Executive Sous Chef: Lead High-Volume Culinary Teams

reitmr; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 80,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance

Health Savings Account with Company F

401(k) Retirement Plan with Company M

Paid Vacation and Sick Days

Sonesta Hotel Discounts

Educational Assistance

Paid Parental Leave

Job summary

Sonesta International Hotels is seeking an Executive Sous Chef to lead day-to-day culinary operations across restaurants, banquets, catering, room service, and events. You will partner with the Executive Chef to ensure quality, consistency, and guest experiences in a fast-paced hospitality setting.

You'll guide kitchen teams, drive menu execution, control costs, and uphold HACCP and safety standards while fostering a collaborative culture aligned with Sonesta's People People philosophy.

Qualifications

• Culinary degree or formal culinary training.
• 3+ years of culinary leadership in hotels, restaurants, resorts, banquets, or high-volume hospitality environments.
• Sous Chef or Kitchen Leadership experience preferred.
• Knowledge of food safety regulations, HACCP standards, sanitation practices, and health department compliance.
• Ability to multitask, problem-solve, and remain calm under pressure during busy service periods.

Responsibilities

• Support the Executive Chef in leading all day-to-day culinary and kitchen operations across restaurants, banquets, catering, room service, and special events.
• Supervise kitchen team members, coaching, training, scheduling, and hands-on leadership to ensure operational excellence and strong team performance.
• Ensure food quality, consistency, presentation, portioning, and service standards are maintained across all culinary outlets.
• Assist with menu development, seasonal offerings, banquet menus, and food innovation initiatives.
• Oversee food preparation, kitchen workflow, and line operations to ensure efficiency during high-volume service periods.
• Support inventory management, food ordering, receiving, and product quality control processes.
• Monitor food costs, labor costs, waste reduction, and kitchen productivity to support profitability goals.
• Ensure compliance with food safety regulations, sanitation standards, HACCP guidelines, and health department requirements.
• Partner closely with Banquets, Catering, Food & Beverage, and hotel leadership teams to execute meetings, weddings, conferences, and events, successfully.
• Help maintain a clean, safe, organized, and high-performing kitchen environment.
• Step into operational leadership responsibilities in the absence of the Executive Chef as needed.
• Support employee engagement, culinary training, development, and succession planning initiatives within the kitchen team.
• Any other duties as assigned.

Skills

Culinary leadership

Food safety

Team coaching

Operational leadership

Education

Culinary degree or formal culinary training

Job description

Sonesta International Hotels is seeking an Executive Sous Chef to lead day-to-day culinary operations across restaurants, banquets, catering, room service, and events. You will partner with the Executive Chef to ensure quality, consistency, and guest experiences in a fast-paced hospitality setting.

You'll guide kitchen teams, drive menu execution, control costs, and uphold HACCP and safety standards while fostering a collaborative culture aligned with Sonesta's People People philosophy.