Sous Chef

Position Summary

The Sous Chef supports the daily success of Mateo’s café and commissary kitchens through hands-on leadership, production planning, and team supervision. Working closely with the Verve Culinary Management, this position organizes workflow, maintains recipe and food safety standards, develops employees, and helps ensure food is produced accurately, efficiently, and on time. The Sous Chef is expected to work alongside the team while taking ownership of routine operational decisions within delegated authority.

Kitchen Leadership & Production

Plan and coordinate daily prep and production based on pars, sales demand, inventory, and operational priorities.

Assign work to Shift Leads, cooks, prep cooks, and dishwashers; monitor progress and adjust workflow as needed.

Work directly in production while maintaining oversight of café and commissary operations.

Escalate significant staffing, production, equipment, and service issues.

Food Quality & Safety

Maintain consistent execution of approved recipes, scaling, portions, presentation, and product quality.

Conduct quality checks and address deviations promptly.

Reinforce food safety, sanitation, labeling, dating, FIFO, and safe equipment practices.

Ensure stations, storage areas, and equipment are clean and organized at shift handoff.

People Leadership & Labor

Train, coach, and support team members and Shift Leads; identify performance and development needs.

Monitor attendance, timekeeping, breaks, and overtime trends; report exceptions to management.

Recommend daily staffing adjustments and more efficient labor allocation without compromising standards.

Support an accountable, respectful, and collaborative kitchen culture.

Inventory & Operational Improvement

Support inventory counts, receiving, ordering coordination, and accurate ingredient usage reporting.

Identify opportunities to reduce waste, improve portion consistency, and maintain appropriate pars.

Help develop and implement production procedures, training tools, and workflow improvements.

Communicate shortages, vendor concerns, and cost or productivity.

Qualifications

At least three years of professional kitchen experience, including experience leading or training others preferred.

Strong culinary fundamentals, organization, communication, and problem-solving skills.

Experience with standardized recipes, production planning, inventory practices, and food safety.

Ability to work hands-on across café and commissary environments and adapt to changing priorities.

Flexible availability, including weekends and holidays as business needs require; required California food safety certification.

Leadership & Decision-Making

The Sous Chef is responsible for coordinating daily execution and supporting the team’s performance. Larger decisions involving hiring, discipline, schedules, purchasing authority, menu changes, and significant changes to pars or operating procedures remain with Verve Culinary Management unless expressly delegated.

Compensation & Benefits

Pay range, employment classification, and benefits eligibility to be confirmed before publication. Verve Coffee Roasters is an equal-opportunity employer.