16 June 2024 · Head Chef
The sous chef is second-in-command in the kitchen and runs most services. What the job involves, what it pays in the UK and how chefs de partie get the step up.
A sous chef is the second-in-command in a professional kitchen, directly below the head chef. The name is French: "sous" means "under", so a sous chef is literally the chef under the chef. It is pronounced "soo shef", and in most UK kitchens the title gets shortened to "sous", as in "ask the sous".
On paper the head chef runs the kitchen. In practice the sous chef runs most of the services. They are on the pass, they know where every section is up to, and they are the person the brigade turns to when the head chef is off, in a meeting or out seeing suppliers.
Most UK kitchens still follow a version of the classic brigade, even if the titles have been trimmed:
Bigger brigades split the role further. A junior sous chef is usually a strong chef de partie being trained up to run services. A senior sous chef (sometimes "executive sous chef" in hotels) deputises for the head chef across the whole operation and often manages the other sous chefs.
The job changes with the venue, but the core of it is the same in a gastropub as in a rosette dining room.
The sous chef calls checks, controls timing between sections and checks every plate before it leaves the pass. When a section goes down, they step in and cook it.
They write prep lists, place supplier orders, check deliveries and keep an eye on waste and GP. In many kitchens the sous chef does the weekly stocktake.
Rotas, training commis chefs and CDPs, inductions for new starters and the awkward conversations about timekeeping. Head chefs hire sous chefs who can hold a team together, because that is what they will be doing on a Saturday night.
Food safety records, allergen matrices, temperature checks and cleaning schedules. If the Environmental Health Officer visits on the head chef's day off, the sous chef is the one walking them round.
Head chefs own the menu, but sous chefs usually get the specials, the staff food and a real say in new dishes. This is where a sous chef starts building the portfolio that gets them their first head chef role.
The split is responsibility rather than skill. A good sous chef can cook everything on the menu as well as the head chef can. What they do not usually carry is the final accountability: the P&L, the hiring decisions, the owner's phone calls, the menu as a whole. Head chefs spend more time off the stove, in the office and in meetings. Sous chefs spend more time cooking. Plenty of chefs stay at sous level for years for exactly that reason.
These figures come from the Only Chefs sous chef salary guide, which is built from UK job adverts:
Tronc (the shared service charge) can add several thousand pounds a year in restaurants, and live-in roles in country hotels and pubs often come with accommodation worth more than the pay difference. Always ask how tronc is split and whether any of it is guaranteed.
Expect 45 to 50 hours across five days. Split shifts are still common in restaurants; straight shifts are more usual in hotels and contract catering. Weekends and evenings are part of the deal in most venues. Monday-to-Friday sous chef jobs do exist, mainly in staff restaurants, schools and business and industry catering, and they are popular for a reason.
There is no required qualification. Most sous chefs have worked their way up through the brigade over five to eight years: commis chef, then chef de partie, then a junior sous or sous chef role. A catering college course or a chef apprenticeship (Commis Chef Level 2, then Chef de Partie Level 3) speeds up the early stages but is not essential.
What gets a chef de partie promoted to sous is being trusted with the pass. If you want the step up:
Our guide to getting promoted to sous chef goes into more detail, and the move from sous chef to head chef covers the step after.
Yes. The chef de partie runs one section. The sous chef runs the kitchen when the head chef is not there, and the sections report to them.
In all but the smallest kitchens, yes. Rotas, training, ordering and discipline sit with the sous chef, even when the head chef signs them off.
Nothing in practice. "Second chef" and "2nd chef" describe the same role. Pubs and care caterers tend to use that title where restaurants say sous chef.
Yes. Experience counts for far more. A food safety certificate is the one thing most employers insist on.
Sous chefs read adverts carefully, because the job varies so much from kitchen to kitchen. Say how big the brigade is, how often they will run the pass alone and what the head chef is like to work for. A template to adapt:
Sous Chef, [venue name], [town]. Add the detail that sells: "2 AA rosettes", "straight shifts", "4-day week", "live-in available".
Two or three sentences on the venue, the food, covers per service, the size of the team and the head chef's background.
State the salary, the hours, the rota pattern, how tronc works, holiday, pension, meals on duty and anything else: training budget, accommodation, staff discount, a clear route to head chef. Finish with how to apply and how quickly you will respond.
Use our sous chef interview questions to structure the interview, and check the salary guide for your region before you set the pay. You can post a sous chef job on Only Chefs for free.
Browse the latest sous chef jobs across the UK, or go straight to sous chef jobs in London.