Chef Job Descriptions have an important role to play both before and after you recruit a chef. Job Descriptions set out the standards of work which apply to your position and a set of reasonable boundaries which apply to the job. They often form the basis, if not the entire boilerplate text, of chef job contracts too. If you’re employing chefs then you need chef job descriptions.
Chef Job Descriptions Vs Chef Job Advertising
As a sidebar, we’ve discussed the issue of Chef Job Descriptions in Chef Job Advertising elsewhere, so please do take a look, but the short version is that using Job Descriptions raw in your advertising copy is a terrible approach if you’re serious about attracting top culinary talent. Our advice is: don’t do it, that’s really not what job descriptions are designed to do.
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The focus in this section is to provide useful and actionable information you can use when writing Chef Job Descriptions for your business and the nature of the Job Descriptions we’re offering help with is very much of the old school variety. In an age of chef scarcity there are real issues with this approach that it’s only fair to warn you about upfront, so we strongly recommend reading this and perhaps even this before proceeding with the more orthodox approach covered in these pages.
Job Description Scope and Detail
Chef Job Descriptions vary greatly in both content and scope. As a Chef Recruitment Agency we’ve worked with job descriptions which are so light on detail as to be barely worth the trouble of writing and, at the other extreme, so detailed, so specific, so lengthy, so granular and so all encompassing that we think, it’s safe to say, that any chef signing up to them is signing onto a job description that, on any given day, they’ll find themselves in breach of at least several clauses within.
One important thing to bear in mind about these documents is that, to be useful, these job descriptions shouldn’t be so detailed that, before accepting them, your chefs would feel obliged to run them by a solicitor. At them same time they do need to be detailed enough to set out the scope and standards of work to be achieved, and standards of conduct to be observed in the workplace. That said there are, in most jurisdictions, codes of conduct legally applicable to the workplace which it’s unnecessary to duplicate in your Chef Job Description.
Employers and Catering Managers in hospitality businesses are often so pressed for time that they either neglect to have any Chef Job Descriptions or else search for generic job descriptions which they hope will “do the job.” This isn’t an approach we recommend. You really need to properly define the roles, responsibilities and standards which apply to your business and ensure that any job description complies with the laws to which you and your business are specifically subject.
That noted we do understand that you need to begin you project somewhere. That’s why we’ve made available “sample” down-loadable Chef Job Description templates that you are free to consult and use to help get you past that initial obstacle of “blank page syndrome.” However once you’re past that point do remember to do your due diligence on each and every job description, or have it done for you by an employment law specialist, before putting them into practice.
Depending on where you intend to begin we suggest you take a look at the following pages. They each contain a “sample” downloadable Chef Job Description template.
Executive Chef
The most senior role within any kitchen. This is the person responsible for all aspects of the kitchen, for all the kitchen staff and who is ultimately responsible for their own and their staff’s KPI’s. For more details, and a sample Executive Head Chef Job Description click here.
Head Chef
In smaller business the Head Chef is analogous to an Executive Chef. In larger and more complex catering operations this position in immediately beneath the Executive Chef. For more details, and a sample Head Chef Job Description click here.
Sous Chef
Operating immediately above Chef De Partie level and reporting directly to, according to context, either a Head Chef, or Executive Chef the Sous Chef’s responsibilities are an almost equal distribution of the operational and the supervisory. For more details, and a sample Sous Chef Job Description click here.
Chef De Partie
The Chef De Partie is responsible for a specific section within the kitchen and while this job is overwhelmingly operational in larger kitchens it often involves a supervisory component too. For more details, and a sample Chef De Partie Job Description click here.
To learn more about TOPCHEFS and to obtain full and up-todate information how we can help you find the chefs you need call us on (01) 633 4053. In the business of managing your chef catering recruitment, it’s the only number you’ll ever need!
