Role Purpose
The Quality & Safety Manager – Hostel Mess & Base Kitchen is responsible for ensuring consistent food quality, safety, hygiene, and standardization across all hostel mess operations at Chandigarh University. The role focuses on maintaining defined taste standards, implementing robust quality systems, monitoring daily kitchen operations, andensuring full compliance with institutional and regulatory food safety guidelines.
Key Responsibilities
- Food Quality Assurance & Standardization
- Establish and maintain consistent food quality across all hostel mess operations by defining, documenting, and
- enforcing recipe standards, portion sizes, and taste profiles for every menu item.
- Define and standardize recipes, portion sizes, and taste profiles for all menu items
- Ensure consistency in food preparation across all shifts, batches, and service points
- Conduct daily tasting and quality checks of prepared food before service
- Monitor raw material quality and approve vendor supplies against defined specifications
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) & Documentation
- Develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive documentation framework covering all food preparation and
- service processes to ensure operational consistency and regulatory compliance.
- Develop SOPs for food preparation, batch cooking, plating, and service delivery
- Maintain standardized recipe cards with batch scaling and nutritional guidelines
- Ensure complete documentation of quality parameters for each food item and meal category
- Regularly update and revise standards based on student feedback, seasonal changes, and audit findings
- Monitoring, Inspection & Hygiene Compliance
- Conduct rigorous and systematic inspections of all kitchen operations, storage facilities, and service areas to
- maintain the highest standards of hygiene, food safety, and operational efficiency.
- Conduct daily kitchen inspections covering preparation areas, storage, and serving zones
- Monitor and enforce hygiene practices of all kitchen and service staff
- Ensure proper food handling protocols, storage temperatures, and FIFO/FEFO practices
- Verify cleanliness and sanitation of equipment, utensils, and food-contact surfaces
- Audit & Regulatory Compliance
- Design and implement internal audit systems to ensure continuous quality improvement and full compliance with
- FSSAI regulations, HACCP principles, and institutional food safety policies.
- Design and manage internal audit systems for mess kitchen and service operations
- Conduct weekly and monthly quality audits with structured checklists
- Ensure compliance with FSSAI food safety regulations and institutional guidelines
- Maintain audit records, non-conformance reports, and corrective action documentation
- Staff Training & Capacity Development
- Build a quality-conscious kitchen workforce by delivering targeted training programmes on food safety,
- standardization, and hygiene protocols.
- Train kitchen and service staff on quality standards, hygiene practices, and SOPs
- Conduct regular workshops on food safety, HACCP principles, and standardization
- Monitor staff adherence to prescribed SOPs during daily operations
- Identify training gaps through audit observations and address them systematically
- Vendor & Raw Material Quality Control
- Establish a rigorous vendor quality management framework to ensure that all raw materials, ingredients, and
- consumables meet defined institutional food safety and quality standards.
- Evaluate and approve vendors based on quality standards, certifications, and supply reliability
- Monitor and inspect quality of all incoming raw materials at the point of receipt
- Coordinate with the purchase team to enforce quality compliance in procurement
- Maintain vendor quality scorecards and escalate non-compliances appropriately
- Reporting, Analysis & Continuous Improvement
- Provide management with accurate, data-driven quality reports and lead continuous improvement initiatives to enhance the overall mess dining experience for students.
- Prepare daily, weekly, and monthly quality performance reports for management review
- Report deviations, non-conformances, and corrective actions with root cause analysis
- Coordinate with the GM- Mess, Executive Chef and Mess Managers for continuous process improvement
- Analyse student feedback data and implement actionable improvements to food quality
- Safety & Emergency Preparedness
- Ensure a safe working environment across all kitchen and mess operations by enforcing safety protocols,maintaining emergency readiness, and proactively mitigating risks to staff, students, and institutional assets.
- Ensure all kitchen areas comply with fire safety norms – functional fire extinguishers, clear emergency exits,and staff trained in fire response procedures Monitor safe handling, storage, and usage of LPG cylinders, electrical equipment, and cooking machinery; enforce regular inspection and maintenance schedules
- Implement and enforce Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) usage – gloves, aprons, non-slip footwear, andhead coverings for all kitchen personnel
- Establish and maintain an emergency response protocol for food contamination incidents, allergic reactions, and mass food-related illness – including immediate escalation procedures and coordination with the university medical team
- Conduct periodic safety drills, risk assessments, and workplace hazard audits covering slips, burns, cuts, and electrical hazards across all kitchen and service areas
- Maintain a safety incident register; document all near-misses, accidents, and corrective actions taken, and report to institutional administration as required
- Ensure pest control, waste disposal, and drainage systems are regularly inspected and compliant with municipal and institutional safety standards
Education & Skills:
- Bachelor's Degree or Diploma in Hotel Management, Hospitality Management, Food Technology, or
- Culinary Arts
- Additional certification in Food Safety / HACCP / FSSAI is preferred
- Certification in Quality Management Systems (ISO 22000 / HACCP) is an added advantage
- Minimum 3–5 years of experience in institutional catering, hostel mess operations, or large-scale kitchen management
- At least 2 years in a food quality control, kitchen supervision, or compliance-focused role
- Experience in handling high-volume meal production (500+ meals per service) is preferred
- Prior exposure to standardization frameworks, internal audits, and compliance systems is highly desirable
Call at 8146651512
