Sous Chef

Sous Chef Position

The Sous Chef is responsible for overseeing the daily culinary operations of Reverb by Hard Rock Atlanta, ensuring consistent food quality, operational efficiency, cleanliness, food safety, inventory control, and financial accountability across all food service outlets.

This position serves as the primary hands-on culinary leader responsible for coordinating kitchen operations, managing food production, supervising culinary employees, controlling food costs, maintaining sanitation standards, and ensuring all food and beverage outlets operate according to established hotel standards.

The Sous Chef will work closely with the Director of Food & Beverage, outlet management teams, and hotel leadership to support the property's financial objectives, enhance guest satisfaction, improve employee performance, and maintain consistent culinary standards.

The successful candidate must demonstrate strong leadership, organizational skills, accountability, operational discipline, and the ability to manage multiple food service operations simultaneously.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

1. Purchasing, Ordering & Vendor Management

The Sous Chef is directly responsible for managing food purchasing and ordering for all culinary operations throughout the property.

• Complete and submit all food orders accurately and within established vendor deadlines.
• Maintain sufficient inventory to support breakfast, lunch, dinner, Grab N Go, rooftop operations, and banquet events.
• Develop and maintain appropriate par levels for all food products based on business volume, historical sales, occupancy, and upcoming events.
• Review hotel occupancy forecasts, event calendars, BEOs, and anticipated business levels before placing orders.
• Prevent overordering, unnecessary purchases, emergency orders, and excessive inventory.
• Monitor food costs and identify opportunities to reduce expenses without compromising food quality.
• Maintain positive working relationships with approved food vendors and distributors.
• Verify all deliveries for accuracy, quantity, quality, temperature, expiration dates, and product condition.
• Immediately address shortages, incorrect deliveries, damaged products, and quality concerns with vendors.
• Ensure invoices, packing slips, credits, and delivery discrepancies are documented and submitted according to accounting procedures.
• Maintain accurate purchasing records and communicate significant price increases or product substitutions.
• Ensure all purchasing follows established company approval processes and budget guidelines.
• Obtain approval for purchases outside established budgets or approved vendor arrangements.

Accountability: Ordering must be proactive, accurate, cost-conscious, and sufficient to maintain uninterrupted food service throughout the property.

2. Culinary Scheduling, Staffing & Labor Management

The Sous Chef is responsible for preparing, managing, and monitoring culinary staffing schedules.

• Prepare and submit weekly culinary schedules for review and approval according to established deadlines.
• Schedule employees based on business forecasts, hotel occupancy, reservations, banquet events, and anticipated volume.
• Ensure adequate culinary coverage for Constant Grind, RT60, Grab N Go, and banquet operations.
• Monitor scheduled labor hours against budgeted labor targets.
• Minimize unnecessary overtime while maintaining appropriate staffing levels.
• Coordinate employee breaks, shift coverage, call-outs, and staffing adjustments.
• Address attendance, tardiness, unauthorized overtime, and scheduling concerns promptly.
• Ensure employees are assigned to appropriate workstations according to experience, qualifications, and operational needs.
• Coordinate culinary staffing requirements with banquet and outlet management teams.
• Cross-train culinary employees to support multiple outlets and improve staffing flexibility.
• Review timekeeping records for accuracy and report discrepancies.
• Maintain staffing contingency plans for high-volume events, unexpected absences, and business fluctuations.
• Recommend staffing adjustments and additional personnel when operationally necessary.

Accountability: Culinary labor must be properly scheduled, financially controlled, and aligned with operational demand.

3. Kitchen Cleaning, Sanitation & Facility Maintenance

The Sous Chef is responsible for ensuring all kitchen, food preparation, storage, and dishwashing areas remain clean, organized, sanitary, and inspection-ready.

• Develop, implement, and enforce daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning schedules.
• Assign cleaning responsibilities to individual employees and verify completion.
• Conduct daily walkthroughs of all kitchen and food storage areas.
• Ensure equipment, prep tables, cutting boards, floors, walls, drains, shelving, coolers, freezers, and dishwashing areas are properly cleaned.
• Establish and maintain a documented monthly deep-cleaning program.
• Ensure food preparation and storage areas remain free of food debris, grease accumulation, mold, and unnecessary clutter.
• Monitor proper cleaning and sanitizing procedures for utensils, cookware, and food-contact surfaces.
• Ensure cleaning chemicals are properly labeled, stored, and used according to manufacturer instructions.
• Inspect refrigerators, freezers, ice machines, ovens, fryers, grills, and other kitchen equipment for cleanliness.
• Immediately report maintenance and equipment deficiencies to Engineering and the Director of Food & Beverage.
• Ensure trash removal, recycling, grease disposal, and waste management procedures are consistently followed.
• Maintain cleaning checklists and sanitation verification records.
• Conduct regular inspections to confirm employees are completing assigned cleaning duties.

Accountability: All culinary areas must remain clean, safe, organized, and ready for inspection at all times. Cleaning assignments are not considered complete until verified.

4. Food Safety, Health Department Compliance & HACCP

The Sous Chef is accountable for maintaining proper food safety practices throughout every culinary operation.

• Ensure compliance with applicable Georgia food service regulations, local health department requirements, and company food safety policies.
• Maintain an active Certified Food Protection Manager credential, such as ServSafe Manager, as required by the property and applicable regulations.
• Enforce proper food receiving, handling, preparation, cooking, cooling, reheating, holding, and storage procedures.
• Ensure all food products are properly labeled, dated, rotated, and stored.
• Implement and consistently enforce First In, First Out (FIFO) procedures.
• Monitor expiration dates and discard expired, spoiled, contaminated, or otherwise unsafe food products immediately.
• Ensure appropriate food temperatures are maintained and recorded according to established procedures.
• Verify proper use of thermometers, temperature logs, and cooling records.
• Prevent cross-contamination through proper storage, equipment handling, sanitation, and employee practices.
• Ensure appropriate handling of allergens and special dietary requests.
• Monitor personal hygiene, handwashing, glove usage, employee illness reporting, and safe food handling practices.
• Conduct daily inspections of refrigerators, freezers, dry storage, prep areas, and ready-to-eat products.
• Immediately correct food safety violations and document corrective actions.
• Prepare culinary operations for routine and unannounced health inspections.
• Maintain required food safety training documentation and inspection records.
• Report serious food safety concerns immediately to the Director of Food & Beverage.

Accountability: Zero tolerance for knowingly serving expired, spoiled, contaminated, or unsafe food. All identified food safety deficiencies require immediate corrective action.

5. Constant Grind Culinary Operations

The Sous Chef is responsible for overseeing culinary production and execution for Constant Grind, including breakfast and other scheduled food service.

• Oversee daily breakfast preparation, production, presentation, and replenishment.
• Ensure breakfast buffet items are properly prepared, presented, labeled, and maintained at safe temperatures.
• Monitor buffet quality, freshness, cleanliness, and food availability throughout service.
• Ensure consistent execution of à la carte breakfast and café menu items.
• Maintain established portion sizes, recipes, presentation standards, and food quality.
• Ensure sufficient food preparation is completed before each service period.
• Monitor ticket times and address delays immediately.
• Coordinate with front-of-house management regarding guest volume, service expectations, and menu availability.
• Monitor breakfast food waste and adjust production according to occupancy and demand.
• Ensure proper opening, shift-change, and closing procedures.
• Maintain an organized and properly stocked kitchen throughout operating hours.

6. RT60 Rooftop Culinary Operations

The Sous Chef is responsible for maintaining consistent food execution