Sous Chef

Caesars Entertainment•Danville, VA

19d

About The Position

The Sous Chef establishes leadership, direction, and accountability for lead- and line-level employees in assigned culinary areas. Under the direction of the Executive Chef, the role maintains the consistency and quality of food items and ensures menu-development timelines are met. The Sous Chef manages staffing, training, scheduling, performance, employee concerns, and operational standards while supporting budgetary, food-quality, and customer-service expectations. The role is expected to spend 80% of the day on the floor and 20% on administrative duties. The Sous Chef ensures sanitation and temperature records are completed, conducts health inspections and health-card audits, and instructs team members on safe food handling and sanitation. They ensure assigned areas follow CET Culinary Standard Operating Procedures and use the specified culinary tools and reports. The position requires culinary education or certification, apprenticeship certification, or equivalent professional chef experience, along with experience across specified restaurant settings and cuisines. The salary range is $50,000–$63,000, based on experience, education, and knowledge.

Requirements

A degree or certification from an accredited culinary arts institute, American Culinary Federation apprenticeship certification, or equivalent years of professional chef experience for a hotel, resort, or chain-concept restaurant corporation.
Experience must include room service, continental cuisine, high-volume three-meal/coffee-shop operations, steakhouse, and Italian cuisine.
Strong working knowledge of Asian, Mexican, Southern, Italian, Cajun, Continental, seafood, and East Coast cuisines.
Ability to uphold and demonstrate the highest level of integrity and recognize standards required by a regulated business.
Expert working knowledge and high proficiency in food storage and identification; food cooling and thawing; food re-thermalization; managing and expediting orders; recipe formulation and yield; knife handling and sharpening; stock, soup, and sauce production; dry, moist, and combination cooking; pantry and garde manger preparation; and weights and measures.
Able to stand for the entire shift and withstand frequent temperature changes.
Able to bend, stoop, reach, crouch, kneel, push, and pull.
Able to lift 70 pounds above or below the shoulders and push or pull 125 pounds on a cart.
Able to tolerate chemicals used for cleaning and sanitizing kitchen areas.
Able to work in an area containing secondhand smoke.
Flexible with schedule and able to maneuver to all areas of the kitchen and outlets.
Visual acuity and manual dexterity to work with kitchen utensils and equipment.

Responsibilities

Interview, train, and select employees for the department.
Maintain consistency and quality for food items in assigned areas under the direction of the Executive Chef.
Ensure menu-development timelines are met.
Direct and manage lead- and line-level employees to meet budgetary, food-quality, and customer-service expectations.
Ensure comprehensive training and exposure to expected areas of competence.
Provide lead- and line-level support and coverage during vacations or staffing gaps.
Conduct performance reviews in accordance with policies and procedures; provide feedback, coaching, and development guidance.
Handle employee complaints and grievances in a timely and efficient manner.
Recommend or take appropriate disciplinary action in accordance with established policies and procedures.
Plan, supervise, and monitor team members’ work in assigned areas.
Help ensure schedules are complete based on forecasts and allowable productivity standards, posted on time, and fair and consistent.
Approve vacation and floater requests and communicate information to appropriate team members.
Ensure direct reports complete daily sanitation checklists and temperature logs for each area.
Conduct random health inspections and health-card audits.
Instruct team members on safe food handling and sanitation.
See direct reports daily and meet with them monthly for one-on-one meetings.
Mentor and coach direct reports and staff, and provide documentation when necessary according to CET Standard Operating Procedures.
Complete or ensure timely completion of 90-day and annual reviews.
Ensure assigned areas adhere to CET Culinary Standard Operating Procedures and educate and hold direct reports accountable to each standard.
Ensure assigned areas use CET SOP tools, including recipe cards, logs, production sheets, cost reports, menu manuals, plating guides, food-product lists, line-station diagrams, and culinary performance reports.
Work on the floor for approximately 80% of the day and perform administrative duties for approximately 20%.