Sous Chef

Production Sous Chef

We are Farm To People: a fast-growing farmer’s market delivery service that offers New Yorkers a wide curation of products by local farmers and makers! Our mission is to reimagine the food system by supporting small farmers and producers, all while providing customers an unmatched grocery experience.

The Role

Farm to People's commissary kitchen produces our prepared foods line seven days a week, and the Production Sous Chef is the person who keeps that floor running. You'll own daily execution end to end, from station setup and prep sequencing to batch quality sign-off and the food safety program as it's practiced every shift. That means leading and training the production team, holding walk-in and storage discipline, and making sure what leaves the kitchen matches spec. Expect to split your time between the floor and the desk. 

Responsibilities

Production & Quality

• Own the production floor during operating hours, including station assignments, prep sequencing, pacing, and real-time problem solving so daily targets are met.
• Set up clear stations and defined responsibilities so every cook knows where they work, what they own, and who to ask.
• Execute the daily production schedule, flagging capacity or supply constraints early rather than absorbing them.
• Own how the daily prep list is built and published, working with purchasing and the Culinary R&D Associate so the day's work is set before the shift starts rather than added to mid-shift.
• Give final quality sign-off that batches are made to spec before they move to packaging.
• Resolve production issues as they happen and escalate what you can't solve, with a recommended fix.
• Work stations directly alongside the team when volume or absence requires it.
• Own walk-in and dry storage organization, labeling, dating, and FIFO discipline, and keep them that way rather than resetting them monthly.
• Own receiving accuracy, checking deliveries in and reporting short, damaged, or substituted items to purchasing same day.
• Run cycle counts and report yield and waste issues along with your read on the cause.
• Support food cost targets through portion accuracy, yield discipline, and utilization of product at risk.

Team & Systems

• Train cooks on recipes, technique, station procedure, and food safety, and verify in production that what was trained is what's being done.
• Give real-time direction and correction, and follow up with coaching so the same fix isn't needed weekly.
• Give documented feedback and write-ups where performance or reliability isn't meeting standard. Recommend separation to management where a pattern isn't correcting.
• Communicate fluidly with a bilingual English and Spanish team so instructions and standards land the same way for everyone.
• Build and run the weekly production schedule, staffing to forecast volume, managing coverage and time-off, and flagging overtime before it happens.
• Onboard new cooks and bring them up to standard on stations, recipes, and food safety in their first weeks.
• Build a floor where expectations are clear, standards are consistent, and people are corrected respectfully.
• Build and maintain the prep sheets, station guides, and SOPs the team works from, and simplify them where they're causing confusion or delay.
• Translate and adapt station and food safety documentation into Spanish so the whole team can use it.
• Keep our recipe management and kitchen software accurate as products change, in partnership with the Culinary R&D Associate.

Food Safety & Compliance

• Execute and enforce our food safety and sanitation program every shift, including sanitizer preparation, labeling and testing, temperature and cooling logs, thawing procedures, raw protein handling, allergen separation, and personal hygiene and uniform standards.
• Keep all required logs complete and accurate daily so the kitchen is inspection-ready at any time, not on notice.
• Set and enforce uniform, hair covering, and hygiene standards, including removing a team member from the floor to correct a violation.
• Correct unsafe or non-compliant practice on the spot and escalate repeat issues promptly.
• Support DOH and HACCP audits and complete assigned corrective actions.
• Hold the team to daily and weekly cleaning standards, including close-out.

Five days per week, on-site in Brooklyn, including at least one weekend day. Specific days set with the Kitchen Operations Manager, who this position reports to.

• 3+ years in a commissary, central, or high-volume production kitchen, including experience supervising a team.
• Fluent in English and Spanish, spoken and written, including the ability to train and document in both.
• A systems thinker who fixes the process rather than the symptom. 
• Experience writing SOPs, prep sheets, station guides, or training materials.
• Experience onboarding, training, scheduling, and coaching staff, with a consistent approach to accountability.
• DOH Food Protection Certificate required. HACCP training and raw protein experience at volume preferred.
• Comfortable with the numbers side of a kitchen: production counts, yields, waste, labor hours, and Google Sheets.
• Organized by instinct. You label, date, and rotate without being asked.
• Calm and direct under pressure, and passionate about local food systems and supporting small producers.

This is an exempt salaried position, paid $70,000 - $75,000 / year depending on experience.

Benefits include: 

• Take home food at the end of the day. 
• 30% discount on Farm to People.
• Up to 70% coverage of health insurance. 
• Working for a mission driven company that makes a difference!