Sous Chef - Gainsborough

Lounge Café Bars; Gainsborough CP; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A popular café chain in Gainsborough is seeking a Sous Chef to lead the kitchen team in delivering high-quality dishes with fresh ingredients. The role involves supporting the Head Chef, ensuring kitchen efficiency, safety, and hygiene standards. The ideal candidate should have experience as a Sous Chef or in a similar position, showcasing strong leadership and interpersonal skills. This position offers enticing benefits including overtime pay, staff food, and substantial discounts. It’s a great opportunity for personal development within a thriving business.

Benefits

Overtime pay

Staff food

50% off food and drinks

Paid breaks

28 days holiday pro rata

Enhanced maternity and paternity pay

Staff party

Company pension scheme

Long service awards

Pay flexibility via Wagestream

Emotional support programs

Career progression opportunities

Achievable bonuses

Shared tips

Christmas and Boxing Day off

Qualifications

• Existing Sous Chef or Junior Sous Chef / Assistant Kitchen Manager looking for growth.
• Experience with fresh ingredients and good chef skills required.
• Ability to work efficiently in a high-performing team.

Responsibilities

• Support the Head Chef by leading kitchen shifts effectively.
• Ensure kitchen safety, hygiene, and quality standards.
• Manage kitchen operations, stocks, and KPIs.

Skills

Fresh ingredient handling

Kitchen management

Communication skills

Leadership in kitchen

Food safety knowledge

Job description

Sous Chef - Gainsborough

You love real cooking. We love real cooking. Customers love real cooking. It's a no‑brainer, so you wonder why so many other places don't do it. We do it, and you'll be doing it with us – fresh, customer‑led, and with high‑quality ingredients.

As Sous Chef, you'll be the Head Chefs' go‑to for support, leading and engaging the kitchen team to deliver 14 great shifts a week in, week out.

You'll be leading shifts, making sure the kitchen runs effectively and safely. You're as relentless as us about the detail, so you'll be all over things like stocks, Health & Safety and Hygiene, manning the pass to ensure our food goes out on‑spec and on‑time, and always upholding 5 kitchen standards. You'll be on it. Like a chef’s bonnet.

The Good Stuff

• Overtime pay for every hour worked over contracted hours!
• Staff food on every shift
• 50% off food and drinks (including alcohol) from day one at all three of our brands – Lounge, Cosy Club and Brightside
• Paid breaks
• 28 days holiday (inclusive of Bank Holidays) pro rata
• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay after 2 years service
• The most talked‑about staff party in hospitality – Loungefest!
• Competitions and incentives (like jetting off on an all expenses paid trip with one of our suppliers)
• Company pension scheme
• Long service awards
• Power over your pay with Wagestream
• Emotional and practical support via the Licenced Trade Charity
• Great opportunity for personal development and career progression in a fast growing business
• Achievable bonuses
• Tips shared equally across the team, based on hours worked
• Christmas and Boxing Day off!

What you'll bring

• You are probably an existing Sous Chef, or perhaps a Junior Sous Chef / Assistant Kitchen Manager that is looking to take the next step in their career.
• You will have experience of working with fresh ingredients and be able to demonstrate good chef / kitchen skills (food prep hot and cold, cleaning, knife skills, good hygiene practices)
• Your work ethic is rolling your sleeves up and getting stuck in and leading from the front; playing an active role in delivering excellent kitchen and food standards as part of a high performing team.
• Extremely driven and relentless at deconstructing the can't mentality.
• Familiar with KPIs and making decisions in the absence of the Head Chef considering labour; stock; food safety requirements plus others.
• Epic communication skills with the ability to manage stakeholders and build rapport and trust (that would be with our Ops Chefs and Ops Managers).
• Strong knowledge of best practice around rota scheduling, sales and labour forecasts, reporting, recruitment, HR etc.
• You will have demonstrated successful delivery of training and recruitment for kitchen teams including Apprentices, KPs, Chefs, Junior Sous Chefs and Sous Chefs.

If you want to find out more about us, follow us on LinkedIn or @life.at.loungers on TikTok and Instagram.