Head, Food Production & Kitchen Operations

Head, Food Production & Kitchen Operations at Services Afri 9in Limited

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Oct 23, 2026, 9:07 AM

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Services Afri 9in Limited is a diversified company operating across different sectors, currently major in Hospitality, Consumer Goods, and Oil & Gas. In the hospitality sector, the company operates a lounge, eatery, and unisex salon, providing quality services and a welcoming experience for its customers. In the consumer goods sector, the company engages in retail and wholesale trade through its supermarket & village market operations, supplying a wide range of products to meet customers' everyday needs. The company is also involved in the oil and gas sector. Services Afri 9in Ltd is committed to delivering quality products and services, maintaining high standards of professionalism, and ensuring customer satisfaction.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Head, Food Production & Kitchen Operations

Location: Benin City, Edo

Employment Type: Full-time; structured probation and performance-based confirmation

Primary Location: KEV'S Place & More, Benin City, Edo State; responsibility across assigned kitchens

Reports to: Operations Manager / Chief Operating Officer

Business: Afri-9 Group / KEV'S Hospitality Operations

Department: Value Creation & Value Delivery Department - Food Production & Kitchen Operations Unit

Reports to: Operations Manager; functional accountability to the Chief Operating Officer

Functional Interfaces: Finance, Data Analysis, Procurement, Store/Warehouse, HR/Administration, Marketing & Sales, Customer Service, Facility Management, Security/HSE

Direct Reports: Unit Head Chefs, Kitchen/Shift Supervisors, Grill Lead, Eatery Lead, Cooks, Kitchen Assistants, Stewards and other assigned food-production personnel

Document Status: Controlled Recruitment and Role Document - Foundation Issue 1.0

Job Summary

Afri-9 Group is seeking a disciplined, commercially minded, and hands-on Head, Food Production & Kitchen Operations to provide institutional leadership and operational control across KEV'S Eatery, Lounge Restaurant, Grill Kitchen and any future food-production units assigned by management.

The successful candidate will build and enforce one integrated food-production system covering menu planning, approved recipes, portion and yield control, food costing, stock usage, hygiene, people, equipment, service speed and customer experience.

The role requires a leader who can combine culinary understanding with operational discipline, commercial judgement and accurate reporting

Key Accountabilities

Head daily operations, production planning, staff deployment, service readiness and close-out across all assigned kitchens.

Coordinate purchasing forecasts, store issues, ingredient quality, stock availability and supplier-related exceptions with Procurement, Store and Finance.

Enforce food-safety, personal-hygiene, cleaning, storage, temperature, pest-control and contamination-prevention standards.

Produce accurate daily, weekly and monthly reports on production, food cost, quality, hygiene, people, equipment and customer outcomes.

Lead, train, coach and assess chefs, cooks, grill personnel, kitchen assistants, stewards and unit supervisors.

Standardise menus, recipes, portions, yields, presentation, production times and kitchen work methods.

Control food cost, ingredient usage, waste, spoilage, complimentary items, staff meals and kitchen variances.

Candidate Profile

Minimum five years of practical kitchen, restaurant, catering or food-production experience, including at least two years leading teams or coordinating more than one kitchen or service unit.

Strong knowledge of menu planning, recipe standardisation, food costing, stock control, hygiene, kitchen equipment and multi-kitchen coordination.

Demonstrable ability to improve food quality, service speed, cost control, staff discipline, kitchen readiness and customer satisfaction.

High integrity, leadership maturity, commercial judgement, reporting discipline and the ability to build systems and train operational teams.

Job Description / Role Profile & Institutional Mandate

Role Purpose:

To establish, lead and continuously improve a safe, disciplined, customer-focused and profitable food-production and kitchen-operations system across KEV'S Eatery, Lounge Restaurant, Grill Kitchen and future assigned units, ensuring that every dish is produced to the approved recipe, portion, quality, time, hygiene and cost standard.

Business Context:

Afri-9 Group currently operates in Oil and Gas, Hospitality, and Consumer Goods Retail and Wholesale. Within Hospitality, the Head, Food Production & Kitchen Operations is the accountable leader for all assigned kitchens and must coordinate production, people, ingredients, equipment, service handover, customer feedback, and financial records as one integrated operating system.

Required Outcomes

Consistent Food Quality

Every approved dish is produced to the same recipe, portion, taste, presentation and service standard.

Safe & Hygienic Kitchens

Food, people, workspaces and equipment meet approved hygiene, safety and sanitation requirements.

Controlled Food Cost

Ingredient usage, yield, waste and portioning protect approved food-cost and gross-profit targets.

Reliable Service Delivery

Kitchens are ready on time and fulfil accurate orders without avoidable delay or disruption.

Disciplined Kitchen Teams

Staff are properly deployed, trained, supervised, assessed and held accountable for results.

Profitable Menu & Production

Menu performance, demand, capacity and cost evidence guide improvement and commercial decisions.

Authority and Boundaries:

May recommend menu items, recipes, portions, production methods, staffing arrangements, equipment, kitchen layouts and process improvements.

May reject substandard ingredients, incorrect store issues or finished products that fail the approved standard.

May not conceal waste, shortages, customer complaints, incidents, equipment failure, staff misconduct or food-safety exceptions.

May not approve personal procurement, supplier payment, price changes, discounts, complimentary items, refunds or financial adjustments outside delegated authority.

May stop food production or service where there is immediate hygiene, contamination, fire, gas, electrical, equipment or customer-safety risk.

Operating Doctrine:

The role operates under Publication ENIL-000. No kitchen process is complete until the food, stock, waste, customer outcome, equipment condition, incident record, and financial interface have been reconciled.

Right menu. Right recipe. Right portion. Right quality. Right time. Right cost. Right record.

Principal Duties & Daily Operating Responsibilities

Principal Responsibilities

Multi-Kitchen Leadership and Coordination

Provide institutional leadership and operational ownership of the Eatery, Lounge Restaurant and Grill Kitchen as one coordinated food-production network.

Set daily production plans, preparation lists, shift deployment, service priorities, handover requirements, and closing responsibilities for every assigned kitchen.

Ensure that no kitchen operates as an isolated unit or transfers shortages, delays or unresolved problems to another team without documented handover.

Conduct or verify kitchen opening, peak-service, shift-handover and closing checks.

Coordinate events, weekends, promotions, group bookings and high-volume periods with Operations, Marketing & Sales, Customer Service and Finance.

Menu, Recipe and Product Standardisation:

Maintain clear allergen, special-order and customer-preference information where applicable to the menu and operating context.

Build and maintain controlled recipes, ingredient specifications, portions, yields, cooking methods, service times and presentation guides for all approved menu items.

Use only approved product names, ingredients, brands, substitutes, pack sizes, selling descriptions and service standards.

Conduct controlled menu trials and recommend whether products should be launched, improved, repriced, paused or withdrawn.

Production Planning and Service Readiness:

Forecast demand using sales history, reservations, events, season, daypart, stock position, marketing activity and current customer demand.

Maintain an approved backup plan for critical ingredient, equipment, power, water or staffing disruption.

Coordinate mise en place, batch sizes, hot and cold holding, replenishment and service handover to prevent delay and overproduction.

Confirm ingredients, utilities, equipment, staff, cleaning materials, packaging, service ware, and workstations before production begins.

Food Quality and Order Accuracy:

Inspect incoming ingredients, in-process production and finished food for quality, freshness, temperature, portion, appearance and safety.

Ensure every order is matched to the correct customer, table, service point or delivery instruction before release.

Record and investigate returns, remakes, quality failures, complaints, delayed orders and repeated service errors.

Food Cost, Portion, Waste and Yield Control:

Investigate food-cost, yield and stock variances and implement corrective action with Finance, Store and Data Analysis.

Maintain approved portion tools, batch yields, recipe costs and kitchen usage standards.

Recommend menu engineering, portion, process or purchasing changes where evidence shows margin weakness or avoidable loss.

Record production, issues, usage, leftovers, returns, staff meals, complimentary items, spoilage, damage and waste at source.

Job Description | Control, People, Safety & Performance

Inventory, Store and Procurement Interface:

Do not make uncontrolled supplier commitments or use unapproved ingredients because of poor planning.

Enforce FIFO/FEFO, proper labelling, date control, storage separation, secure custody and authorised issuing.

Verify ingredient quantity, specification, quality, expiry, temperature and condition before acceptance into kitchen custody.

Participate in daily counts, cycle counts and month-end stock reconciliation; explain kitchen-related variances.

Prepare demand forecasts and approved requisitions based on menu, production plan, opening stock, expected sales and supplier lead time.

Food Safety, Hygiene and Regulatory Compliance:

Implement cleaning and sanitation schedules, personal-hygiene rules, handwashing, protective clothing and safe food-handling practices.

Immediately isolate unsafe food, stop affected production and escalate suspected contamination, illness, gas leak, fire or serious safety risk.

Keep required cleaning, temperature, incident, pest-control and corrective-action records complete and available for inspection.

Control raw/cooked food separation, temperature, cross-contamination, water, waste, grease, pest and chemical-storage risks.

People Leadership, Deployment and Training:

Build cross-training and succession so critical kitchen knowledge does not remain with one person.

Prepare duty rosters, assign stations, monitor attendance, conduct briefings and confirm shift handovers.

Train and assess chefs, cooks, grill staff, assistants, stewards and unit supervisors on recipes, equipment, hygiene, customer standards and source records.

Coach underperformance, recognise strong work, document misconduct or competence gaps and recommend appropriate action through HR and Operations.

Equipment, Maintenance and Utilities:

Maintain a kitchen-equipment register, cleaning plan, operator checklist and preventive-maintenance schedule.

Monitor gas, electricity, water, refrigeration, extraction, drainage and fire-safety readiness; prevent waste and unsafe improvisation.

Report faults early, isolate unsafe equipment and coordinate approved repairs with Maintenance and technical service providers.

Service Delivery, Customer Experience and Reporting:

Coordinate with front-line service teams so orders, timing, table references, special requests and customer feedback are clearly handed over and resolved.

Own the kitchen response to food-quality complaints and provide factual correction, replacement or escalation within approved authority.

Submit daily, weekly and monthly reports covering production, food cost, stock, waste, staff, complaints, incidents, equipment, menu performance and recommendations.

Performance Scorecard

KPI

Management Intent

Initial Standard*

Reporting

Kitchen opening readiness

People, stock, equipment, utilities and workstations ready before service

100%

Daily

Recipe and portion compliance

Consistent quality, yield and food cost

>= 95%

Daily/Weekly

Order accuracy

Correct item, portion and service handover

>= 98%

Daily

Critical food-safety exceptions

Immediate containment and closure

Zero unresolved

Immediate/Monthly

Food-cost variance

Actual usage and cost against approved standard

Within approved target

Weekly/Monthly

Waste and spoilage value

Preventable loss and overproduction control

Baseline then reduce

Daily/Monthly

Kitchen stock variance

Physical stock versus kitchen records

Within approved tolerance

Daily/Monthly

Customer complaint closure

Visible recovery and institutional learning

100% tracked/closed

Daily/Weekly

Preventive maintenance compliance

Equipment reliability and safety

100% scheduled

Weekly/Monthly

Staff training completion

Competent and cross-trained team

100% assigned

Monthly

Report timeliness

Reliable management information

100% on time

Daily/Weekly/Monthly

Initial standards are subject to confirmation after the baseline kitchen audit and management approval

Job Description | Reporting, Person Specification & Appointment Controls

Reporting Cadence:

Daily

Kitchen readiness, production plan, stock issues, sales/service handover, food cost exceptions, waste, complaints, incidents, staff deployment, equipment faults and decisions required.

Weekly

Menu and sales movement, food cost and yield, stock/waste trends, hygiene, customer feedback, staff performance, maintenance, supplier/ingredient issues and corrective actions.

Monthly

Kitchen operating summary, COGS and gross-profit input, menu engineering, inventory reconciliation, staff assessment, hygiene and safety review, equipment plan, risks and recommendations.

Education and Experience

Practical experience in menu planning, recipe standardisation, food costing, stock control, staff deployment, hygiene and customer-service coordination.

Bachelor's degree, HND, diploma or recognised professional qualification in Hospitality Management, Culinary Arts, Catering, Food Science, Hotel Management, Business/Operations or a related discipline.

Competence with Microsoft Excel, POS/ERP or inventory systems, production records and management reporting.

Minimum five years of relevant kitchen, restaurant, catering or food-production experience, including at least two years in a supervisory, head-chef, production-lead or multi-unit role.

Food-safety, HACCP, culinary, hospitality or operations-management certification is an advantage but does not replace proven practical competence.

Required Technical Competence:

Multi-Kitchen Operations

Production planning, shift coordination, service readiness, handover and close-out across multiple kitchens.

Menu, Recipe & Yield Control

Standard recipes, portioning, presentation, batch yield, menu engineering and product improvement.

Food Cost & Inventory

Ingredient usage, recipe costing, waste analysis, stock issues, counts, variance and gross-profit protection.

Food Safety & Hygiene

Cleaning, sanitation, temperatures, storage, cross-contamination, pest, waste and incident controls.

People & Shift Leadership

Rosters, deployment, briefing, coaching, competence assessment, discipline and succession.

Systems & Reporting

Excel, POS/inventory systems, production records, dashboards, data quality and management reports.

Behavioural Competencies:

Calm execution: maintains control during peak periods, complaints, shortages and operational disruption.

Commercial judgement: balances quality, service, food cost, capacity and customer value.

Integrity and transparency: does not conceal shortages, waste, incidents, failures or staff-performance issues.

Communication: gives clear instructions and explains kitchen performance simply to operational and executive stakeholders.

Resilience and ownership: works effectively in a fast-moving, multi-kitchen hospitality environment.

Leadership discipline: plans ahead, supervises firmly, trains patiently and applies standards consistently.

Customer orientation: protects food quality, dignity, responsiveness and service recovery.

First 90-Day Deliverables:

Complete a baseline audit of all assigned kitchens, menus, staff, equipment, hygiene, stock, customer complaints and source records.

Present a 90-day Food Production & Kitchen Operations improvement report with results, risks, cost impact and next-stage recommendations.

Train and assess kitchen personnel; submit a capability, staffing, cross-training and succession plan.

Establish daily production, waste, stock, hygiene, maintenance, service-handover and close-out controls.

Standardise priority recipes, portions, yields, presentation, production instructions and kitchen handovers.

Set approved food-cost, waste-reduction, kitchen-readiness, order-accuracy and service-performance baselines with Finance and Data Analysis.

Job Description | Recruitment, Governance & Approval

Appointment and Performance Conditions

Employment terms remain subject to the written offer, contract, approved company policy and applicable law.

Confirmation is performance-based and subject to approved probation terms, measurable KPIs, conduct and reporting quality.

The initial period will include a structured baseline kitchen audit, documented improvement programme and performance review.

The role may require early resumption, late closing, weekend, public-holiday and event coverage according to approved rosters.

The role may work across all assigned KEV'S kitchens, food-production areas and future hospitality locations.

Appointment is subject to satisfactory verification of identity, qualifications, employment history, references and integrity checks.

Non-Negotiable Conduct:

No retaliation against employees who report genuine hygiene, safety, fraud, stock, customer or regulatory concerns.

No unauthorised free food, staff meal, discount, refund, portion change, takeaway, stock issue or disposal.

No harassment, violence, intoxication, retaliation, humiliation or unsafe conduct in the kitchen or service environment.

No personal supplier arrangement, kickback, undisclosed commission, conflict of interest or private purchase commitment.

No sharing of confidential recipes, supplier information, costing, customer or operating information without authority.

No use of expired, unsafe, rejected, contaminated or unapproved ingredients.

No falsification, food substitution, unauthorised recipe change, backdating, stock adjustment or concealment of waste, shortages or contamination.

Salary: N280,000 - N350,000 per month.

How to Apply

Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV, one-page cover note, salary expectation, availability date and a short example of a food-production or multi-kitchen improvement you personally led to:

[email protected]

using the Job Title as the subject of the mail.

Recruitment Selection Process

The selection process will ordinarily include CV screening, practical menu and food-cost analysis, multi-kitchen walk-through, operational assessment, panel interview, reference checks and management approval. Final appointment is subject to a written offer and contract; no verbal discussion constitutes employment.

Note

Call,/ WhatsApp: 09135333766.

Shortlisted candidates will complete a practical multi-kitchen walk-through, menu and food-cost exercise, operations assessment, panel interview and reference checks. Afri-9 Group reserves the right to verify employment, qualification, integrity and performance claims.

Application Deadline:

5th November, 20