Senior Sous Chef

Brae; Birregurra; Hybrid; AUD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Brae in Birregurra, Victoria, seeks an experienced Senior Sous Chef to lead day-to-day kitchen operations and uphold Brae’s standards. You’ll work closely with Chef-Owner Dan Hunter, guiding a talented team in a farm-connected, sustainable setting.

Join a leadership team that values integrity, excellence and collaborative problem solving, with responsibility for quality, rostering and waste reduction across the kitchen.

Qualifications

• Extensive professional kitchen experience across multiple sections.
• Proven leadership and people-management abilities.
• Experience training and developing junior chefs.

Responsibilities

• Lead day‑to‑day kitchen operations and service.
• Maintain consistency of dishes, recipes and presentation.
• Support seasonal menu changes and daily adjustments.
• Mentor and develop kitchen team members and juniors.
• Oversee stock control, procurement and food safety.
• Coordinate with farm, restaurant and accommodation teams.

Skills

Leadership

Kitchen operations

Mentoring

Planning & organising

Communication

Quality control

Waste reduction

Food safety

Staff rostering

Seasonality

Job description

We’re looking for an experienced Senior Sous Chef

This is a leadership role for an experienced senior chef ready to contribute their skills to a considered project deeply connected to place.

At Brae, our kitchen is shaped by the farm, the seasons and a constant curiosity about how we can do things better. As Senior Sous Chef, you’ll play a central role in bringing that approach to life: leading the day-to-day kitchen operation, evolving our established standards and creating an environment where our team can do their best.

Working closely with Chef-Owner Dan Hunter, you’ll be part of the Brae leadership team, helping oversee daily preparation, kitchen operational systems, team development and the smooth running of each day. The position carries real responsibility for quality, organisation and leadership across the kitchen.

A kitchen connected to the farm:

Brae’s relationship between farm and kitchen is central to the way we work.

You’ll maintain a close understanding of what is being grown on Brae Farm and work with our Farm Team to respond to seasonal changes, make thoughtful use of surplus and delicate produce, and support the evolution of the menu as ingredients become available.

That means looking beyond individual days and weeks and thinking about the whole system: produce, seasonality, waste, preparation, people and the way each decision contributes to the guest and team experience.

The role:

As Senior Sous Chef, you’ll help lead the kitchen day to day, including:

Planning, communicating, and organising the team’s daily workload and ensuring everyone is clear on requirements, expectations and ready for service.

Maintaining consistency and quality across dishes, recipes, techniques, and presentation.

Supporting seasonal menu changes and daily adjustments according to the availability of produce from Brae Farm.

Training, mentoring, and developing chefs and all kitchen team members.

Stepping into any section when required and leading the kitchen in the absence of more senior team members.

Maintaining clear communication between the kitchen, restaurant, accommodation, and farm teams.

Supporting ordering, stock control, food safety, equipment and kitchen systems.

Enforcing kitchen team rostering and scheduling efficiency and compliance.

Identifying opportunities to reduce waste and improve the way we work.

Helping build and maintain a kitchen culture based on quality, fairness, positivity, and shared responsibility.

We’re looking for someone who is:

Experienced and technically strong. You have significant professional kitchen experience and the confidence to maintain exceptional standards while working across all sections when required.

A proven leader. You’re calm, organised and clear. You’re comfortable taking responsibility, making decisions and setting expectations while acting with humility and treating people with fairness and respect.

Generous with knowledge. You enjoy developing others, explaining the why behind what you do and helping younger chefs build confidence, technique and judgement.

Curious. You continue to learn about cooking, restaurants, ingredients, and ideas, and bring that curiosity back to your work. Brae expects its Senior Sous Chef to continually develop their own knowledge as well as that of the team.

Connected to produce. You’re interested in seasonality, growing, provenance, and finding the best use for ingredients rather than simply working from a fixed menu.

Committed to excellence. You care about details and understand that consistency comes from preparation, discipline, and shared standards, not shortcuts.

And you’re aligned with Brae’s values of integrity, excellence, growth, clarity, sustainability and innovation.

About Brae:

Brae is a restaurant, organic farm and guest accommodation in Birregurra, Victoria. Our approach is grounded in the relationship between hospitality, cooking, growing and place. We aim to create an exceptional restaurant while contributing positively to our team, our community, and the environment.

This is an opportunity to take an important leadership role within a dedicated team, working closely with Dan Hunter and Damien Neylon in a unique rural setting.

Position: Sous Chef

Employment: Full-time