How to hire a meat manager

How to hire a meat manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step meat manager hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a meat manager job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new meat manager
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a meat manager do?

Post a meat manager job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   The meat manager hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a meat manager to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a meat manager that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of meat managers.

   Type of Meat Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Meat Manager	Butchers cut, trim, and package meat for retail sale.	$12-21
   Butcher	A butcher is someone responsible for turning whole or large pieces of meat into ready-to-cook or retail-ready portions that can be purchased by customers or restaurants. Butchers know how to cut meat, poultry, and fish properly, so they deal mostly with sharp instruments like knives, grinders, and other cutting equipment... Show more	$12-19
   Meat Cutter Apprentice	Meat cutter apprentices perform their duties under the supervision of more advanced meat cutters. Besides ensuring meat quality, meat cutter apprentices also rotate, prepare, keep, and receive meat products... Show more	$10-19

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Pallets
   • Cleanliness
   • Food Safety
   • Math
   • Food Handling
   • Inventory Control
   • HACCP
   • Grinders
   • Product Rotation
   • OSHA
   • Product Knowledge
   • Customer Complaints
   • Seafood
   • Gross Profit

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage meat department, purchase all perishables for dept, receive and and rotate product.
   • Ensure compliance with safety and sanitation standards mandate by state, federal and OSHA regulations.
   • Have proper knowledge of power saws, knifes, slicers, cubers, and commercial grinders.
   • Work with equipment like meat saws, slicers, grinders, wrapping machines, and knives.
   • Provide excellent customer service and are responsible for maintaining the overall appearance and cleanliness of the department.
   • Help to develop and write HACCP procedures.

   More meat manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the meat manager job description is a good way to get more applicants. A meat manager salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a meat manager in Missouri may be lower than in Hawaii, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level meat manager. Additionally, a meat manager with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average meat manager salary

   $16.45hourly

   $34,212 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level meat manager salary

   $25,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 31, 2025

   Average meat manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$43,297	$21
   2	Arizona	$42,502	$20
   3	California	$42,418	$20
   4	Wisconsin	$40,678	$20
   5	Colorado	$40,341	$19
   6	Delaware	$37,938	$18
   7	Massachusetts	$37,938	$18
   8	Pennsylvania	$37,745	$18
   9	Michigan	$37,735	$18
   10	Minnesota	$36,309	$17
   11	Utah	$36,127	$17
   12	Virginia	$34,526	$17
   13	Rhode Island	$34,524	$17
   14	Illinois	$33,918	$16
   15	Ohio	$32,496	$16
   16	New York	$32,442	$16
   17	Florida	$32,310	$16
   18	New Jersey	$31,549	$15
   19	Tennessee	$30,915	$15
   20	Missouri	$30,915	$15

   Average meat manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Fresh Thyme	$44,686	$21.48	31
   2	Price Chopper Supermarkets-Market 32	$44,281	$21.29
   3	Vallarta Supermarkets	$44,231	$21.26	1
   4	Roche Bros. Supermarkets	$43,739	$21.03	4
   5	Uwajimaya	$43,478	$20.90
   6	United Natural Foods	$42,342	$20.36	7
   7	Food City	$42,280	$20.33	17
   8	Busch's Fresh Food Market	$41,571	$19.99	21
   9	ShopRite Supermarkets Inc.	$41,494	$19.95
   10	Save Mart Supermarkets	$41,490	$19.95	5
   11	Festival Foods	$41,447	$19.93	17
   12	Caraluzzi's Markets	$40,990	$19.71
   13	Albertsons Companies	$40,793	$19.61	134
   14	P&S Surgical Hospital	$40,471	$19.46	25
   15	Hy-Vee	$39,613	$19.04	53
   16	Jerry's Enterprises	$39,454	$18.97	2
   17	Safeway	$38,934	$18.72
   18	Kroger	$38,199	$18.36	293
   19	BJ's Wholesale Club	$37,972	$18.26	62
   20	Albertsons	$37,829	$18.19	113

4. Writing a meat manager job description

   A meat manager job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a meat manager job description:

   Meat manager job description example

   The West Linn Market of Choice is now hiring for a Meat & Seafood Manager. This position starts at $22.75/hour up to $27.75/hour, depending on experience.
   BENEFITS
   Market of Choice is a growing, family-owned, local company with excellent benefits and opportunity for professional development. Our company offers a benefits package that includes health, dental, and vision insurance, competitive wages, a matching 401(k) retirement plan, access to financial wellness services and an employee assistance fund.
   DUTIES
   Market of Choice employees create a pleasant in-store atmosphere and provide knowledgeable and friendly customer service. Meat department staff must be motivated, able to embrace a team environment and have effective communication skills.
   As a Meat and Seafood Manager some of your responsibilities will include:
   Supervision, scheduling and training of all Meat department employees
   Organization of all Meat Department duties
   Maintaining positive customer relations
   Training and development of Meat Department employees
   Logging/processing invoices and taking inventory
   Expense control and enforcement of company policies
   Helping in any capacity needed within the department
   Maintain Health and Safety sanitation requirements
   Ensure that there is accurate product pricing and labeling
   QUALIFICATIONS
   The ideal applicant will be a strong leader, have excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Additionally, they must have previous meat cutting and management experience. Open availability is preferred. You must be 18 years or older.
   
   COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY
   A diverse community and workplace benefits us all. Market of Choice is committed to recruiting, hiring and promoting qualified applicants as well as giving people of all backgrounds an opportunity to work and contribute to our company and community. We uphold our tradition of valuing our employees by providing equal opportunities to all applicants.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right meat manager for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your meat manager job on Zippia to find and recruit meat manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit meat managers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new meat manager

   Once you've decided on a perfect meat manager candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new meat manager first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a meat manager?