Kitchen Manager

Delivery Hero SE; Dubai; On-site; AED 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

talabat is seeking a Kitchens Manager to lead a cluster of cloud kitchens, optimize financial performance, and maintain high operational standards across sites. You will manage frontline supervisors and dispatchers, build strong partner relationships with restaurant brands, ensure strict food safety, and drive KPIs with cross-functional teams to deliver seamless service.

This role demands strategic thinking, hands-on leadership in fast-paced environments, and a proven ability to balance cost

Qualifications

• Experience in managing quick service restaurants or cloud kitchen operations.
• Proven track record of high-volume kitchen operations, cost control and productivity improvements.
• Strong leadership of frontline teams and shift planning.
• Ability to drive performance metrics and governance across locations.
• Understanding of restaurant P&L and revenue optimization.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day operations across multiple kitchen sites ensuring speed and quality.
• Own cluster P&L and drive cost savings and revenue opportunities.
• Lead and develop supervisors and dispatchers across locations.
• Manage partner relationships with restaurant brands in the cluster.
• Enforce food safety and regulatory compliance; coordinate with HSE teams.
• Track performance metrics and implement corrective actions.

Skills

Cloud kitchens

P&L management

Team leadership

Stakeholder management

Food safety compliance

Operational excellence

Multi-site operations

Tools

Excel

AI tools

Looker

Tableau

Job description

Company Description

Since launching in Kuwait in 2004, talabat, the leading on-demand food and Q-commerce app for everyday deliveries, has been offering convenience and reliability to its customers. talabat's local roots run deep, offering a real understanding of the needs of the communities we serve in eight countries across the region.

We harness innovative technology and knowledge to simplify everyday life for our customers, optimize operations for our restaurants and local shops, and provide our riders with reliable earning opportunities daily. Here at talabat, we are building a high performance culture through engaged workforce and growing talent density. We're all about keeping it real and making a difference. Our 6,000+ strong talabaty are on an awesome mission to spread positive vibes. We are proud to be a multi great place to work award winner.

Job Description

As a Kitchens Manager, you will be responsible for leading and overseeing a cluster of cloud kitchens, optimizing their financial performance, managing high-intensity day-to-day operations, and maintaining excellent relationship metrics with restaurant partners. Your main objective is to lead a dedicated frontline operational team to ensure seamless service delivery while maintaining rigorous food safety and operational standards.

Core Responsibilities

• Cluster Management & Day-to-Day Operations: Overlook and manage all aspects of daily operations across multiple kitchen sites to ensure consistency, speed, and quality of service delivery.


• P&L & Financial Management: Take full accountability for the cluster's profit and loss (P&L) statements, actively identify and implement measures to optimize operational costs (including wastage controls, utility usage, and resource deployment) while aggressively seeking innovative avenues to maximize revenue, boost kitchen utilization, to ultimately achieve allocated targets


• Team Leadership & Development: Directly lead, mentor, and inspire a dedicated team of supervisors and dispatchers. Ensure efficient shift management, resource planning, and accountability to key operational KPIs across all locations to guarantee that delivery services run smoothly.


• Partner Relationship Management: Serve as the primary point of contact for restaurant brands operating within the cluster. Build and maintain strong, collaborative relationship scores by proactively troubleshooting day-to-day difficulties, resolving conflicts, and securing long-term partner happiness.


• Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance: Enforce strict compliance with municipal health codes, global food safety benchmarks, and corporate health, safety, and environmental (HSE) standard requirements across all locations. Maintain zero tolerance for safety infractions through continuous monitoring and routine internal audits. Manage relationship with talabat in-house food safety team, and local authorities in areas of operations


• Performance Tracking & Governance: Establish, evaluate, and monitor operational performance metrics (e.g., order prep time,vendor delay, fail rate, contact rate, ratings ). Drive corrective action plans in alignment with cross-functional stakeholders when discrepancies are spotted.

Qualifications

We are looking for an agile, results-oriented operational leader who thrives under pressure and possesses a deep commercial and culinary understanding of multi-unit food networks, quick service restaurants, or cloud kitchen operational setups

Qualifications and Requirements

• Industry Experience: A solid and deep-rooted background in managing Quick Service Restaurant (or restaurant clusters), or advanced familiarity with cloud kitchens operations management


• Operational Track Record: A proven record of accomplishment in managing


• high-volume kitchen operations, inventory optimization, wastage mitigation, and productivity enhancement techniques.


• Team Leadership: Highly familiar and adept at leading, organizing, and developing frontline teams (such as supervisors and dispatchers) operating in rotating shift configurations.


• High-Intensity Competency: Demonstrated capability to navigate stress, solve sudden bottlenecks, and successfully drive common performance goals within high-intensity environments.


• Financial Acumen: Proficient understanding of restaurant P&L and means of optimizing costs and revenue


• Stakeholder & Communication Skills: Exceptional interpersonal and negotiation skills, enabling clear and constructive communication with brand partners, suppliers, and internal cross-functional stakeholders.


• Experience using Excel, AI tools or Looker, Tableau strongly preferred