Cold Food Production Manager

Position Summary

Abby’s Catering is seeking a hands-on Cold Food Production Manager to lead our cold food production operation in a fast-paced aviation catering environment.

This role is responsible for directing daily production activities, leading supervisors and production teams, maintaining the highest food safety standards, and ensuring every order is completed accurately, efficiently, and on schedule.

This is not a desk job. The successful candidate will spend the majority of the day on the production floor, coaching employees, removing operational roadblocks, monitoring quality, and driving continuous improvement. We’re looking for a leader who enjoys being where the work happens.

What You’ll Do

Lead the Operation

• Direct all daily cold food production and assembly activities.
• Ensure production schedules are executed safely, efficiently, and on time.
• Monitor workflow and adjust staffing throughout the shift to meet production demands.
• Identify bottlenecks and resolve issues before they impact service.
• Maintain a visible leadership presence on the production floor.

Deliver Operational Excellence

• Drive productivity while maintaining exceptional quality standards.
• Ensure recipes, portion sizes, presentation standards, and specifications are consistently followed.
• Monitor production metrics and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Reduce waste through effective planning and execution.
• Maintain organized, efficient production processes.

Champion Food Safety

• Ensure compliance with FDA, USDA, HACCP, TSA, customer, and company standards.
• Partner with Food Safety & Quality Assurance to maintain audit readiness.
• Reinforce sanitation, GMPs, allergen awareness, and personal hygiene requirements.
• Address food safety concerns immediately and implement corrective actions.

Develop Great People

• Lead, coach, and develop supervisors, leads, and production employees.
• Build a culture of accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
• Conduct performance coaching and support employee development.
• Assist with hiring, onboarding, and training new team members.
• Communicate clearly in both English and Spanish.

Drive Results

• Plan labor to meet changing production volumes.
• Monitor labor efficiency, productivity, and operational KPIs.
• Partner with Culinary, HR, Operations, and FSQA to achieve departmental goals.
• Complete production reporting and administrative responsibilities accurately and on time.