Executive Sous Chef

Estancia La Jolla, A Noble House Hotel; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 75,000 - 105,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Staff discounts

401(k) matching

On-demand pay

PTO

Complimentary meals

Job summary

Estancia La Jolla, A Noble House Hotel in San Diego invites you to join as Executive Sous Chef, partnering with the Executive Chef to oversee all culinary operations, menu planning, production, quality and presentation, while ensuring safety and profitability.

The ideal candidate will have at least two years in high‑level culinary management, a culinary program or apprenticeship completion, and a degree preferred; strong leadership and guest-service focus are essential.

Qualifications

• Completion of an approved Culinary Program or Apprenticeship.
• Associates or Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts preferred.
• At least two years of experience in culinary management as Executive Sous Chef (or comparable position).
• Solid knowledge of high-quality culinary operations and guest service standards.
• Ability to lead and train staff in a high-volume environment.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills; commitment to guest satisfaction.

Responsibilities

• Direct and oversee culinary operations in collaboration with the Executive Chef.
• Plan, prepare, produce, and present food meeting quality and presentation standards.
• Ensure compliance with safety, sanitation, and health regulations.
• Lead and develop managers and staff; interview, hire, train, and evaluate personnel.
• Manage budgets, forecasting, and profitability across culinary areas.
• Monitor guest satisfaction and address concerns to improve service.

Job description

Description

ABOUT US:

From the hacienda-style architecture to the lush gardens and scattered artwork, Estancia La Jolla is a true Southern California escape. This former ranch dates back to the late 1800s, a history the property celebrates and honors. In Estancia's 210 casually elegant rooms and suites, this AAA Four Diamond boutique hotel feels like home.

THE JOB:

The Executive Sous Chef is responsible for supporting the Executive Chef with directing and overseeing all culinary operations for the hotel including planning, preparation, production, food quality, and food presentation. Delivers outstanding guest service and financial profitability. Ensures compliance with all safety and sanitation standards and regulations. Provides guidance and direction to ensure overall departmental success. Manages subordinate managers, supervisors/lead personnel who supervise team members in the assigned culinary areas. Is responsible for the overall direction, coordination, and evaluation of these units. Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training team members; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining team members; addressing complaints and resolving problems. Responsible for planning department goals and directing team members to achieve results. Monitors day-to-day culinary operations to ensure standards of product quality, presentation and service exceed guest expectations and meet or exceed property standards. Takes corrective action as needed. Achieves budgeted revenues, controls expenses and maximizes profitability within assigned areas. Utilizes corporate approved computer programs to analyze forecasts, cost and revenue reports. Makes decisions and takes action based on that information to maximize profitability. Ensures quality and portion control while minimizing waste or loss of supplies to maintain profitability. Ensures guests receive outstanding, consistent, exceptional food by circulating through each preparation, banquet or dining area. Seeks opportunities to improve satisfaction and immediately handles any guest concerns or complaints. Plans and manages the procurement, production, preparation and presentation of all food in the hotel in a safe, sanitary, cost effective manner. Interacts with guests to monitor and assess satisfaction trends, evaluate and address issues and make improvements accordingly. Works with Food & Beverage managers to create and implement new menus and individual menu items based on current food trends and regional tastes. Follows all standard food handling, sanitation and health department guidelines. Ensures compliance with federal, state, local and company health, safety, sanitation standards. Performs general management duties including, but not limited to, systems management, budget and forecasting, report generation, department management and meeting participation and facilitation.

YOU:

To be successful in this position, we're looking for an amazing people connector, who thrives on creating experiences and problem solving. This role as the Executive Sous Chef requires skills such as patience, empathy, and a desire to provide excellent service for our guests.

Our CULTURE:

Be part of our award-winning team named TOP Workplace in San Diego 2022-2025 and TOP Workplace USA 2023-2026 by our Team Members. Estancia La Jolla is a part of Noble House Hotels and Resorts offering a collection of luxury hotels and resorts in the Americas. To provide our guests with exceptional service and the most memorable experiences, we look for team members who share our core values. The people who best fit Estancia La Jolla are sharp, hardworking team players. We are looking for candidates with experience in having fun!

The OFFER:

In return, we offer competitive pay, health insurance benefits, Team Member and Family & Friends hotel and restaurant discounts within the Nobel House Hotel & Resorts family, Matching 401k (After 1 year), On-Demand Pay (Earned wage access before payday!) PTO, Complementary Parking, and Meals.

Requirements

Completion of an approved Culinary Program or Apprenticeship.

Associates/Bachelors degree in Culinary Arts preferred.

At least two years of experience with increasing responsibility in culinary management as Executive Sous Chef (or comparable position), responsible for high-quality food production and related food and beverage operations.

Possess solid knowledge of high-quality culinary operations and management, service standards of comparable hotel, guest relations and etiquette.

Ability and experience in successfully leading and coordinating staff in a high volume, time sensitive environment.

Requires ability to lead others in the department by mentoring and providing training that results in staff that meets/exceeds guest expectations and provides a high level of guest satisfaction.

Knowledge of culinary operations, including marketing plans, security and safety programs, personnel and labor relations, preparation of business plans, repairs, maintenance, budget forecasting, quality assurance programs, hospitality law, and long-range planning.

Completes required training as scheduled. Ability to monitor labor as required by anticipating business activity while ensuring that positions are staffed when and as needed and labor cost objectives are met.

Requires ability to serve needs of guests through verbal face-to-face interactions.

Contacts sometimes contain confidential/sensitive information so requires ability to use discretion.

Must demonstrate positive attitude and professional demeanor.

Requires strong communication and interpersonal skills and commitment to a high level of guest satisfaction.

Must have excellent customer service/communication skills to work with guests and providing a high level of guest satisfaction.

Ability to stand for long periods of time.

Ability to work on AM, PM, weekend, and holiday shifts as required by operational needs.

The ideal candidate will have:

Experience within a hotel/resort environment

At Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa, we take pride in supporting our initiatives towards Diversity, Equity Inclusion, and Accessibility. We have established a hotel committee to bring together a variety of thoughts, perspectives, and expressions – and we would love for you to share yours with the team!

If you enjoy being a part of a team providing an excellent experience for our guests and meeting new people, we invite you to apply!

Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa is an equal opportunity employer M/F/V/D

EEO Statement

Noble House Hotels & Resorts are proud to encourage and support an environment where everyone can be a successful team member (come as they are) as their true authentic self. We are an equal-opportunity workplace and employer that does not discriminate based on race, color, disability, gender/sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, age, veteran status, or any other protected status. We are committed to building a team (rooted in family) and a workplace where we are all able to be successful based solely on our individual qualifications, experience, abilities, and job performance.