Sous Chef- Banquets & Stewarding

About the role

The Omni Houston Hotel is a luxurious oasis in the heart of Houston, offering stunning views and prime location. This position provides culinary and operational leadership for banquet events, ensuring they are properly planned, prepared, and executed.

Responsibilities

• Provide direct leadership and oversight for the Stewarding Department, controlling operating costs and supporting all Food and Beverage operations.
• Support the Banquet Chef and Executive Sous Chef in planning, preparing, producing, and executing banquet culinary operations.
• Review Banquet Event Orders, menus, timelines, and production requirements to ensure complete understanding of each event.
• Create, organize, and manage banquet production and preparation lists in coordination with the Banquet Chef and culinary leadership team.
• Lead banquet food production, plate-ups, buffets, action stations, breaks, receptions, and special-event execution as assigned.
• Supervise culinary supervisors, cooks, and stewarding associates during banquet preparation and event execution, clearly communicating assignments, standards, and timelines.
• Maintain effective portion, yield, waste, and product controls to support established food-cost objectives.
• Assist with recipes, production standards, costing, purchasing, forecasting, and product requisitioning as assigned.
• Serve as the culinary manager on duty when assigned and provide operational coverage in the absence of the Banquet Chef or other culinary leaders.
• Ensure that all Banquets and Food and Beverage outlets have the required quantities of clean, sanitized, and properly maintained china, glassware, silverware, cookware, service equipment, and supplies.
• Maintain high sanitation standards throughout kitchens, dish rooms, pot-washing areas, loading areas, storage rooms, coolers, freezers, and other back-of-house spaces. Ensure compliance with all food-safety and health regulations.
• Work with the Executive Chef and Food and Beverage leadership on the purchasing, storage, requisitioning, and control of cleaning supplies, chemicals, china, glassware, silverware, smallwares, and banquet equipment.
• Maintain accurate inventory and par levels for stewarding supplies and equipment, and report breakage, loss, damage, and unusual consumption trends.
• Maintain dish machines, chafing dishes, speed racks, carts, transport equipment, shelving, and other culinary and stewarding equipment to a high standard; submit and follow up on maintenance requests as needed.
• Cookout equipment pulls, staging, transport, recovery, cleaning, and return to storage before and after events.
• Develop and maintain systems and processes that support equipment organization, sanitation, production readiness, and efficient event execution.
• Prepare weekly culinary and stewarding schedules based on business levels, productivity standards, and operational requirements, subject to approval by the Executive Chef.
• Monitor labor daily, control overtime, administer payroll accurately, and adjust staffing in response to changes in business volume.
• Interview, select, train, coach, develop, evaluate, and manage the performance of culinary and stewarding associates in accordance with hotel policies and procedures.
• Conduct daily stand-ups, departmental meetings, and training sessions to communicate event requirements, safety expectations, quality standards, and operational priorities.
• Promote a courteous, professional, safe, and respectful work environment and champion the Omni culture and Power of One philosophy.
• Participate in Food and Beverage critical-path assignments, hotel meetings, inventories, safety programs, and other operational initiatives as required.
• Perform any and all other duties assigned and/or required by management.

Qualifications

• Minimum three to five years of progressive culinary experience in a high-volume hotel, resort, convention center, banquet, or similar food-service operation.
• Minimum two years of culinary supervisory or management experience; banquet culinary leadership experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to review BEOs, organize production, create preparation lists, supervise cooks, and lead banquet plate-ups and event execution.
• Working knowledge of stewarding operations, sanitation systems, commercial dishwashing equipment, chemical controls, and china, glassware, silverware, and equipment inventories; prior stewarding leadership experience preferred.
• Current ServSafe Manager Certification or ability to obtain certification within the timeframe required by the hotel.
• Strong knowledge of food safety, sanitation, kitchen safety, and applicable health regulations.
• Working knowledge of food cost, yields, portion control, waste reduction, purchasing, inventory, labor control, scheduling, and payroll administration.
• Ability to train and develop associates with varied levels of education and experience.
• Strong leadership, interpersonal, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively with a diverse group of associates and leaders.
• Ability to quickly evaluate alternatives, establish priorities, and make sound decisions in a high-volume environment.
• Microsoft Office skills are required; experience with dayforce, BirchStreet, OnTrack, or similar hotel systems is preferred.
• Culinary degree or equivalent combination of education and professional experience preferred.
• Must be available to work a flexible schedule, including early mornings, nights, weekends, and holidays.
• Ability to stand and walk for extended periods and to frequently push, pull, stoop, bend, reach, and lift or carry up to 50 pounds.
• Ability to work in kitchen, dishwashing, storage, loading, and exterior event areas with exposure to heat, steam, humidity, cold temperatures, noise, food products, and approved cleaning chemicals.
• Must be detail oriented and able to perform professionally under high levels of activity and stress.

Benefits

The Omni Houston Hotel offers a competitive benefits package including health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and more. Details will be provided upon hire.

Pay

The salary range for this position is $X - $Y per hour, depending on experience and qualifications. Exact pay will be determined during the hiring process.

Schedule

The schedule for this position is typically Monday through Friday, with some flexibility for weekends and holidays. Specific details will be discussed during the interview process.