JOB TITLE: Department Manager Foodstories Department: Live Kitchen ABOUT FOODSTORIES Foodstories is a modern gourmet food destination built around discovery, craft, and community. Our stores bring together curated ingredients, artisanal bakery, caf experiences, and deep food knowledge — designed for customers who care about what they eat and where it comes from. At Foodstories, stores are not just retail spaces — they are classrooms, tasting tables, and storytelling hubs. ROLE OVERVIEW As a Department Manager, you will own the end-to-end functioning and performance of an assigned department — Non-Veg, Cheese & Dairy, or Bakery. From people and product to business performance and customer experience, you will be responsible for building robust teams, maintaining product quality, driving operational excellence, and creating memorable customer experiences. You will be a floor-first leader who combines strong category knowledge with hands-on people management, commercial understanding, and operational ownership.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Customer Experience & Floor Leadership
- Own the end-to-end customer experience within the assigned department.
- Be actively present on the shop floor, engaging with customers, providing recommendations, and resolving queries.
- Ensure high standards of customer service, visual merchandising, product presentation, hygiene, and food safety.
- Build product knowledge within the team to enable informed recommendations and meaningful customer interactions.
- Turn customer queries into opportunities for product education and discovery. 2. Team Leadership & Capability Building
- Lead, coach, and develop a team of Storytellers.
- Conduct daily team huddles, briefings, and on-the-job training.
- Build a culture of ownership, warmth, accountability, and customer-centricity.
- Monitor team performance, productivity, attendance, and adherence to operational standards.
- Identify high-potential team members and support their development and career progression. 3. Business & Category Ownership
- Drive department sales, product availability, and category performance.




- Monitor stock levels, inventory accuracy, replenishment, wastage, shrinkage, and product rotation.
- Ensure effective execution of promotions, new launches, tastings, and in-store activations.
- Analyse sales trends and identify opportunities to improve category performance.
- Collaborate with the Store Director and Head Office teams to achieve business objectives. 4. Department-Specific Responsibilities Non-Veg
- Ensure the quality, freshness, and availability of fresh and packaged non-vegetarian products.
- Monitor product handling, storage, temperature controls, shelf life, and hygiene standards.
- Ensure proper stock rotation, inventory management, replenishment, and wastage control.
- Build team expertise in product cuts, quality, sourcing, and preparation recommendations. Cheese & Dairy
- Ensure quality, freshness, availability, and appropriate storage of cheese and dairy products.
- Maintain cold-chain practices, temperature controls, product rotation, and expiry monitoring.
- Develop category knowledge across domestic and international cheeses, dairy products, origins, flavours, and pairings.
- Enable the team to confidently guide customers on product selection, recommendations, and usage. Bakery Bakery
- Oversee bakery product availability, freshness, quality, presentation, and display standards.
- Coordinate with the Central Kitchen for product ordering, indenting, and replenishment requirements.
- Maintain accurate inventory records and ensure adequate stock levels based on sales trends and store requirements.
- Monitor daily sales, stock movement, product rotation, shelf life, and wastage.




- Ensure timely ordering and follow-up with the Central Kitchen to avoid stock-outs and excess inventory.
- Ensure adherence to food safety, hygiene, storage, and product handling standards.
- Build team knowledge around bakery products, ingredients, preparation methods, and customer recommendations. 5. Operations & Standards
- Ensure adherence to company SOPs, operational processes, and audit requirements.
- Maintain high standards of hygiene, food safety, quality control, and housekeeping.
- Coordinate effectively with the caf, kitchen, and other store departments.
- Identify operational gaps, escalate concerns proactively, and recommend corrective actions.
- Uphold Foodstories' quality, service, and brand standards consistently. WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR
- 4–8 years of experience in premium food retail, gourmet grocery, specialty retail, bakery, or high-end hospitality environments.
- Hands-on experience in managing teams and leading operations on the shop floor.
- Strong understanding of category operations, product quality, inventory management, and customer expectations.
- Relevant product knowledge in Non-Veg, Cheese & Dairy, or Bakery, depending on the assigned department.
- Customer-obsessed mindset with the ability to deliver warm, knowledgeable, and personalised service.
- Strong people management, coaching, and team development skills.
- Commercial acumen with an understanding of sales, stock management, wastage, and department profitability.
- High ownership, attention to detail, problem-solving ability, and operational discipline.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced retail environment and manage multiple priorities. WHY JOIN FOODSTORIES
- Work with a fast-growing premium food brand.
- Gain strong learning and leadership exposure across gourmet food categories.
- Build expertise in specialised food categories and premium customer experiences.
- Explore clear growth pathways across stores, departments, and categories.
- Be part of a culture built on warmth, clarity, ownership, and craft.Role & responsibilities Preferred candidate profile

📌 Department Manager-Live Kitchen (Bengaluru)
🏢 Foodstories
📍 Bengaluru