Kitchen supervisor vs supervisor

The differences between kitchen supervisors and supervisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a supervisor has an average salary of $53,902, which is higher than the $40,520 average annual salary of a kitchen supervisor.

The top three skills for a kitchen supervisor include culinary, cleanliness and food service. The most important skills for a supervisor are customer service, safety procedures, and sales floor.

Kitchen supervisor vs supervisor overview

	Kitchen Supervisor	Supervisor
Yearly salary	$40,520	$53,902
Hourly rate	$19.48	$25.91
Growth rate	10%	-
Number of jobs	66,303	224,920
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	37	46
Years of experience	-	2

What does a kitchen supervisor do?

A kitchen supervisor is responsible for managing the overall kitchen operations, ensuring that the kitchen employees follow sanitary procedures while doing their high-quality and maximum productivity tasks. Kitchen supervisors manage inventories, checking the adequacy of food supplies and kitchen equipment, and negotiating contracts with suppliers and third-party vendors. They also help develop marketing strategies, research the latest food trends, update menus, and create financial reports and expense forecasting. A kitchen supervisor must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially with responding to customers' inquiries and concerns and resolving complaints.

What does a supervisor do?

Supervisors are responsible for overseeing the daily functions of employees in a specific team, department, or even a work shift. They create work schedules, organize work processes and workflows, train new hires, provide necessary reports related to the team function and the employees, monitor and evaluate employee performance, and ensure that goals of the specific team or department are met. When needed, supervisors also provide guidance to employees in terms of their career or even personal challenges. They also help in fostering harmonious work relationships by resolving interpersonal conflicts at work. To be successful in their role, they must have leadership skills, time management skills, decision-making capabilities, analytical skills, and problem-solving skills.

Kitchen supervisor vs supervisor salary

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

	Kitchen Supervisor	Supervisor
Average salary	$40,520	$53,902
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $58,000	Between $31,000 And $92,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Washington	Alaska
Best paying company	GoodCents	Reed Smith
Best paying industry	Start-up	Health Care

Differences between kitchen supervisor and supervisor education

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

	Kitchen Supervisor	Supervisor
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Business
Most common college	-	Stanford University

Kitchen supervisor vs supervisor demographics

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

	Kitchen Supervisor	Supervisor
Average age	37	46
Gender ratio	Male, 65.0% Female, 35.0%	Male, 55.8% Female, 44.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.4% Asian, 6.8% White, 60.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 4.6% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	10%	6%

Differences between kitchen supervisor and supervisor duties and responsibilities

Kitchen supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage grill area and demonstrate leadership.
Manage people and oversee production of high-volume establishment for this upscale restaurant specializing in Mexican cuisine.
Train and supervise all culinary employees including community service volunteers in kitchen operations and delegate daily work assignments.
Maintain kitchen and dining area under Servsafe guidelines.
Used a POS system and show advanced money management skills.
Exercise leadership skills by coordinating kitchen staff during busy times.

Supervisor example responsibilities.

Lead continuous process improvement and six sigma teams to meet ISO 9001 and QS 9000 standards.
Manage and implement merchandising strategy for POS marketing and display inventory.
Lead comprehensive training for each new volunteer or court-mandate worker regarding OSHA regulations and warehouse procedure.
Organize care with 6 CNAs.
Coordinate lifeguard duty schedule for all pools.
Maintain cleanliness throughout kitchen, coolers, and freezer areas.

Kitchen supervisor vs supervisor skills

Common kitchen supervisor skills

Culinary, 16%
Cleanliness, 11%
Food Service, 10%
Food Handling, 8%
Kitchen Equipment, 7%
Customer Service, 6%

Common supervisor skills

Customer Service, 11%
Safety Procedures, 9%
Sales Floor, 9%
POS, 9%
Direct Supervision, 9%
Payroll, 5%

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Kitchen Supervisor
Kitchen Supervisor vs Supervisor

Updated January 8, 2025

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