PURPOSE OF THE ROLE The General Manager – Costing is a critical strategic leadership position responsible for transforming the costing function from a purely reporting role into the commercial intelligence engine of the organization. This role owns end-to-end food costing, commercial analysis, recipe governance, production planning, and inventory integrity across all 35+ institutional catering sites serving 100,000+ meals daily.

The incumbent will drive profitability through robust cost controls, actionable commercial insights, menu engineering, waste reduction, procurement optimization, and continuous improvement initiatives. The role requires not just reporting numbers but actively shaping commercial decisions, building best-practice systems, leading a high-performing team, and providing executive-level intelligence to support strategic decision-making.

1. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

2.1 MENU ENGINEERING & RECIPE GOVERNANCE

- Conduct comprehensive profitability analysis on all menus across all sites and product lines
- Identify low-margin recipes and initiate replacement recommendations
- Calculate item-level contribution margins and prepare monthly profitability rankings
- Perform recipe engineering and ingredient substitution analysis
- Establish and enforce cyclic menu policies ensuring optimal recipe rotation
- Monitor seasonal ingredient availability and cost fluctuations
- Lead cross-functional menu review sessions with Corporate Chef, Recipe chef and Executive Chefs
- Develop and maintain menu costing master with real-time ingredient cost updates
- Establish menu change approval workflows
- Monitor compliance to approved menus across all sites

2.2 RECIPE GOVERNANCE & STANDARDIZATION
- Establish and maintain Recipe Bank as single source of truth
- Define recipe template standards with ingredients, quantities, yield %, costing
- Drive 100% completion of Recipe Bank including costing, yield data, photos
- Conduct quarterly recipe audits to ensure accuracy
- Update all recipes within 7 days of ingredient cost changes
- Establish yield standardization across all sites
- Create standard recipe cards with photo documentation
- Monitor recipe compliance at site level
- Establish escalation protocols for recipes showing poor yield
- Review and approve new recipe development requests

2.3 FOOD COSTING & COST ANALYSIS
- Maintain comprehensive food costing master with accurate standard costs
- Update standard food cost within 24 hours of invoice receipt
- Perform daily food cost % analysis across all sites
- Conduct variance analysis comparing budgeted vs actual food cost
- Identify root causes of food cost variances
- Publish daily High-Value Ingredient Monitoring reports
- Conduct monthly Top Cost Driver analysis




- Benchmark site-wise food cost performance
- Establish food cost targets for each site
- Prepare food cost forecasts for next 3/6/12 months

2.4 PRODUCTION PLANNING & MONITORING
- Establish production planning best practices
- Monitor daily production plans vs actual consumption
- Develop predictive production planning models
- Analyze over-production causes and implement corrective measures
- Analyze under-production causes
- Establish leftover utilization frameworks
- Monitor production efficiency metrics
- Track food waste from production
- Conduct monthly Production Plan Effectiveness analysis
- Partner with Executive Chefs on production scheduling optimization

2.5 INVENTORY MANAGEMENT & CONTROLS
- Establish inventory management policies
- Monitor inventory accuracy across all 35+ sites
- Conduct daily/weekly physical stock verification
- Monitor and analyze inventory variance trends
- Establish inventory threshold policies
- Monitor inventory aging and dead stock
- Conduct quarterly Inventory Accuracy audits
- Monitor stock transfer movements between stores
- Implement cycle counting programs
- Monitor storage conditions and food safety

2.6 WASTE REDUCTION & YIELD OPTIMIZATION
- Establish and maintain ingredient yield data
- Conduct quarterly yield testing
- Monitor actual yields against standard yields daily
- Analyze wastage by category
- Establish waste reduction targets
- Implement waste tracking systems
- Conduct monthly waste analysis reports
- Drive waste reduction initiatives
- Monitor vegetable trim loss separately
- Track and monitor spoilage/expiry losses

1. REPORTING RESPONSIBILITIES

DAILY REPORTS (by 19:00 Hrs):

- Top 10 High-Value Ingredient Monitoring Report
- Daily Red Flag Dashboard identified from consumption report.
- Daily Production Plan Effectiveness of every site descending order from best to worst with corrective and preventive actions.
- Daily Commercial Risk Dashboard (RAG Status)
- Daily Consumption Variance Alert Report across all the sites with planned vs actual analysis.

WEEKLY REPORTS (by Friday EOD):
- Weekly Food Cost Ranking unit wise ascending order with plan of action for the bottom 15 units.
- Weekly Inventory Accuracy Ranking unit wise from lowest to highest with CAPA.
- Weekly Recipe Compliance Ranking
- Top 10 Cost Saving Opportunities




- Top 5 Loss-Making Units
- Purchase Price Variance Analysis

MONTHLY REPORTS (by 5th of month):
- Executive Summary – Commercial Performance
- Overall Food Cost Analysis monthly unit wise ascending order.
- Menu Profitability Analysis of every site.
- Category-wise Cost Analysis.
- Commodity-wise Spend Analysis.
- Top Cost Drivers Report.
- Recipe Governance Status, with number of recipes and their reconciliation.
- Inventory Health Scorecard.
- Site Scorecard.
- Strategic Recommendations

1. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

KPI Category

Key Indicators

COST CONTROL

Food Cost %, Cost Variance, Monthly Savings, Top Cost Drivers

CONSUMPTION

Actual vs Standard, Consumption Accuracy, Excess Reduction

INVENTORY

Stock Accuracy, Turnover, Physical vs System, Aging, Shrinkage

PRODUCTION

Production Accuracy, Over/Under Production %, Forecast Accuracy

WASTAGE

Raw Material %, Cooked Food %, Trim Loss %, Total Reduction

RECIPE

Compliance %, Completion %, Costing Accuracy, Yield

PROCUREMENT

Purchase Price Variance, Supplier Compliance, Savings

OPERATIONAL

Site rankings, Trend analysis, Audit scores, CAPA closure

TEAM

Productivity, Report accuracy, Response time, Effectiveness

1. REQUIRED SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

- 8-12 years food costing experience
- 3-5 years in senior costing role
- 50+ sites management experience
- ERP systems knowledge
- Compass/Sodexo/ISS experience (preferred)

TECHNICAL SKILLS:
- Food Costing & Cost Accounting
- Menu Engineering & Recipe Development
- Inventory Management & Control
- Production Planning & Forecasting
- Yield Analysis & Waste Reduction
- Food Safety & Compliance
- Commodity Price Analysis

TECHNOLOGY SKILLS:
- Advanced Excel
- Power BI/Tableau
- ERP Systems (SAP/Oracle)
- Dashboard Creation
- Variance Analysis
- Forecasting

LEADERSHIP & BEHAVIORAL:
- Team Leadership & Development
- Strategic Thinking
- Decision-Making
- Communication
- Problem-Solving
- Stakeholder Management
- Commercial Mindset

CRITICAL ORGANIZATIONAL EXPECTATION:The GM Costing is NOT a report generator. Success is measured on becoming the COMMERCIAL BRAIN of the organization. Every responsibility emphasizes: Analysis, Decision Support, Business Intelligence, Action Plans, Continuous Improvement, and Profitability.

Pay: ₹50,000.00 - ₹150,000.00 per month

Perks

- Food provided
- Health insurance
- Leave encashment
- Paid sick time
- Provident Fund

Application Question(s):
- Catering & Canteen Industry Must
- Kitchen Operations & Workflow Management
- Leadership & Problem-Solving
- Waste Management & Food Waste Reduction

Education:
- Bachelor's (Preferred)

Work Location: In person

📌 GM Costing (Gandhinagar)
🏢 Jaiswal Hospitality
📍 Gandhinagar