What are the responsibilities and job description for the Sous Chef position at Saz's Hospitality Group?
Description
Saz's Catering is looking for an experienced full-time Sous Chef who is passionate about delivering the finest food to our guests. This is a floor-first leadership role — you'll spend the majority of your time in the kitchen leading culinary team members across our permanent facilities, event spaces, and client venues. Operating with an ownership mindset, the Sous Chef supports the Executive Chef and Executive Sous Chef in managing daily operations, upholds the highest standards of food quality and production, and helps foster a culture that reflects the mission, vision, and core values of our organization.
What You’ll Do
- Spend the majority of your time on the floor leading cooks through prep, firing, and quality control — stepping in to coach, correct, and set the standard in real time
- Supervise kitchen staff through Chef de Parties, ensuring smooth production, timely execution, and consistent adherence to all kitchen systems across every shift
- Assign daily tasks and manage prep lists, verifying cart and food accuracy against upcoming event needs and holding the team accountable for completed production going into the next day
- Create fire timelines and lead teams through the simultaneous execution of multiple catering events, meeting both quality and timing standards
- Lead off-site and mobile kitchen operations independently, including full setup and execution without direct executive oversight
- Ensure quality across all food production by monitoring accuracy, taste, presentation, timeliness, and consistency — correcting issues as they arise
- Train new hires and developing team members through hands-on coaching, and lead daily team meetings and regular one-on-ones focused on performance and growth
- Execute employee discipline as needed and hold staff accountable to kitchen standards and company policy
- Maintain HACCP compliance through daily logs, reporting, and sanitation procedures — supporting health inspections as assigned
- Manage daily inventory, stock rotation, proper labeling, and vendor ordering, and assist with monthly inventory counts
- Monitor daily labor through accurate timekeeping, attendance tracking, and management of missed or late punches
- Collaborate with culinary leadership on menu development, recipe creation and standardization, pricing, and customization
- Lead client tastings and address menu-related questions as a knowledgeable representative of the culinary team
Schedule - Average 50 hours per week with availability for evenings, weekends, early mornings, and holidays
Requirements
- 5 years of progressive culinary experience with supervisory responsibility, with formal culinary training; or 8 years without
- Catering or contract culinary experience preferred
- Current ServSafe certification
- Valid driver's license
- Spanish language skills a plus
Saz’s State House opened in 1976, and we’ve grown for 50 years. Today, Saz’s Hospitality Group offers amazing catering, festivals, and retail throughout Southeastern Wisconsin. True to our roots, we focus on building a team of caring and committed individuals who believe in stellar service to our guests and each other. We’re also proud to be a NINE-time recipient of the Top Workplace Award! Please be sure to visit Sazs.com to learn more.
At Saz's, we take care of our team. Benefits include health, dental, and vision insurance, paid vacation, 401(k), company-paid telemedicine coverage, annual shoe stipends, referral bonuses, and generous restaurant and catering discounts. Eligibility is based on employment status and appropriate waiting period.
At Saz’s, we want you to be YOU – we celebrate everyone for who they are. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills – creating an inclusive environment for all team members.?