Executive Sous Chef | Student Dining

University of Notre Dame•Notre Dame, IN

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Executive Sous Chef is a senior culinary leader within Notre Dame Dining who translates the Executive Chef’s culinary vision into daily operational excellence across high-volume residential dining environments. The role partners with the Executive Chef to elevate the student dining experience through disciplined execution, culinary innovation, and strong back-of-house leadership. The position leads kitchen operations, ensures adherence to culinary standards, and supports a high-quality residential dining program. It focuses on consistent food quality, team development, operational discipline, and student-centered hospitality. The Executive Sous Chef oversees production and service readiness, inventory and food cost practices, food safety and sanitation, staff training and development, and collaboration with front-of-house leaders and campus partners.

Requirements

Minimum of 5–7 years of progressive culinary experience, including leadership experience in high-volume food service operations.
ServSafe Manager Certification required.
Demonstrated experience leading culinary teams, managing production systems, supporting menu execution, and maintaining quality standards at scale.
Strong culinary fundamentals and ability to execute high-quality food at scale while maintaining consistency, presentation, and flavor.
Proven ability to lead, coach, and develop culinary teams in a fast-paced, high-volume environment.
Knowledge of food safety, sanitation, HACCP, allergen awareness, kitchen operations, inventory management, and production planning.
Strong organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining attention to detail and service standards.
Ability to work collaboratively with culinary leadership, front-of-house leadership, campus partners, and hourly team members.
Commitment to continuous improvement, culinary excellence, student satisfaction, and the mission of Notre Dame Dining.
Ability to stand for extended periods and lift, move, and handle kitchen equipment, food products, and supplies.
Ability to work in hot, cold, wet, and physically demanding kitchen environments.
Availability for regular presence during peak meal periods, including mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, and special events based on operational needs.

Nice To Haves

Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management, Food Service Management, or a related field.
Experience in residential dining, higher education, healthcare, hospitality, hotel, resort, or other large-scale food service environments.
American Culinary Federation Certified Sous Chef, Certified Executive Chef, or higher-level culinary certification.
Additional food safety, allergen, sanitation, or culinary leadership certifications.

Responsibilities

Execute the culinary vision established by the Executive Chef across stations, meal periods, and service platforms.
Maintain consistent, high-quality food production and provide leadership presence during peak service to monitor quality, readiness, product levels, service flow, and team performance.
Support menu implementation, standardized recipe adherence, production timelines, and refinement of culinary offerings.
Oversee daily kitchen operations, including hot food and pantry production, batch cooking, replenishment, service readiness, and closing standards.
Direct production planning based on meal demand, service patterns, menu complexity, and operational needs.
Manage inventory practices, including ordering, receiving, storage, rotation, and product utilization.
Support food cost control through portioning, waste reduction, forecasting, ingredient cross-utilization, and responsible production.
Maintain organization, cleanliness, and accountability across kitchen, storage, cooler, freezer, and pot-washing areas.
Enforce food safety, sanitation, HACCP, allergen awareness, labeling, and health regulation requirements.
Identify operational, equipment, workflow, and production issues and communicate solutions to the Executive Chef.
Lead, coach, train, and develop cooks, kitchen managers, and other assigned back-of-house staff.
Provide hands-on instruction in culinary techniques, recipe execution, station organization, food handling, knife skills, batch production, plating, and service standards.
Support a culture of accountability, professionalism, respect, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
Provide feedback, identify training needs, support corrective action when appropriate, and recognize strong performance.
Support scheduling alignment, labor deployment, and staffing models that meet service needs and use labor efficiently.
Model expectations for work ethic, communication, safety, cleanliness, and student-centered service, and support team members’ advancement pathways.
Improve kitchen workflows, production systems, service execution, communication routines, and operational handoffs.
Collaborate with front-of-house leadership to support seamless service, timely replenishment, station appearance, and a positive dining experience.
Partner with the Executive Chef and culinary leadership to test, train, and roll out menu items, stations, service models, and culinary enhancements.
Contribute ideas and operational feedback for menu development, student satisfaction, residential dining innovation, and continuous improvement.
Collaborate with campus partners on special meals, events, and operational initiatives as needed.
Support the residential dining program through disciplined execution, thoughtful innovation, and hospitality.