Japanese Cuisine Sous Chef

gategourmet; United States; On-site; USD 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Employee Assistance Program

Employee discounts

Weekly pay for union employees

Free hot meals for unit operations

Job summary

gategroup is seeking an experienced Sous Chef, Operations to design and prepare meals for Asian airline customers. You will provide culinary leadership, ensure food safety, and drive production with Food Supervisors in a high-volume setting.

Experience in Asian culinary profiles and in-flight catering is essential, with strong focus on safety, scheduling, and cost control. The role reports to the Executive Chef, Operations and may lead up to 40 cooks.

Qualifications

• Associates degree in Culinary Arts or equivalent certification preferred.
• Minimum 1-3 years as a Chef/Sous Chef; 7 years as a cook.
• Supervisory experience in high-volume food production preferred.
• Minimum 3 years Japanese cuisine; in-flight catering experience preferred.
• ServSafe certification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Ensure food specs and labor objectives meet requirements.
• Supervise for quality and quantity; ensure proper dating and coding.
• Set up shifts, assign sections, and optimize schedules.
• Order raw materials and produce meals as needed.
• Prepare daily production sheet and direct tasks.
• Train staff on proper procedures and safety practices.
• Maintain sanitation and food safety; monitor costs.
• Oversee daily production in hot and cold kitchens.
• Ensure wage/hour policy compliance and breaks.

Skills

Leadership

Food safety

Communication

Time management

Training others

Menu design

Cost control

Labor planning

Education

Associates degree in Culinary Arts

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

• Voluntary short-term/long-term disability insurance
• Voluntary life, accident, and hospital plans
• Employee Assistance Program
• Employee Discounts
• Weekly pay for union employees
• Free hot healthy meals for unit operations roles

Summary

Reporting to the Executive Chef for the unit, the Sous Chef, Operations assists the Executive Chef in designing and preparing meals for Asian airline customers and will need to have experience in Asian culinary profiles. Provides culinary expertise and leadership; promotes quality food services and ensures food safety and sanitation requirements are followed. Also, drives the food production effort with the assistance of Food Supervisors

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Responsible for ensuring food specifications and labor objectives meet all Company and customer requirements
• Supervises department for quality and quantity; ensures items are produced and dated according to specification, and coding system is adhered to correctly (i.e. - FDA, USDA, HAACP and other governmental regulations)
• Keeps account of attendance, sets up paperwork, sets up each shift and assigns employees to specified sections (schedule optimization)
• Orders raw material from storeroom and produces extra meals at last minute as needed
• Prepares daily production sheet and assigns tasks to employees; works with and directs employees through the use of the production sheet and passenger counts
• Responsible for all food items after requisitioning them from the storeroom; training and recurrent training of all employees on proper procedures of preparation
• Ensures safety procedures are adhered to; maintain cleanliness through shift to ensure quality product
• Manages daily production of hot and/or cold kitchens for quality and consistency
• Ensures compliance with company Wage & Hour policy, including ensuring employees get the rest & meal breaks and ensuring company processes are followed.
• Trains and monitors employees on proper work procedures to ensure maximum productivity with minimum labor and food expenses.
• Monitors daily manpower planning and schedules employees.
• Responsible for employee retention and reducing employee turnover.
• Responsible for coaching, counseling and preparing corrective actions for employees in compliance with the applicable union/collective bargaining agreement(s).
• Reviews and ensures employees in chain of command are in correct cost centers and correct job titles.
• Reviews and ensures union represented employees’ pay rates are correct based on wage scales and seniority.
• Employee must complete all company required training including but not limited to ServSafe
• Compliance with all company required policies, procedures and processes including but not limited to required training

Qualifications

Education:

• Associates degree in the Culinary Arts or a Culinary Arts certification preferred.

Work Experience:

• Minimum 1-3 years of experience as a Chef and/or Sous Chef required.
• Minimum 7 years of experience as a cook required.
• Previous supervisory experience working in a high volume, manufacturing, food production, restaurant or catering environment preferred.
• Minimum 3 years Japanese Cuisine
• In-flight catering experience or experience in a high-volume food service environment preferred.

Job Skills:

• Ability to cook meals according to detailed specifications.
• Ability to work in a fast paced, deadline driven environment.
• Must have strong and effective leadership skills, and the ability to successfully manage a team of cooks.
• Current or previous labor relations experience is a plus, but not required.
• Candidate must be comfortable with all levels of employees and have the ability to drive positive program change.
• Ability to train others required.
• Must have the ability to give negative and positive feedback to employees on a daily basis.
• Excellent time management skills required. Ability to handle multiple tasks without losing focus on priorities.
• Strong organizational, analytical, communication and leadership skills required.
• Must be innovative and have the ability to make changes to the operation as needed to further improve the work environment and unit performance.
• Experience with menu design a plus.
• Basic computer skills required. Working knowledge of Microsoft Office products preferred.

Technical Skills: (Certificates, Licenses and Registration)

• ServSafe Certified is preferred.

Language / Communication Skills:

• Must have excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Bi-lingual in Japanese is a plus.

Job Dimensions

Geographic Responsibility: USA

Type of Employment: Full-Time

Exemption Classification: Exempt

Internal Relationships: all production areas

External Relationships:airline customers

Work Environment / Requirements of the Job:

• Regularly, stands, bends, lifts, and moves intermittently during shifts of 10+ hours.
• In a normal production kitchen facility, there may be physical discomfort due to temperature and noise.
• Must be able to lift, push, pull and move product, equipment, supplies, etc., in excess of twenty-five (25) pounds.
• A rotating schedule of over 55 hours per week is typical.

Budget / Revenue Responsibility: N/A

Organization Structure

Direct Line Manager (Title): Executive Sous Chef, Operations or Executive Chef, Operations

Number of Direct Reports:Up to 40, varies by unit (Head Cook, Specialty Cook, Assistant Cook in Hot Kitchen)

Number of Dotted Line Reports: N/A

Estimated Total Size of Team:Up to 40, varies by unit

Demonstrated Values to be Successful in the Position

Employees at gategroup are expected to live our Values of Excellence, Passion, Responsibility and Respect. To demonstrate these Values, we expect to observe the following from everyone:

• We put the customer at the forefront of everything we do, taking time to understand their needs, wishes and desires.
• We constantly learn by giving and receiving feedback, improving from our mistakes and bettering ourselves.

Passion

• Hospitality, in its purest form, comes down to a single, core principle: care. We do everything with thoughtfulness, attention, and care.
• We have a growth mindset, a resilience that makes us determined to bounce back from failures and setbacks.

Responsibility

• We care about what we do, and we understand the impact we have on others and the planet.
• We always look out for each other –creating a safe workplace environment is everyone’s responsibility.

Respect

• Every job matters. We each do our part to ensure our colleagues and our customers succeed in their goals.
• We respect each other’s voices and foster a workplace that supports inclusion and belonging. We are all one gategroup.

gategroup is an equal opportunity employer committed to workforce diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability status or other category under applicable law.