Executive Sous Chef

Gecko Hospitality - Don Hutcheson; Scottsdale (AZ); On-site; USD 70,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Italian Eatery & Deli in Scottsdale, Arizona is seeking an Executive Sous Chef to lead a high-volume kitchen on the dining floor. This is a working role where you will jump in at any station, mentor the culinary team and drive excellence in food quality, speed and hospitality.

The ideal candidate has strong Italian cuisine knowledge, a hands-on leadership style, and a track record of maintaining standards in a fast-paced deli and restaurant setting.

Qualifications

• 5 years of professional culinary experience in high-volume settings.
• Hands-on leadership while managing busy service.
• Strong knowledge of Italian cuisine, sauces, pastas, meats, pizza and scratch cooking.
• Ability to lead, coach and develop kitchen staff.
• Solid food safety, sanitation, inventory, portion control and cost management.

Responsibilities

• Lead daily kitchen operations, working hands-on with the team to ensure smooth execution during peak times.
• Maintain food quality, consistency and presentation as per recipes and standards.
• Lead and develop the kitchen team through training, coaching and scheduling support.
• Manage kitchen production, prep, line setup, service, catering production and inventory.
• Uphold food safety and sanitation standards, ensuring a clean and compliant kitchen.
• Collaborate with Executive Chef and management to improve performance, costs and guest experience.

Skills

Kitchen leadership

Hands-on cooking

High-volume kitchen

Job description

Executive Sous Chef

Confidential Italian Eatery & Deli — Scottsdale, Arizona

Full-Time | High-Volume Italian Deli & Restaurant

Salary $70,000-$75,000 Plus Bonus

About the Company

Our client is a well-established, family-owned Italian deli and eatery with deep roots in Arizona and a long-standing reputation for authentic Italian-American food, quality ingredients and exceptional hospitality.

The business has grown into a high-volume operation that combines a busy Italian deli, restaurant, specialty grocery market, catering and scratch kitchen. The menu features traditional Italian favorites including sandwiches, house-made sausage, pizza, calzones, pastas, chicken and eggplant parmigiana, sauces and other family-inspired recipes.

The culture is built around quality, consistency, hospitality and treating people like family. Many of the recipes and food traditions have been passed down through generations, and maintaining those standards is an important part of the company’s identity.

About the Position

We are seeking an experienced Executive Sous Chef to help lead all kitchen operations for this high-volume Italian deli and eatery in Scottsdale, Arizona.

This is a working Executive Sous Chef position. This is not an office-based management role. The Executive Sous Chef will spend the majority of their time on the kitchen floor, working side-by-side with the sous chefs and culinary team.

The ideal candidate is an experienced culinary leader who knows how to run a high-volume kitchen, understands the demands of a busy service and leads by example. You must be willing and able to jump into any station, help with prep, work the line, solve problems in real time and step up when the volume gets heavy.

This position will play a key role in maintaining food quality, consistency, speed, cleanliness, food safety, labor efficiency and team development.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead daily kitchen operations by working hands-on alongside the sous chefs and culinary team to ensure smooth, efficient execution during high-volume periods and peak meal times.
• Maintain food quality, consistency and presentation, ensuring recipes, portions, preparation methods and established culinary standards are followed accurately.
• Lead and develop the kitchen team, including training, coaching, scheduling support, performance feedback and creating a culture of teamwork, accountability and pride.
• Manage kitchen production and execution, including daily prep, line setup, service, catering production, inventory needs and proper execution of the menu.
• Maintain food safety, sanitation and organization standards, ensuring the kitchen is clean, properly stocked and operating in compliance with company and health department standards.
• Partner with the Executive Chef and management team to improve kitchen performance, control food and labor costs, maintain appropriate inventory levels and continually improve speed, efficiency and the guest experience.

Job Qualifications

• 5 years of professional culinary experience, with demonstrated leadership experience in a high-volume restaurant, deli, Italian restaurant, catering operation or similar foodservice environment.
• Proven ability to lead a high-volume kitchen while remaining hands-on, organized, calm and focused during intense periods of service.
• Strong knowledge of Italian cuisine, sauces, pastas, meats, pizza, sandwiches and scratch cooking; experience with traditional Italian-American cuisine is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, coach and develop kitchen employees while earning respect through a hands‑on, lead‑by‑example management style.
• Strong understanding of food safety, sanitation, inventory management, portion control, food cost and kitchen labor management.
• Must have a strong work ethic, positive attitude and genuine passion for food and people, with the ability to work collaboratively in a family‑owned business where quality, consistency and treating people like family matter.

What Success Looks Like

The successful Executive Sous Chef will become a key leader in the kitchen—someone the team can count on when the volume gets high and the pressure is on.

You should be comfortable being the first person to jump in and help and the last person to step away from the line. You will be expected to lead from the front, maintain high standards and make sure the kitchen consistently delivers exceptional food and service.

If you are a culinary leader who loves high-volume kitchens, thrives during a busy service, enjoys developing people and still loves being on the line cooking, this is an opportunity to become an important part of a well-established and highly respected Italian food operation in Scottsdale.