Inflight Central Production Sous Chef

Odyssey Dining; Greater London; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

Odyssey Dining is seeking an experienced CPU Sous Chef to lead production across multiple restaurant sites, ensuring consistent quality, taste, presentation and portion control.

You will uphold HACCP standards, drive efficiency, mentor the kitchen team, and coordinate with operations to deliver safe, premium inflight or onboard meals.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Sous Chef in central production, high-volume, or inflight catering.
• Strong leadership and ability to mentor kitchen staff.
• Excellent organisational and time management abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead food production across multiple restaurant sites, ensuring quality, taste and portion control.
• Maintain high standards of culinary excellence, food safety, and efficiency.
• Supervise daily kitchen operations and coordinate with procurement for stock and deadlines.
• Collaborate with management and operations to meet client expectations and service levels.

Skills

Leadership

Team management

Time management

Organisational skills

Education

Level 3 Food Safety / HACCP certification

Job description

About The Role

We are seeking an experienced CPU Sous Chef to lead food production across multiple restaurant sites. The successful candidate will ensure consistent quality, taste, presentation, and portion control, while maintaining the highest standards of culinary excellence, food safety, and efficiency.

About The Role

We are seeking an experienced CPU Sous Chef to lead food production across multiple restaurant sites. The successful candidate will ensure consistent quality, taste, presentation, and portion control, while maintaining the highest standards of culinary excellence, food safety, and efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

Production Leadership

• Lead the planning and delivery of food production for multiple restaurant sites, ensuring consistent quality, taste, presentation, and portion control
• Set and maintain high culinary, production, food safety, and quality standards across the production unit
• Support menu development and bespoke product requirements, ensuring efficient production and timely supply to all restaurant outlets
• Manage production workflows and resources to maximise efficiency while maintaining brand standards and consistency
  
  

Operational Management

• Manage and supervise all daily kitchen operations, ensuring smooth workflow, organisation, and optimal productivity
• Ensure all mise en place is completed to exceptional standards and within strict timelines
• Coordinate with procurement to forecast needs, maintain ingredient quality, manage stock rotation, and proactively identify shortages or quality concerns
• Oversee precise labelling, packaging, and storage of all dishes to ensure safe transit and premium inflight presentation
  
  

Team Development & Leadership

• Lead, motivate, and mentor the kitchen team, providing training, guidance, and development to junior chefs, sous chefs, and production staff
• Uphold a disciplined, calm, and collaborative working culture that supports efficiency and high performance
• Conduct performance reviews and support recruitment efforts to build a strong, skilled culinary team
  
  

Quality, Safety & Compliance

• Maintain strict adherence to food safety, hygiene, HACCP standards, and aviation-specific protocols, ensuring full traceability and best-practice handling at all times
• Implement and monitor quality-control procedures to ensure consistency across all dishes departing the kitchen
• Work closely with operational and logistics teams to ensure seamless production and dispatch workflows
  
  

Communication & Cross-functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with management, operations, and client-facing teams to ensure client expectations are understood and exceeded
• Communicate effectively with the wider team to ensure daily priorities, deadlines, and service levels are met
  
  

Requirements

• Proven experience as a Sous Chef in a central production unit, high-volume, or inflight catering environment
• Level 3 Food Safety / HACCP certification
• Strong leadership and team management skills
• Excellent organisational and time management abilities