Kitchen lead vs cook supervisor

The differences between kitchen leads and cook supervisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a cook supervisor has an average salary of $41,118, which is higher than the $35,678 average annual salary of a kitchen lead.

The top three skills for a kitchen lead include customer service, culinary and food products. The most important skills for a cook supervisor are food handling, food service, and portion control.

Kitchen lead vs cook supervisor overview

	Kitchen Lead	Cook Supervisor
Yearly salary	$35,678	$41,118
Hourly rate	$17.15	$19.77
Growth rate	10%	16%
Number of jobs	56,300	183,387
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 37%	High School Diploma, 36%
Average age	37	38
Years of experience	-	4

What does a kitchen lead do?

A kitchen manager acts as the overseer of food preparation and cooking. They ensure that all staff are working efficiently. They maintain the cleanliness of workstations and monitor all supplies used. To avoid lapses, they monitor the staff during cooking to ensure that the kitchen serves the best quality of food. Also, they create reports on the monthly expenses of supplies.

What does a cook supervisor do?

Cook supervisors are responsible for coordinating the kitchen members and ensure that all orders are prepared on time and according to customer specifications. They must be skilled in the culinary department, knowledgeable of the food safety regulations, and lead a team of cooks, washers, and helpers to achieve an organized kitchen. Monitoring the kitchen inventory, scheduling work shifts for the team, and working with the restaurant manager about the week's menu are also the responsibilities of cook supervisors.

Kitchen lead vs cook supervisor salary

Kitchen leads and cook supervisors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Kitchen Lead	Cook Supervisor
Average salary	$35,678	$41,118
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $45,000	Between $27,000 And $62,000
Highest paying City	Redmond, WA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Washington	New York
Best paying company	Zoës Kitchen	Chelsea Jewish Lifecare
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Health Care

Differences between kitchen lead and cook supervisor education

There are a few differences between a kitchen lead and a cook supervisor in terms of educational background:

	Kitchen Lead	Cook Supervisor
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 37%	High School Diploma, 36%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Kitchen lead vs cook supervisor demographics

Here are the differences between kitchen leads' and cook supervisors' demographics:

	Kitchen Lead	Cook Supervisor
Average age	37	38
Gender ratio	Male, 67.1% Female, 32.9%	Male, 55.4% Female, 44.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 7.0% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 7.7% White, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	10%	6%

Differences between kitchen lead and cook supervisor duties and responsibilities

Kitchen lead example responsibilities.

Manage grill area and demonstrate leadership.
Can work without supervision in BOH, prepping and organizing.
Filter all fryers, change oil, and run dishwashers.
Involve in revamping standardize recipes, and teaching staff consistent culinary techniques.
Assign and check completion of side and/or cleaning tasks throughout BOH positions.
Start as p.m. dishwasher, and with no prior culinary experience work to kitchen lead.

Cook supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage food expo; facilitate food temp logs; creation of menu specials; management and supervision of production staff
Assist culinary director in assign duties relate to kitchen operations.
Work with multiple POS systems by entering and processing orders.
Organize and put away inventory when it arrive using HACCP guidelines.
Cook all orders that are enter in pos system, enter orders on pos system, clean kitchen when closing.
Have ServSafe food sanitation certification.

Kitchen lead vs cook supervisor skills

Common kitchen lead skills

Customer Service, 21%
Culinary, 21%
Food Products, 14%
Food Service, 13%
Food Safety, 5%
Quality Food, 5%

Common cook supervisor skills

Food Handling, 33%
Food Service, 26%
Portion Control, 9%
Kitchen Equipment, 5%
HACCP, 5%
Meal Preparation, 4%

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Kitchen Lead vs Cook Supervisor

Updated January 8, 2025

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