Executive Sous Chef

Role Overview

Executive Sous Chef at Emirates Flight Catering, responsible for leading culinary operations and production teams to deliver high-quality meals efficiently and profitably.

Role Purpose

Lead culinary operations and production teams to deliver high-quality meals efficiently and profitably while maintaining strict adherence to food safety, quality assurance, and company procedures.

Key Responsibilities

Production & Team Management

• Develop and manage production team for planning and organizing routine and additional deliverables in the most effective and profitable manner.
• Conduct close supervision and inspection of both process and staff in production units and report findings to ensure that staff performance meets the production deadline and avoids customer delays.
• Guide the team on effective scheduling, customer focus, prioritizing work and adhering to specifications with a focus on correct quality and quantity delivered on-time.
• Work with Executive Chef to develop organizational hierarchy through recruitments, trainings and guidance with long-term succession planning of the department, verifying potential key performers recommended by reporting levels.

Operations & Quality Assurance

• Manage material, staff and equipment in the most effective manner to ensure on-time high quality deliveries in strict adherence to all laid down procedures.
• Ensure all developed specifications in terms of portion size, quantity and quality are effectively followed in the kitchen.
• Oversee the development and implementation of new dishes by ensuring that assigned production staff fully understand the requirements of each new dish to maintain client requirements.
• Adhere and apply all systems and procedures applicable in the workplace in accordance with company policies including but not limited to SOPs, GMPs, ISO9001-2008 QMS, and OHSAS.

Cost Control & Waste Management

• Evaluate statistics on wastage and ensure that food is prepared economically and establish controls to minimize food and supply wastage.
• Streamline menu components for cost suitability through economies of scale and production consolidation ideas.
• Prepare and report necessary data for applicable parts of the budget; support in projecting annual food, labor and other costs and monitor actual financial results; propose corrective actions as necessary to help assure that financial goals for the unit are met.

Menu Development & Innovation

• Attend and manage menu presentations actively involving in product design and development as deemed necessary.
• Propose innovative logistics solutions to Senior Management as per industry standards to improve rotation of stocks, FIFO, procurement forecasting and production planning.

Customer Focus & Issue Resolution

• Address customer expectations and issues upfront and find long-term solutions to any anomalies or improvement ideas reported or observed.
• Maintain the departmental focus and outlook towards customer satisfaction and a positive experience delivery.

Qualifications & Experience

• Hotel Management or Culinary degree.
• Minimum of 7 years' experience in the culinary field.
• Knowledge and experience of food products and processes in a facility with extensive in-house production.
• Extensive experience with business management software applications in a catering environment.
• Significant exposure to Lean Management, Occupational Health & Safety and Quality Assurance management.
• Excellent knowledge and understanding of all aspects of cooking in various cuisines.
• Experience in creating recipes, menu development and costing.

Skills & Competencies

• Problem solving and decision making ability in real time, creative and out of box thinking.
• Strong organizational skills, effective training and communication skills.
• Attention to detail and quality.
• Ability to develop himself or herself in the current role and beyond.
• Willingness to take on responsibility and able to delegate tasks efficiently.