Operations Sous Chef

gategroup•Las Vegas, NV

About The Position

The Operations Sous Chef assists the Executive Sous Chef or Executive Chef for the unit in designing and preparing meals for airline customers. The role provides culinary expertise and leadership, promotes quality food services, ensures food safety and sanitation requirements are followed, and drives food production with assistance from Food Supervisors. The position oversees daily hot and/or cold kitchen production, ensuring food specifications, quality, quantity, consistency, labor objectives, and customer requirements are met. It supervises and trains employees, coordinates shift assignments and manpower planning, manages production paperwork and meal counts, requisitions raw materials, and supports last-minute production needs. The role also ensures compliance with food regulations, company policies, wage-and-hour requirements, and applicable union agreements. The position is full-time and exempt. A rotating schedule exceeding 55 hours per week is typical, with shifts of 10 or more hours. Travel may be required up to 25%.

Requirements

Minimum 1–3 years of experience as a Chef and/or Sous Chef.
Minimum 7 years of experience as a cook.
Asian culinary experience.
Ability to cook meals according to detailed specifications.
Ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
Strong leadership skills and ability to successfully manage a team of cooks.
Ability to train others.
Ability to provide employees with positive and negative feedback on a daily basis.
Excellent time-management skills and ability to handle multiple tasks while maintaining focus on priorities.
Strong organizational, analytical, communication, and leadership skills.
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Basic computer skills.
Ability to pass a 20-year background check through the FBI fingerprint-based Criminal History Records Check (CHRC) process at Harry Reid International Airport.
Ability to stand, bend, lift, and move intermittently during shifts of 10 or more hours.
Ability to lift, push, pull, and move products, equipment, and supplies weighing more than 25 pounds.

Nice To Haves

Associate degree in Culinary Arts or a Culinary Arts certification.
Previous supervisory experience in a high-volume, manufacturing, food production, restaurant, or catering environment.
In-flight catering experience or experience in a high-volume food service environment.
Current or previous labor relations experience.
Experience with menu design.
Working knowledge of Microsoft Office products.
ServSafe certification.
Bilingual Spanish skills.

Responsibilities

Ensure food specifications and labor objectives meet Company and customer requirements.
Supervise the department for quality and quantity; ensure food is produced and dated according to specifications and that applicable coding systems and regulations are followed, including FDA, USDA, and HACCP requirements.
Track attendance, prepare paperwork, set up shifts, assign employees to sections, and optimize schedules.
Order raw materials from the storeroom and produce additional meals at short notice as needed.
Prepare daily production sheets, assign employee tasks, and direct employees using production sheets and passenger counts.
Account for food items after requisitioning them from the storeroom.
Train employees and provide recurrent training on proper preparation procedures.
Ensure safety procedures are followed and cleanliness is maintained throughout the shift.
Manage daily hot and/or cold kitchen production for quality and consistency.
Ensure compliance with company Wage & Hour policy, including employee rest and meal breaks, and follow company processes.
Train and monitor employees on proper work procedures to maximize productivity while minimizing labor and food expenses.
Monitor manpower planning and schedule employees.
Support employee retention and reduce turnover.
Coach and counsel employees and prepare corrective actions in accordance with applicable union or collective bargaining agreements.
Ensure employees in the chain of command are assigned to the correct cost centers and job titles.
Review union-represented employees’ pay rates for accuracy based on wage scales and seniority.
Complete all company-required training, including ServSafe, and comply with company policies, procedures, processes, and required training.