Head of Kitchen Operations (Central Kitchen)

INDIAN COOKED FOOD CATERING SERVICE PTE. LTD.; Singapore; On-site; SGD 33,000 - 67,000; Full time

Job summary

INDIAN COOKED FOOD CATERING SERVICE PTE. LTD. is seeking a seasoned operations leader for a central kitchen with satellite expansion. You will own cost, wastage, and dispatch performance while ensuring halal compliance, hygiene standards, and KPI-driven reporting across a tech-enabled kitchen.

You will build rosters, train a deputy, and drive supplier negotiations. A demanding, data-driven role with substantial bonuses linked to performance and growth.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in volume catering, hotel banquet, or central-kitchen/food-factory production.
• 3+ years owning the kitchen's numbers (food cost, labour, waste).
• Able to recall monthly revenue, food-cost %, labour %, and waste % from memory.
• Food safety certifications (HACCP / FSSC / SFA). Halal-certified experience preferred; MUIS liaison a plus.
• Comfort with being measured: AI stocktake counts, photo-scored hygiene, and timestamped dispatch.

Responsibilities

• Reduce food cost from 26% to 24% of revenue and maintain.
• Cut wastage in half within two quarters.
• Ensure at least 98% of orders fully packed by dispatch window; zero stockouts.
• Roster the kitchen team within budget; appoint a deputy.
• Maintain halal (MUIS) and SFA hygiene compliance; achieve AI cleanliness score 85+.
• Provide a 10-line daily flash report by 10pm, a weekly scoreboard, and a monthly kitchen P&L by the 5th.
• Grow readiness for each satellite outlet with recurring bonus payments.

Skills

Volume catering

KPI tracking

Supplier negotiation

Halal compliance

Education

HACCP/FSSC/SFA certification

Tools

ERP system

AI stocktake

Batch register

Job description

We are one of Singapore's fastest-growing halal-certified Indian events caterers - hundreds of events a month from one central kitchen, now expanding to satellite outlets. Our kitchen is technology-run: orders flow from our ERP into a live prep board, stock is counted by AI photo stocktake, production runs on a batch register with FIFO and waste tracking, dispatch is planned and timestamped, and hygiene is photo-scored daily.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN (DELIVERABLES, NOT DUTIES)

• Food cost: take it from 26% to 24% of revenue and hold it there
• Wastage: cut it in half within two quarters
• Output: at least 98% of orders fully packed by their dispatch window, zero stockouts at events
• People: roster the kitchen team inside an hours budget, hold them accountable, build and train a named deputy
• Compliance: halal (MUIS) and SFA hygiene without exception; AI cleanliness score of 85 or above
• Numbers: a 10-line daily flash report by 10pm, a weekly scoreboard you present every Monday, and a monthly kitchen P&L you present by the 5th
• Growth: production readiness for each new satellite outlet we launch - each one pays you a recurring bonus

HOW YOU ARE PAID

We pay deliberately KPI-heavy - a lean base and a large monthly bonus you control:

• Base $3,000 to $6,000 depending on experience and qualifications
• Up to $1,800/month across 6 measured KPIs: food cost, wastage, labour %, on-time dispatch, reporting discipline, hygiene
• $300/month recurring per satellite outlet launched (capped at 4) plus $1,000 per on-time launch - offered instead of annual increments
• Every KPI is measured by systems, not opinions. The full scorecard is shown to you before you sign.

YOU MUST HAVE

• 8+ years in volume catering, hotel banquet, or central-kitchen/food-factory production, with 3+ years owning the kitchen's numbers (food cost, labour, waste) - not just the cooking
• The ability to state, from memory, your last kitchen's monthly revenue, food-cost %, labour %, and waste %
• Evidence you will be asked to show at interview: a food-cost report you personally built, rosters you authored, and a named supplier-negotiation win with before/after prices
• Food safety certification (HACCP / FSSC / SFA Food Hygiene). Halal-certified kitchen experience strongly preferred; MUIS Halal Liaison experience is a major plus
• Comfort with being measured: our kitchen runs on AI stocktake counts, photo-scored hygiene, and timestamped dispatch. The daily flash report is a condition of employment. If that sounds like pressure, this is not your job.