Job Description

Assistant Kitchen Manager

Location: Chicago, IL (Fulton Market)

Employment Type: Full-Time (30-40 hours)

About OMAKAI

OMAKAI is a traditional sushi restaurant with one aim: to be known for blowing people's minds. Everything we do rests on three guarantees: warm rice for contrast, crispy nori for texture, and kind service. Every guest, every visit.

We serve high-quality traditional sushi at an accessible price, and we are growing across South Florida and expanding to other cities nationally with our full-service restaurants and hand roll bars. We aim to hold ourselves to a five-star hotel standard in a casual dining room, which means the details matter here more than they do in most restaurants.

We treat every guest with genuine kindness and focus heavily on execution. Our team runs on accountability, reliability, and doing what we say we will do.

Position Overview

We are seeking an exceptional Assistant Kitchen Manager with at least two years of sushi or Japanese kitchen experience, including time working multiple stations on a busy line. Prior experience leading or training chefs is preferred. Strong knife skills and working knowledge of prep, slicing, nigiri, and hand roll stations are required.

The Assistant Kitchen Manager runs the kitchen alongside the Kitchen Manager and takes the lead when the Kitchen Manager is away. You will lead, manage, and hold the back-of-house kitchen team accountable during the shift, oversee prep, service, and breakdown across every station, enforce recipe adherence to OMAKAI's standards, own a defined set of responsibilities assigned by the Kitchen Manager for your location, and support inventory counts and vendor ordering. We are looking for a chef who wants to grow into a Kitchen Manager, corrects a chef in the moment rather than letting a standard slip, is not afraid to confront the team to uphold standards, and knows what excellence looks like on a busy line.

Responsibilities

Leadership and Team Accountability

• Lead, manage, and hold the back-of-house kitchen team accountable during every shift, setting the tone for performance and standards
• Ensure chefs are performing to standard, addressing issues in the moment rather than letting them carry into the next shift
• Coach chefs patiently and keep morale steady across prep, service, and breakdown
• Communicate concerns, staffing gaps, and performance issues to the Kitchen Manager clearly and early
• Lead the back-of-house team when the Kitchen Manager is away, confronting staff when needed to uphold standards

Operational Oversight

• Oversee all kitchen operations across prep, service, and breakdown
• Confirm every station is set up correctly and fully stocked before service begins
• Keep the stations running smoothly during service, re-sequencing the line when a station falls behind or an ingredient runs short
• Ensure every station is properly cleaned and restocked after service

Recipe Adherence

• Ensure every dish is executed according to OMAKAI's recipes and standards
• Monitor consistency across all stations throughout the shift
• Correct any deviation in technique, portioning, or presentation immediately
• Catch an off cut or plating before it reaches the pass

Support for the Kitchen Manager

• Own a defined set of responsibilities assigned by the Kitchen Manager for your location, such as supervising a specific chef station or daypart
• Run back-of-house in the Kitchen Manager's absence, keeping the team, the standards, and the stations on track
• Identify operational issues early and bring them to the Kitchen Manager with practical solutions
• Follow the recipe and the process instead of improvising to save time

Inventory and Order Management

• Assist with inventory counts, tracking, and reporting as directed by the Kitchen Manager
• Receive and place vendor orders on assigned days
• Verify deliveries against invoices and check product quality on arrival
• Flag any discrepancies or shortages in a timely manner

Qualifications

• Two years of sushi or Japanese kitchen experience required, including experience working multiple stations on a busy line
• Experience leading, coaching, or training chefs preferred
• Knife skills and station knowledge across prep, slicing, nigiri, and hand rolls
• Food manager and sexual harassment prevention certifications required, and all can be obtained during training. We cover the cost of both certificates once you pass the 90-day probation mark
• Full open availability, including nights, weekends, and holidays
• Able to learn and memorize every recipe and standard operating procedure in detail, including ingredients, cuts, portioning, and plating
• Comfortable with inventory counts, ordering, and reporting, including basic math under pressure
• Communicates clearly and calmly with the team and the Kitchen Manager, even during a rush
• High school diploma or equivalent preferred but not required
• Reliable transportation to and from the restaurant
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States

Working Conditions

• Indoor kitchen environment in a restaurant that handles fish, seafood, vegetables, fruits, wheat products, rice, dry seaweed, sauces, and many other food and beverage products
• Candidates with food allergies must inform management during the application process
• Regular exposure to raw fish and seafood, sharp knives, hot surfaces, and walk-in cooler temperatures
• Noise levels vary depending on how busy the restaurant is
• Standing at a station for long periods, with some bending and kneeling to reach items such as pans, containers, sauces, and dry goods
• Lifting and moving up to 50 pounds, including fish cases, rice, and receiving deliveries
• Repetitive knife work and plating throughout the shift
• Time split between working a station and oversight work such as inventory counts, ordering, and reporting

Characteristics We Value

• Genuinely kind, with humility that shows in how you coach and correct
• Reliable without exception, with every station prepared and on standard before service
• Detail-oriented, catching a cut, portion, or plating that is not quite right before it leaves the kitchen
• Composed under pressure, calm and focused when the kitchen is slammed
• Resourceful, stepping up and keeping the stations moving when the line gets buried
• Honest and accountable, owning a recipe or inventory miss rather than pointing fingers
• Ambitious, taking initiative to lead and driven to grow into a Kitchen Manager
• Team first, keeping morale steady and giving credit where it belongs

Core Values

• Hospitality from the heart, applied to your team as much as your guests. You back up the Kitchen Manager with humility and coach chefs patiently, keeping morale steady across prep, service, and breakdown.
• Be Reliable. You oversee every station prepared and on standard, and you own a recipe or inventory miss rather than pointing fingers.
• Blowing Minds. A five-star hotel mentality in a casual room, where mediocrity bothers you. You enforce recipe adherence to OMAKAI's standards and catch an off cut or plating before it reaches the pass.
• Make It Happen. Three layers of solutions before you escalate. When the Kitchen Manager is away and the line gets buried, you step up, keep the stations moving, and confront staff to uphold standards when needed.
• No Drama. You stay composed when the kitchen is slammed and keep the team positive rather than letting tension build.
• Build Trust. You communicate problems to the Kitchen Manager openly, and you follow the recipe and the process instead of improvising to save time.

This May Not Be the Right Fit If

• You see this seat as being the second best chef in the kitchen, rather than the leader of the team during the shift
• You would rather only have line time, and see leading the team, recipe checks, and inventory as a distraction from a smooth shift
• You do not want to own team accountability, station oversight, recipe consistency, or inventory and ordering
• You go quiet when the Kitchen Manager is away instead of confronting staff to uphold standards
• You let ego get in the way of the team, or let morale drop by tolerating complaints and drama
• You bring negativity, gossip, or dark energy into the kitchen, or tolerate it from others
• You are great on your own station but do not yet have the bandwidth to oversee the whole kitchen's team, standards, and inventory at once

Compensation & Benefits

• $70,000 to $76,000 base depending on experience
• Quarterly bonuses depending on performance and hitting kitchen and store targets
• Paid time off
• Sick days
• Additional personal unpaid time off
• Medical and other insurance reimbursements
• Daily meal when working
• $300 monthly credits for personal use at any of our locations
• 50% meal discount if credits run out
• Paid food manager and sexual harassment prevention trainings after passing 90-day probation period
• Free parking
• Flexible scheduling
• A dedicated onboarding and training program

Equal Opportunity Employer

OMAKAI is an equal opportunity employer. This employer must notify all applicants of their rights under federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.