Part-Time F&B Inventory Specialist

Company: Commonwealth Companies
Locations: W.A. Frost & Company, The Commodore Bar & Restaurant, and The University Club of Saint Paul
Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota
Employment Type: Part-Time
Department: Food & Beverage Operations
Reports To: Operations Management

Position Summary

Commonwealth Companies is seeking a highly organized, detail-oriented, and dependable Part-Time Food & Beverage Inventory Specialist to oversee and maintain accurate food and beverage inventory across three hospitality venues:

• W.A. Frost & Company
• The Commodore Bar & Restaurant
• The University Club of Saint Paul

This position is responsible for conducting physical inventory counts, maintaining accurate inventory records, monitoring product usage and costs, identifying discrepancies and waste, and providing management with timely inventory and cost reports.

The ideal candidate is analytical, comfortable working independently, highly accurate with numbers, and experienced with food and beverage inventory in a restaurant, hotel, club, catering, or hospitality environment.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Inventory Management

• Conduct scheduled physical inventories of food, liquor, wine, beer, non-alcoholic beverages, and other designated F&B products across all three venues.
• Ensure inventory counts are completed accurately, consistently, and according to established company procedures.
• Maintain organized inventory records by venue, department, storage location, and product category.
• Verify product quantities, units of measure, and inventory values.
• Monitor inventory levels and identify unusually high or low stock levels.
• Assist management in establishing and maintaining appropriate par levels.
• Monitor slow-moving, obsolete, expired, or overstocked products.
• Help ensure proper inventory rotation using FIFO (First In, First Out) practices.

Cost Control & Analysis

• Track food and beverage inventory values and usage.
• Assist management with calculating and monitoring food cost, beverage cost, and Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).
• Compare physical inventory against purchases, transfers, sales, and expected usage.
• Identify inventory variances, unusual consumption patterns, excessive waste, or potential loss.
• Investigate significant discrepancies and report findings to management.
• Assist management in identifying opportunities to reduce waste and improve inventory efficiency and profitability.
• Monitor product pricing and communicate significant vendor cost changes.

Receiving & Invoice Verification

• Periodically review receiving practices to ensure deliveries are properly counted, inspected, and recorded.
• Compare vendor invoices against products received when requested.
• Identify discrepancies involving quantities, pricing, credits, substitutions, or missing products.
• Assist management with maintaining accurate vendor and purchasing records.

Inter-Company / Inter-Venue Transfers

• Maintain accurate documentation of food and beverage products transferred between W.A. Frost, The Commodore, and The University Club.
• Ensure transfers are properly recorded against both the sending and receiving locations.
• Reconcile transfer discrepancies as part of the inventory process.

Reporting

• Prepare clear and timely inventory reports for management.
• Provide inventory valuation and variance reports by venue and product category.
• Report significant inventory discrepancies or unusual activity promptly.
• Maintain historical inventory records to assist management in evaluating trends and operational performance.
• Provide recommendations for improving inventory controls, organization, purchasing practices, and cost management.

Operational Expectations

The Inventory Specialist will work closely with chefs, bar managers, general managers, accounting, and operations management while maintaining independence and objectivity when conducting inventory.

The position requires regular travel between the three Saint Paul venues. Inventory may occasionally need to be conducted outside normal restaurant operating hours to ensure accurate counts and minimize operational disruption.

All inventory information, financial information, pricing, vendor information, and internal operating data must be treated as confidential.

Qualifications

Required:

• Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
• Excellent organizational and time-management skills.
• Ability to work independently and meet established deadlines.
• Strong basic mathematical and analytical skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or similar spreadsheet software.
• Ability to communicate discrepancies and concerns professionally and objectively.
• Ability to travel between all three Saint Paul locations.
• Ability to maintain confidential financial and operational information.

Preferred:

• Previous restaurant, hospitality, food service, accounting, purchasing, or inventory-control experience.
• Experience conducting restaurant food and beverage inventories.
• Familiarity with restaurant POS and inventory-management systems.
• Understanding of food cost, beverage cost, COGS, purchasing, receiving, and inventory variance.
• Experience working with liquor, wine, beer, and restaurant food inventories.

Physical Requirements

This position requires physical inventory counts in kitchens, bars, coolers, freezers, storage rooms, and other operational areas. The employee must be able to:

• Stand and walk for extended periods during inventory counts.
• Bend, reach, crouch, and access shelving and storage areas.
• Work periodically in refrigerated and freezer environments.
• Safely lift and move products weighing up to approximately 30–40 pounds.
• Use stairs and move between multiple storage and operational areas.

Schedule

This is a part-time position with hours primarily determined by the company's inventory schedule. The employee must be available to complete inventory according to established weekly, monthly, and/or period-end deadlines.

Some early morning, evening, or off-hours work may be required to complete accurate physical counts when operations are closed or inventory movement is minimal.

Key Performance Expectations

Success in this position will be measured by:

• Accuracy and consistency of physical inventory counts.
• Timely completion of inventory and management reports.
• Accurate documentation of transfers between venues.
• Identification and follow-up of material inventory variances.
• Improvement in inventory organization and accountability.
• Ability to identify waste, over-purchasing, excessive usage, and cost-control opportunities.
• Consistent adherence to established inventory procedures across all three venues.

Position Objective

The primary objective of the Part-Time Food & Beverage Inventory Specialist is to provide management with accurate, independent, and timely visibility into food and beverage inventory and costs across all three venues, strengthening accountability, reducing waste and unexplained loss, and supporting informed purchasing and operational decisions.