Kitchen Manager

Location: London Salary: £42,000 + excellent benefits

Rocket Food is one of the UK's leading luxury catering and events companies, renowned for delivering exceptional food experiences at some of the most prestigious events, venues, and private occasions. We're looking for an organised, proactive, and people-focused Kitchen Manager to join our culinary team and play a key role in supporting the smooth running of our busy production kitchen.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who thrives in a fast-paced hospitality environment and enjoys combining operational excellence with strong administrative and people-management skills.

The Role

Reporting to the Executive Chef, you'll be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day administration and coordination of Rocket Food's kitchen operation. Acting as a central point of support for the culinary team, you'll ensure systems, processes, staffing, compliance, and documentation are managed efficiently and to the highest standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee kitchen administration, purchasing, and stock ordering through the FoodBuy system
• Coordinate Back of House agency staffing, including bookings, timesheets, and absence management
• Maintain kitchen databases, holiday records, event updates, rotas, and filing systems
• Manage and support compliance systems, including HACCP procedures and Checkit due diligence processes
• Operate company systems including Origami, AIR3, PeopleWorks, EventWorks, OurTime, and Source
• Support onboarding and induction processes for new kitchen team members
• Input and maintain recipes within the Source system
• Assist with reporting and scheduling maintenance and repair works
• Oversee kitchen porter housekeeping standards and daily operational support
• · Deliver monthly Health & Safety conversations and training updates
• · Ensure all food safety, workplace safety, and compliance documentation remains accurate and up to date
• Foster positive working relationships across kitchen, operations, and front-of-house teams
• Support senior culinary leadership when required

About You

• Previous experience in a kitchen management, hospitality administration, or operational support role
• Strong organisational skills and exceptional attention to detail
• Experience managing rotas, staffing records, and operational systems
• A good understanding of food safety, HACCP, allergens, and Health & Safety requirements
• Excellent IT and systems skills
• Strong communication and relationship-building abilities
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach and the ability to manage multiple priorities
• A genuine passion for hospitality and delivering excellence behind the scenes

What We Offer

At Rocket Food, we invest in our people and provide a rewarding environment where you can develop and grow your career.

Our benefits include:

• Competitive salary
• Holiday entitlement that increases with length of service
• Free staff lunch (HQ-based roles)
• Extensive training and development opportunities
• Employee referral bonus scheme
• Company pension
• Eyecare allowance
• Social and wellbeing events
• Retail and lifestyle discounts through our benefits platform
• Additional hospitality and event-related perks

Diversity & Inclusion

At Rocket Food, we're committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and able to thrive. We believe diverse teams create better experiences for our

clients and stronger opportunities for our people. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer.

Apply Now

If you're an organised and motivated hospitality professional looking to join a leading luxury catering business, we'd love to hear from you.