Senior Sous Chef

About Us

Efoodz is a Melbourne-based food manufacturing company producing a wide range of fresh ready meals, sandwiches, and café-style products under various different brands.

Operating from a HACCP-certified facility, we cook and pack thousands of meals each week for retailers, health organisations, and direct-to-consumer delivery.

We're passionate about high-quality, consistent, and safe food production, and we're looking for an experienced Senior Sous Chef to join our growing team.

About the Role

The Senior Sous Chef plays a pivotal leadership role in the day-to-day running of our commercial kitchen.

You will oversee production planning, recipe adherence, yields, and food safety — ensuring all meals are produced to specification, on schedule, and to the highest quality.

This position supports the Head Chef and acts as second in charge (2IC) — taking full responsibility for kitchen operations in their absence.

Key Responsibilities

Production & Kitchen Management

• Lead daily cooking operations across multiple production lines (proteins, grains, sauces, vegetables).
• Allocate tasks and supervise a team of chefs and kitchen hands.
• Ensure recipes are followed precisely for consistency and yield accuracy.
• Monitor batch cooking times, chilling, and transfer to packing.
• Maintain production records and ensure compliance with HACCP requirements.
• Support the Head Chef in weekly production planning and scheduling.

Quality, Yield & Efficiency

• Ensure correct portion sizes, ingredient ratios, and cook temperatures.
• Review daily production output against plan and identify variances.
• Minimise food waste through efficient prep and stock rotation.
• Work with the QA and Stock teams to troubleshoot quality or supply issues.

Food Safety & Compliance

• Lead by example in maintaining HACCP standards, hygiene, and GMP practices.
• Verify daily cook/chill temperature logs, allergen segregation, and cleaning sign-offs.
• Support QA in internal audits and staff training.
• Report and action any non-conformances immediately.

Team Leadership & Training

• Supervise, motivate, and mentor kitchen staff to achieve production targets.
• Train new team members in recipes, portioning, and safety protocols.
• Promote a positive, respectful, and safety-focused kitchen culture.
• Conduct performance check-ins and provide feedback to Head Chef.

Coordination with Other Departments

• Liaise with the Procurement & Stock Coordinator to ensure ingredients are available for scheduled production.
• Communicate with the Packing and Dispatch teams to meet order deadlines.
• Support product development trials and new menu rollouts in coordination with QA and R&D.

Skills & Experience

Essential:

• Minimum 3–5 years' experience as a Sous Chef or Production Chef in a high-volume or food manufacturing environment.
• Strong understanding of HACCP, food safety, and temperature control.
• Proven ability to lead a team and manage multiple production lines simultaneously.
• Excellent communication and organisational skills.
• Ability to read and execute standardised recipes accurately and consistently.
• Physically fit and capable of working in a fast-paced, hands-on kitchen environment.

Desirable:

• Experience in ready-meal or large-scale batch cooking.
• Knowledge of cook-chill processes, blast chilling, and yield management.
• Certificate IV in Commercial Cookery or equivalent qualification.
• Familiarity with production record systems and basic computer literacy (Excel / Zoho).

What We Offer

• A stable full-time role in a fast-growing Australian food manufacturer.
• Daytime hours (6am–2pm or similar).
• Supportive leadership team and a clean, modern facility.
• Opportunities for growth into Head Chef or Production Manager roles.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $83,000.00 – $88,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person