedures, rostering and daily operations.

We absolutely want someone who brings experience and ideas to the table, but we're not looking for someone who comes in and changes everything overnight.

You'll first spend time learning the Next Door way, our menu, kitchen, service, systems and team.

Once you've completed your training period and understand the operation, you'll take increasing ownership of the kitchen and work with us to continually make it better.

If something needs changing, we discuss it, test it, document it and update the system so the whole team is working the same way.

You might currently be a:

Kitchen Manager / Head Chef / Sous Chef / Senior Chef

and ready to take ownership of your own kitchen.

We're looking for someone who:

• Has strong high-volume kitchen experience

• Is confident leading a team

• Can stay calm and organised during busy services

• Is fast and efficient on the tools

• Understands COGS, stock, waste and labour

• Can delegate rather than trying to do everything themselves

• Communicates clearly and respectfully

• Holds people accountable while still building a great team culture

• Is organised and comfortable using systems & tech

• Can follow established procedures

• Is reliable and consistent

• Wants to grow with a business long term

Experience in a busy breakfast/brunch café would be an advantage.

We're not looking for an old-school kitchen environment built around ego, yelling or chaos.

We want a kitchen that is fast, calm, organised and consistent.

Our Kitchen Manager needs to be someone the team respects, enjoys working with and can learn from.

This isn't just another chef position.

We're building the management structure around Next Door so the business can continue to grow, and we're looking for someone who wants to become an important part of that.

You'll have a clearly defined training period where you'll learn the operation before being expected to take full ownership.

From there, the goal is for you to genuinely own the day-to-day running of the kitchen — your team, service, standards, labour, COGS and performance.

For the right person, there is plenty of opportunity to grow as Next Door grows.

This position will initially commence on a casual basis at Level 4 under the Restaurant Industry Award, while you complete our Kitchen Manager onboarding and training period.

During this time, you’ll learn the Next Door kitchen, service, systems and standards before progressively taking on greater leadership and management responsibilities.

• Approximately 30–38 hours per week during training

• Weekend availability required

• Casual Award rates + applicable penalties

• Structured Kitchen Manager training and sign-off

For the right person, our intention is to progress the role into a full-time salaried Kitchen Manager position following successful completion of training and sign-off. This will be discussed further during your interview.

We’re looking for someone who ultimately wants to take genuine ownership of the kitchen, leading the team, running service, managing labour, stock, COGS and standards, and proactively solving day-to-day operations.

If you're an experienced chef or kitchen leader who loves busy service, strong systems and building great teams, we'd love to meet you.

Apply with your resume and a little about yourself, your current role and what you're looking for next.