Sous Chef

Job Description

Job Description

Riverdale Country School, a Pre-K through Grade 12 independent all-gender school in New York City, is dedicated to inspiring students to live meaningful and purpose-driven lives. The school achieves this by fostering a culture of academic excellence, critical thinking, and curiosity, supported by a diverse and inclusive community. Riverdale emphasizes both high challenge and high support in its approach to education, encouraging students to engage deeply in interdisciplinary learning, research, and experiential education, both inside and outside the classroom and beyond our campuses. This holistic approach aims to develop well-rounded individuals who are prepared to make a positive impact on the world.

At Riverdale, we strive to reflect the diversity of the New York metropolitan area in our students, faculty, and staff. We believe that a diverse and inclusive community enriches the educational experience and is integral to our mission. With a student body of approximately 1,300 students from 117 different zip codes, Riverdale is a vibrant community where 48% of our students identify as students of color. 

We seek to employ educators and leaders who bring a student-centered approach, passion for their work, a commitment to DEIB, and a desire to contribute to the growth and development of our entire school community.

Riverdale Country School is a Pre-K through grade 12 independent school in New York City committed to empowering lifelong learners by developing minds, building character, and creating community in order to change our world for the good. Riverdale seeks to reflect that belonging is the foundational core of community building in how we work collaboratively and support the school’s mission and empowers all community members to thrive in mind, character, and community. Riverdale enrolls about 1,300 students who collectively reside in 117 different zip codes.

We seek to employ people who engage in all aspects of work with a student-centered approach, an open mind, passion, and a willingness to support the greater community.

This is a full-time, exempt position that directly supervises Culinary team members. You will report to the Assistant Culinary Director and Culinary Director at your campus. The Sous Chef is responsible for supervising the execution of the preparation and cooking of all food items for daily foodservice and special events. The ideal candidate will help facilitate and cultivate the spirit of farm to table food. You will help contribute to the structure and organization of our current culinary program. We are looking for someone with the ability to think strategically, communicate effectively and interact professionally with a diverse group of students, parents, peers, managers and vendors.

Principal Qualifications:

• Minimum of five years large volume cooking experience along with two years experience managing a team in a food service environment.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to work in a team environment and demonstrate excellent customer service.
• Must have the ability to lead and support the kitchen staff.
• Must be able to understand verbal and written instructions.
• Holds a valid NYC DOH Food Protection Certificate.
• Must be knowledgeable and able to manage and comply with Health Department and other governmental agency regulations.
• Must have extensive knowledge of food preparation and production for volume restaurant and banquet facility.
• Individual is responsible for achieving on site certifications provided by employer

Required Skill Sets:

• Knowledge of various cuisines and cultural foods with emphasis on sustainable sourcing.
• Following and supporting standards set in place for the kitchen and ensure the team is able to follow.
• Attend training sessions, on site and off site.
• Responsible for overseeing preparation and execution of daily menus, ensuring production of desired quality and necessary quantity of food.
• Create daily individual work plans for team members for each shift.
• Work with team to ensure menu items are displayed in a proper manner.
• Work with front of house team to ensure an excellent level of customer service at all times.
• Provide additional training and mentorship as needed ny the culinary team.
• Communicate with the management team to maintain the level of food quality that is expected.
• Liaison between culinary team and management.
• Communicate any issues to the team which could affect the service before each meal period; menu changes, allergens, ingredients changes, etc...
• Knowledge of food product, identification, and acceptable level of food quality.
• Must know methods of food preparation, cooking times, and portion sizes to ensure food is prepared in a prescribed manner.
• Evaluate food quality and preparedness by tasting everything.
• Ensure food is stored at the appropriate temperature for the appropriate length of time and follows all food safety standards.
• Sets up/Breaks down kitchen.
• Maintains a clean, safe and sanitary work station, equipment, and utensils.
• Maintain production records (food usage, overages, shortages, customer counts, etc.)
• Maintain established logs (food temperatures, cooling temperatures, cooler & freezer temperatures, etc.)
• Communicate with management regarding food product that needs to be ordered for upcoming production.
• Report safety hazards discovered in the location to management immediately additional job functions.
• Completion of additional tasks requested by a management team.
• Responsible for receiving deliveries and proper storage of all items.
• Assist the Director of Food Services and Assistant Director of Food Services in any area as needed.

Requirements:

• Degree in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management or equivalent experience preferred.
• A minimum of 2-4 years progressive culinary management experience.
• Strong leadership and coaching skills and the ability to train others.
• NYC Food Handlers certification, ServSafe certification and Allertrain certification.

Work Environment

The work environment can be loud and busy. There are many kitchen hazards such as hot surfaces and liquids, sharp knives, and slippery floors. Ability to lift, move and/or transport up to 40 pounds is required.

Work Hours - (some days may vary) Monday-Friday 6:00am-2:30pm some evenings & weekends required.Salary or Hourly rate:

To apply for this position, please click on the red “Apply for this Job” button. Please submit a resume and cover letter.  If there are pronouns we should use in potential future communications, we invite you to share that information with us.  For information about this position and all open positions, please visit the Careers page of Riverdale’s website.

Benefits of Full Time Work at Riverdale Country School

Working at Riverdale Country School is a purposeful and meaningful career choice that comes with many benefits including:  

Transportation: Shuttle service is available to/from the 242nd St / Broadway subway station. Limited stops are also available near transit hubs in Manhattan including the Metro North Harlem Station and subway lines – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, N, Q, R, A, B, C, and D. If there is need in the community, we can also run a shuttle from the Henry Hudson Parkway / 246th St bus stop which connects to the #7, #10, and Express Buses to/from Manhattan.

Professional Development: A generous professional-development budget provides for conferences, skills training, and onsite training in areas such as mindfulness, coaching, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Grants and Stipends: All employees are eligible for Frankel Fellow grants, known as “passion grants,” which pay for enrichment activities. More than 120 grants have been made to faculty and staff since the program started in 2014. Stipends are available for coaching, affinity group facilitation, advising clubs with significant out-of-school time, and chaperoning trips (including global trips!).

Sabbatical: Full time teaching faculty are eligible for a sabbatical after 10 years of employment.  

Health Benefits: Riverdale offers and subsidizes health, dental, and vision insurance.  In addition, the school offers a flexible spending account through which employees can use pre-tax dollars to pay for health-related expenses.  

Retirement:  Employees are eligible to join our Defined Contribution retirement plan through TIAA.  The school contributes 7% of an employee's annual salary to their retirement account.  

Vacation: Riverdale Country School has a generous time-off policy for staff in addition to vacations afforded by the school calendar.  

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.