Executive Sous Chef

Summary

Main Duties and responsibilities:

Operational:

• Work closely with other employees in a supportive and flexible manner, focusing on the overall success of the hotel and the satisfaction of hotel guests.

• Buys locally available fresh products wherever possible and has limited menus which are changed frequently to ensure the guest is always offered a variety of food items.

• Participates in planning menus and utilisation of food surpluses and leftovers, taking into account probable number of guests, market conditions, and popularity of various dishes and frequency of menu.

• Reviews menus, analyses recipes, determines food, labour, overhead costs and assigns prices to menu items.

• Directs food apportionment policy to control costs. • Introduces and tests the market with new products which are market-orientated in terms of price and product.

• Serves fresh food to the guests which is prepared a la minute, is consistent in quality, and which reflects the style of the outlet concept.

• Supervises cooking and other kitchen personnel and co-ordinates their assignments to ensure economical and timely food production.

• Observes methods of food preparation and cooking, sizes of portions, and garnishing of foods to ensure food is prepared in prescribed manner.

• Tests cooked foods before plate-up and service. • Estimates food consumption and purchases or requisitions of foodstuffs and kitchen supplies.

• Devises special dishes and develops innovative recipes. • Establishes and enforces nutrition and sanitation standards for outlet kitchen.

• Encourages the team to be supportive of Food and Beverage Division’s marketing and up-selling activities.

• Responds to the results of the Consumer Audit and ensures that the relevant changes are implemented. Administrative:

• Assists to ensure that culinary activities are aligned with the respective Corporate Strategy, and that the Hotel Actions have been implemented where appropriate.

• Assists in the preparation and updates of individual Departmental Operations Manuals.

• Assists to conduct regular communications meetings and ensure that departmental briefings and meetings are effective and conducted as necessary.

Financial:

• Maximises employee productivity through the use of multi-skilling, multi-tasking and flexible scheduling to meet the financial goals of the business as well as the expectations of the guests.

• Focuses attention on improving productivity levels and the need to prudently manage utility/payroll costs within acceptable guidelines ensuring optimum deployment and energy efficiency of all equipment.

• Ensures new technology and equipment are embraced, improving productivity whilst taking work out of the system.

People:

• Provides a courteous and professional service at all times.

• Ensures that employees also provide excellent service to internal customers in other departments as appropriate.

• Handles guest and employee enquiries in a courteous and efficient manner, reporting complaints or problems if no immediate solution can be found, whilst providing a prompt follow-up.

• Maintains positive guest and colleague interactions with good working relationships.

Marketing

• Continuously seeks ways to assist the Outlet management to maximise their revenues and profits through innovative recipes.

Personnel

• Assists in the recruitment and selection of culinary employees as appropriate. Adheres to hotel guidelines when recruiting and uses a competency-based approach to selecting employees.

• Through hands-on management, closely supervises the Kitchen employees in the performance of their duties and ensures this is in accordance with policies \& procedures and applicable law.

• Assists to oversee the punctuality and appearance of all Kitchen employees, making sure that they wear the correct uniform and maintain a high standard of personal appearance and hygiene, according to the hotel and department’s grooming standards.

• Delegates appropriately, duties and responsibilities to equipped and resourced employees, nurturing and developing them whilst ensuring standards of operation and safety are maintained.

• Develops the skills and effectiveness of all Kitchen employees through the appropriate training, coaching, and/or mentoring.

• Ensures effective training programmes for employees in coordination with the Training Manager and their Departmental Trainers.

• Encourages employees to be creative and innovative, challenging and recognising them for their contribution to the success of the operation.

• Assists to conduct annual Performance Development Discussions with employees and support them in their professional development goals.

• Ensures that employees have a complete understanding of and adhere to employee rules and regulations.

• Ensures that employees follow all hotel, company and local rules, policies and regulations relating to fire and hazard safety, and security.

Other Duties

• Is knowledgeable in statutory legislation in employee and industrial relations.

• Understands and strictly adheres to Rules and Regulations established in the Employee Handbook and the Hotel’s policies concerning fire, hygiene and health and safety.

• Ensures high standards of personal presentation and grooming.

• Responds to changes in the Food and Beverage function as dictated by the industry, company and hotel.

• Attends training sessions and meetings as and when required. • Carries out any other reasonable duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Leadership Profile:

Leaders at all levels should lead by example and be role models of the values of the organization on an ongoing basis to the entire workforce. This reinforces the sincerity and depth of the organization’s values and its purpose.

Care

Caring leaders build trust and engagement by cultivating genuine relationships. The capacity to care for one another is one of the strongest of all human traits. At the center of caring is empathy. Leaders exhibit empathy when they connect personally and deeply with those around them.

Serve

Serving leaders create success for and through others. Such leaders are motivated by service to the higher purpose, the business and its stakeholders – not by the pursuit of power or personal gain. The success of these leaders is gauged by the success of others. They don’t try to solve all problems or to have all of the answer they thrive by unleashing others in pursuit of goals. They understand and take direct responsibility for growing the next generation of leaders.

Learn

Learning leaders are inspired by learning and they take pride in further developing themselves. They are not afraid of – and they learn from – mistakes and failures. They make the intentional decision to continue to learn and grow throughout their lives, challenging themselves to be and do more, and gaining broader experiences. With their high learning agility and ability to be vulnerable, they reflect on and learn from experience, apply that learning to perform successfully under new or first-time conditions and share their learning, and themselves, with others.

Adapt

Adaptive leaders demonstrate agility in the face of continuous change. They anticipate and thrive in changing environments where diversity of thought fosters innovation and creativity. They have the ability to create a climate where individuals can take risk, experiment, and learn from failure: often times with great speed. Adapting leaders constantly think about what changes are needed to stay relevant in the marketplace and to fulfill the organization’s purpose.

Achieve

Achieving leaders prioritize and do what is best for the business. They are outcome oriented and understand that superior financial performance benefits all stakeholders. They are bold, strategic and future-oriented. They see the big picture, understand how the different components of a system interconnect and behave over time, and help make sense out of complexity by simplifying. They possess sound judgment and can make quick decisions when needed.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5-10 years of professional culinary experience in established kitchens
• Minimum 3-5 years in a supervisory or leadership role within a kitchen environment
• Proven experience in fine dining, upscale restaurants, or premium hospitality establishments
• Experience managing kitchen budgets, inventory, and food cost controls