Senior Sous Chef

Role Overview

Senior Sous Chef at Emirates Flight Catering. The role is based at Emirates Flight Catering operations.

Role Purpose

To lead culinary production and manage kitchen operations across assigned sections, ensuring compliance with airline specifications, food safety standards, and operational procedures while supervising and developing multi-national kitchen staff.

Key Responsibilities

Culinary Production & Quality Control

• Manage production, processes and schedules in assigned areas in accordance with policies, regulations, specifications, recipes and requirements.
• Check and ensure that dishing is correct in weight, presentation and items are prepared as per airline specifications.
• Ensure that food products are colour coded with dates.
• Ensure that Sous chefs and Junior staff follow all developed specifications in terms of portion size, quantity and quality.
• Strictly implement procedures to ensure recipe compliance at all times.
• Conduct daily tasting panels, checks, cascades, briefings and reports as and when applicable.
• Prepare, update and maintain production sheets including separate breakdowns for EK and other airlines for the production and assembly staff.

Compliance & Standards

• Share responsibility with ESC and depute in absence for compliance of all policies, procedures, rules and regulations of the kitchen.
• Supervise staff in the implementation process in their section and report any non-conformance.
• Understand the lean manufacturing standards established by EKFC and support efforts to deploy and maintain best practices that reduce or eliminate the 7 areas of waste in operations.

Staff Management & Development

• Ensure that all assigned production staff carry out their duties in a set time frame to maintain continuity of workflow and prevent subsequent delays in operations.
• Supervise staff in implementation of procedures and propose solutions if non-conformance cannot be corrected immediately.
• Provide feedback and coaching to team members.
• Develop team on proactive attempt at solutions and coach staff on issue management across products, equipment, labour and material topics.
• Delegate effectively to manage material, staff and equipment in the most effective manner.
• Manage any issues focusing on products, equipment, labour and material management.

Problem-Solving & Continuous Improvement

• Find solutions to problems and take corrective action before they occur while handling daily operational activities.
• Actively promote innovative ideas for cost-reduction without compromising on quality.
• Address customer expectations and issues effectively and suggest long-term solutions to anomalies or improvement ideas reported or observed.
• Keep Executive Sous Chefs informed about daily production, problems encountered and actions taken.

Qualifications & Experience

• Hotel Management or Culinary degree.
• Minimum 6 years' experience in the culinary field.
• Hotel Catering equivalent experience in 5 star facility with excellent knowledge in all aspects of cooking and different cuisines (preferred).
• Previous experience in high volume a la carte and/or banqueting in a large kitchen team (preferred).
• Knowledge and experience of food products and processes in a facility with extensive in-house production (preferred).
• Experience in creating recipes, menu development and costing (preferred).

Skills & Competencies

• Excellent knowledge and understanding of all aspects of cooking in various cuisines.
• Demonstrated leadership skills to efficiently manage a large multi-national workforce.
• Ability to provide feedback and coaching.
• Ability to develop self in the current role and beyond.
• Willingness to take on responsibility.
• Effective delegation skills.
• Problem-solving and decision-making ability in real time.
• Creative and out-of-box thinking.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Effective training and communication skills.