Sous Chef (Japanese Cuisine), Operations

gategroup•Honolulu, HI

About The Position

The Sous Chef, Operations assists the Executive Sous Chef or Executive Chef 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 the assistance of Food Supervisors. This position focuses on Japanese cuisine and supports hot and/or cold kitchen production in an airline catering operation. The role supervises food production and staff, coordinates shift assignments and production paperwork, requisitions ingredients, and ensures products meet company and customer specifications. It also supports employee training, performance, retention, scheduling, labor compliance, and adherence to applicable company policies, regulations, and collective bargaining agreements. The position is full-time and exempt. A rotating schedule exceeding 55 hours per week is typical, and shifts may exceed 10 hours. Travel may be required up to 25%. The work takes place in a production kitchen where temperature and noise may cause physical discomfort. The role regularly involves standing, bending, lifting, and moving, including moving items weighing more than 25 pounds. The role may supervise up to 40 direct reports, depending on the unit, and reports to the Executive Sous Chef, Operations or Executive Chef, Operations.

Requirements

Minimum 1–3 years of experience as a Chef and/or Sous Chef.
Minimum 7 years of experience as a cook.
Ability to cook meals according to detailed specifications.
Ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
Strong leadership skills and the ability to manage a team of cooks.
Ability to train others and provide employees with positive and negative feedback daily.
Excellent time management skills and ability to manage multiple tasks while maintaining focus on priorities.
Strong organizational, analytical, communication, and leadership skills.
Ability to make operational changes to improve the work environment and unit performance.
Basic computer skills.
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Ability to stand, bend, lift, and move during shifts of 10 or more hours and to lift, push, pull, and move products, equipment, and supplies weighing more than 25 pounds.
Ability to work a rotating schedule; a schedule exceeding 55 hours per week is typical.

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’s food production for quality and quantity; ensure products are produced and dated according to specifications and the applicable coding system and regulations.
Track attendance, prepare shift paperwork, optimize schedules, set up shifts, and assign employees to sections.
Order raw materials from the storeroom and produce additional meals at short notice as needed.
Prepare daily production sheets, assign tasks, and direct employees using production sheets and passenger counts.
Oversee food items after requisitioning them from the storeroom and train and retrain employees on proper preparation procedures.
Ensure safety procedures are followed and maintain cleanliness throughout shifts.
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 required company processes.
Train and monitor employees on 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.
Review and ensure employees in the chain of command are assigned to the correct cost centers and job titles.
Review and ensure union-represented employees’ pay rates reflect applicable wage scales and seniority.
Complete required company training, including ServSafe-related training, and comply with company policies, procedures, and processes.