Chef

DO & CO•Des Plaines, IL

6d•$65,000 - $75,000

About The Position

The Chef manages day-to-day kitchen operations and the culinary team in an assigned area. The role supports catering growth through cost control, quality, presentation, and innovation, while ensuring production processes, meal specifications, quality standards, and deadlines are met. The Chef supports the Executive Chef with catering proposals, creativity, cost control, reports, and scheduling, and ensures kitchen staffing meets business needs. The Chef maintains kitchen cleanliness, culinary excellence, and appropriate maintenance and safety standards. This includes ensuring compliance with state and federal rules for food storage, handling, and preparation, as well as sanitation and safety codes for culinary utensils and kitchen equipment. The role also examines ingredient freshness, participates in tastings, standardizes production recipes, monitors product availability, and informs the Executive Chef of shortages or discrepancies. Additional functions include identifying culinary techniques and presentations; training, managing, developing, guiding, and appraising the culinary team; coaching and training support staff; analyzing trends and root causes to improve the work environment; ensuring policy and regulatory compliance; meeting with union representatives as needed; and preparing management reports as requested. The position requires schedule flexibility, including different shifts, nights, weekends, and holidays.

Requirements

Excellent interpersonal skills that build trust and instill confidence.
Detail-oriented, organized, and self-motivated.
Ability to handle a heavy workload and work both independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.
Ability to accurately monitor and reduce wastage.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to work with staff across different functions and levels.
Ability to work with urgency and take a hands-on approach to kitchen needs.
Ability to complete assigned tasks within the given time and meet kitchen-ready deadlines.
Schedule flexibility, including different shifts, nights, weekends, and holidays.
Knowledge of HACCP.

Responsibilities

Manage day-to-day kitchen operations and the culinary team in an assigned area.
Perform daily cleaning of production and non-production areas as needed.
Examine ingredient freshness and participate in food tastings.
Standardize production recipes to ensure consistent quality.
Monitor product and ingredient availability and inform the Executive Chef of shortages or discrepancies.
Contribute to catering cost, quality, presentation, and innovation.
Ensure production processes, quality standards, meal specifications, and deadlines are met.
Support the Executive Chef with catering proposals, creativity, cost control, reports, and scheduling.
Ensure kitchen personnel are available based on business needs.
Ensure appropriate maintenance and safety standards and compliance with food storage, handling, preparation, sanitation, and equipment safety regulations.
Maintain culinary excellence standards.
Train, motivate, manage, develop, guide, and appraise kitchen personnel and supervise culinary activities as assigned.
Identify new culinary techniques and presentations.
Understand the company’s business, goals, culture, and challenges.
Analyze trends and root causes and identify opportunities to improve the work environment.
Ensure compliance with policies, practices, and regulations.
Provide coaching and training to support staff.
Conduct meetings with union representatives as needed.
Create and maintain reports requested by and for management.