Senior LevelSous Chef Resume Example

Use this free senior levelsous chef resume sample as your starting point, then tailor it for your experience level and target job.

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Sous Chef Resume Template (senior level)

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Professional Summary

Senior Sous Chef with a track record of leading the back of house, controlling food and labor cost, and developing menus alongside the executive chef. Drives kitchen efficiency, mentors the line, and consistently passes health inspections.

Professional Experience

Senior Sous ChefJan 2020 - Present

Larkspur Restaurant Group, Chicago, IL

Ran back-of-house operations for a 220-cover restaurant, holding food cost at 29% and labor at 27% of sales across a $2M kitchen.
Developed 14 seasonal menu items with the executive chef, standardizing recipes and yields to protect margins.
Led a 14-cook line, built weekly schedules, and maintained zero critical health violations over 18 months.

Sous ChefJun 2016 - Dec 2019

Maple & Ash House, Chicago, IL

Expedited dinner service for 180 covers per night, coordinating five stations to hold ticket times under 13 minutes.
Reduced food cost from 34% to 29% through par-level ordering, FIFO rotation, and vendor renegotiation.
Trained 10 line cooks and cut kitchen waste 20% with cross-utilization prep and daily waste logs.

Line CookJul 2014 - May 2016

Union Street Grill, Milwaukee, WI

Ran the saute and grill stations for 200-cover services with a recook rate under 2%.
Executed full-menu mise en place and prep lists ahead of every service.
Maintained HACCP sanitation standards supporting consistent county inspection scores above 95%.

Skills

Kitchen leadership, Menu development, Food and labor cost control, Expediting, Vendor relations, Staff training, HACCP compliance, Scheduling

Education

Associate of Occupational Studies, Culinary ArtsMay 2014

Kendall College School of Culinary Arts

Certifications

ServSafe Manager
ACF Certified Sous Chef (CSC)
Allergen Awareness Certification

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Key Skills for Sous Chef

Kitchen leadershipMenu developmentFood and labor cost controlExpeditingVendor relationsStaff trainingHACCP complianceScheduling

ATS Keywords for Sous Chef

Use these naturally in your summary, skills, and experience when they reflect your background.

Sous Chefkitchen leadershipmenu developmentfood costlabor costHACCPServSafe ManagerACF Certified Sous Chefvendor relationsexpeditingstaff trainingback of house

How to Write a Senior Level Sous Chef Resume

At the senior level, this resume must prove you run the whole back of house, not just a station: food and labor cost you own, menus you develop, schedules you build, cooks you mentor, and inspections you pass. Lead with kitchen-wide impact and the numbers that show you keep a service and a budget under control.

Resume Writing Tips

Lead with cost and revenue scope

State the food cost and labor cost percentages you held and the kitchen revenue you managed, since a senior sous chef is judged on protecting margins across a whole operation, not just cooking a clean plate.

Show menu and vendor ownership

Describe menu items you developed with the executive chef and vendor relationships you managed, including how recipe standardization and negotiation held food cost, to prove you shape the kitchen's direction and its budget.

Quantify your leadership footprint

Name how many cooks you led, trained, and scheduled, and a result like zero critical health violations or reduced turnover, showing you build and hold a strong back-of-house team over time.

Skills to Highlight

Kitchen leadership

Detail running back-of-house operations when the executive chef is out, including the line size you supervised and the service outcomes you protected, to show you can own the whole kitchen.

Food and labor cost control

Describe holding both food and labor cost percentages against sales and the ordering and scheduling discipline behind them, since senior roles live and die on margin.

Menu development

Explain menu items you developed and standardized with the executive chef, including recipe scaling and yield work that kept new dishes profitable.

Vendor relations

Cite vendor accounts you managed and pricing you negotiated, showing you protect food cost upstream and keep the kitchen supplied reliably.

Common Questions

How do I prove I'm ready for an executive chef path?

Show you already do the executive-level work: owning food and labor cost, developing menus, managing vendors, building schedules, and running the kitchen when the executive chef is out. Quantify the revenue and headcount you manage and the inspection record you maintain, since a hiring group promotes based on demonstrated back-of-house ownership, not just years on the line.

Should I still list station and cooking skills at this level?

Yes, briefly, but frame them around leadership. Note that you still cook and expedite, then foreground the systems you own: cost control, menu development, scheduling, and training. Seniority reads through judgment and scope, so a flat station list matters less than showing you keep an entire kitchen running profitably and safely.

How do I balance hands-on cooking with management on my resume?

Senior Dishwasher resume sample emphasizing leadership scope, process improvement, team development, and operational impact.

Dish and Utensil SanitizationKitchen CleanlinessStation Organization

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