Sous Chef – Anderson Ranch Café
Our Dream
is a new Sous Chef to join our Cafe team as a colleague that takes pride in their food, is able to both work as a teammate and longs to take on responsibility for execution with an eye to the success of the team and the cafe services. Anderson Ranch’s year-round café services our Students, Faculty, and the Public for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The ideal person for this role has a solid culinary background and is reliable, hardworking, and enjoys being in an environment that is very different from the typical restaurant. Anderson Ranch is a home of creatives – and the cafe serves as a center of community. The cafe is not just about feeding people, it’s about nourishing them, sharing in a creative community, and building relationships. The role also requires an openness to change, to experimenting, and to making things better as we seek to grow and improve our food services.
Who We Are
Anderson Ranch Arts Center is a year-round visual-arts not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization with a 55-year history of providing transformative experiences that celebrate artists, art-making and creative dialog, at the intersection of craft and the global contemporary art world. Anderson Ranch brings together both aspiring and internationally renowned artists who come from across the country and around the world to test new ideas, explore new disciplines and techniques, hone their art-making skills, engage in meaningful dialog and connect with thought leaders in the artistic community.
Anderson Ranch’s campus is an artistic community nestled among the pristine peaks of the Rocky Mountains. The Ranch campus consists of 14 buildings providing 55,000 square feet of facilities including eight studio buildings, a gallery, a lecture hall, café, store, administrative offices, a student dormitory, as well as residential apartments and cabins. State-of-the-art equipment allows cross-disciplinary experimentation within the mediums of ceramics, woodworking, photography, digital fabrication, painting, sculpture and printmaking. The campus is an oasis of renovated 19th-century cabins and barns that sit alongside contemporary designed buildings, all within the renowned cultural and recreation communities of Aspen/Snowmass, CO, and the Roaring Fork Valley.
Anderson Ranch cultivates a culture of experimentation and collaboration, offering world-class art-making facilities and equipment across diverse mediums, experienced visiting faculty and access to the highest quality staff.
Our Mission: Anderson Ranch Arts Center enriches lives with art, inspiration, and community
We achieve this by offering:
- Workshops: Providing intensive 1-3-week workshops for artists of all levels and all ages that both improve technical art-making skills and provide transformative experiences for art makers.
- Advanced Mentoring Programs: Offering three-year mentoring programs that advance artistic practice and careers in the arts.
- Artist Residencies: Providing 5 and 10-week long juried Artists-in-Residence programs, which give emerging and mid-career professional artists the time, space and resources to develop new work using our world-class facilities.
- Visiting Artist Experiences: Providing flexible and unique curated experiences to support established national and international artists seeking a retreat to experiment in new mediums or with new techniques and ideas, supported by our staff.
- Anderson Ranch Editions: An artist’s workshop and print publisher program for hand-printed limited-edition lithographs, screen-prints and etchings by established artists.
- Community Engagement: Hosting lectures, discussions, seminars and special events which build a community that appreciates, understands and supports art-making within the global contemporary art world and the human experience for both Anderson Ranch guests and the local community.
Our Work Culture
- Changing Lives and Changing the World Through Art: We care about people and helping them improve their lives. We enable people to learn and grow, personally and professionally, in a challenging and supportive environment. We meet people where they are and help them reach their goals.
- Culture of Diversity & Inclusion: We learn from diversity and it makes us stronger. At the center of our mission is helping people find their whole selves in their artistic practice. We strive to live the same values in our professional lives. That includes actively embracing diversity of age, race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental ability, as well as background and experience. We approach our work thoughtfully, learn from each other and share a commitment to inclusivity.
- Rigor & Excellence: We provide the best possible experience for our community of guests, including faculty, interns, students, residents, visiting artists, volunteers, supporters and staff. We demand the best from ourselves and each other.
- Culture of Critique: We believe in a “Culture of Critique” where we offer and receive honest feedback and support each other in learning and improving.
- Culture of Results, Connectivity and Flexibility: We believe overachieving is better than overworking. We prioritize Anderson Ranch and get the job done 110% by being available when needed, by being open, working collaboratively, welcoming feedback and getting work done efficiently, effectively and on time. Once this is achieved, we enjoy the flexibility of where and when we work; we can pursue our passions, be it art-making, hobbies, or special interests.
Position Summary
The Sous Chef’s primary responsibility is focused on the consistent quality execution of the menu from the kitchen. This position takes on the responsibility for overseeing the kitchen and kitchen staff. They supervise, mentor, and monitor the quality execution of kitchen staff. They assure the kitchen maintains standards of health and safety, cleanliness and equipment maintenance, assure timely food ordering and inventory, and monitors costs and efficiency to minimize waste and maximize return.
This position is a direct report of the Chef de Cuisine, functioning as his/her right hand in executing culinary vision that advances the strategic goals and objectives of the organization. Success in the role is dependent upon the smooth relationship, independent execution of directives, and assuring a unified leadership voice in the cafe.
Supervisory Responsibilities:
- Trains and/or oversees training of kitchen staff.
- Schedules kitchen staff, assigning roles based on experience and skills.
- Supervises work product from kitchen and back-of-house staff.
- Conducts performance evaluations that are timely and constructive.
- Handles discipline and termination of employees as needed and in accordance with restaurant policy.
Duties/Responsibilities:
- Supervisory Responsibilities: Trains and/or oversees the training of kitchen staff. Schedules kitchen staff, assigning roles based on experience and skills. Supervises work product from kitchen and back-of-house “BOH” staff. Conducts performance evaluations that are timely and constructive. Handles discipline and termination of employees as needed and in accordance with restaurant policy. Assists the Chef de Cuisine in overseeing the selection and hiring for kitchen staff including Line Cooks, Prep Cooks and Dishwashers. Organizes and runs kitchen staff meetings as required.
- Food Preparation and Cooking: Must maintain food standards as set by the Chef de Cuisine. Food must be prepared in accordance with Colorado health code standards. The properties of standardized recipes should be executed as written and to chefs standards.
- Safety, Cleanliness and Maintenance: Ensures all employees are informed of and abide by the operating standards and personnel procedures. Maintains cleanliness of kitchen and BOH, updating opening and closing checklists and systems as required. Creates, updates and uses systems for daily, weekly and monthly cleaning. Contributes daily to the Managers’ Log Book and reads past entries to assist in problem solving. Communicates regularly with the Chef de Cuisine and Director of Food & Beverage to maintain property and schedule repairs, ensuring that all needed repairs are fixed in a timely way and at the lowest cost. Uphold’s sanitation levels and support compliance to all HAACP guidelines and health dept reviews.
- Ordering, Inventory and Cost Control: Assists the Chef de Cuisine in overseeing budget cost of labor and ensuring appropriate staffing levels are maintained daily, hiring staff as necessary and managing staff to reduce overtime and over-staffing. Plans and budgets staffing one month in advance and is aware of daily, weekly and monthly BOH labor cost, forecasting needs and communicating to Chef de Cuisine. Assists the Chef de Cuisine in overseeing the ordering and receiving of goods and invoices. Reads invoices every day and checks purchase pricing guides, searching for the best price with several purveyors. Assists the Chef de Cuisine in overseeing and managing linen for the kitchen. Inventory and manage food products including daily inventories of main proteins, bi-monthly inventories of all food and weekly purchase reports with sales numbers. Orders and manages paper and cleaning products.
- Communication and Customer Service: Attends monthly Manager’s Meeting and meetings with BOH staff. Works with managers on private parties. Maintains a presence in the dining room and a relationship with special guests, greeting guests when possible and listening to feedback from managers about guest interaction. Builds relationships with purveyors and seeks out the best prices for products. Represents viable marketing ideas to the owners.
Expected Skills & Qualifications:
- Ability to produce an excellent culinary and restaurant experience for patrons.
- Extremely creative.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Excellent time management, scheduling, managerial, and organizational skills.
- Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work well with a variety of personalities and under pressure.
Education and Experience:
- Relevant experience or training, which may be demonstrated via degree or certificate, completion of apprenticeship, or other experience necessary to become trained as a highly skilled professional cook.
- At least two years of culinary managerial experience is required.
- Business experience preferred.
Physical Requirements:
- Heavy work that includes moving objects up to 40 pounds.
- The employee frequently is required to stand, walk and reach with hands and arms.
- Typical tasks are required to actively work and maneuver around in historic building spaces with uneven surfaces, stairs, gravel walkways, etc.
Staff Community Responsibilities:
- Community Outreach Leader: All staff members are expected to build and lead partnerships with community organizations as they relate to their area of responsibility, and to actively support the outreach efforts of other team members.
- Engaged & Supportive Team Member: All staff are expected to support colleagues and engage in the programs and events of the Ranch by attending lectures, artist talks, fundraising events, and community wide events and being available to jump in and help make them a success.
- Support Major Fundraising & Community Events: All staff are expected to support the major annual events that engage the public and fundraisers. These are “all hands on deck” efforts and all staff are expected to participate in ways outside their normal professional functions to make them a success from set-up, to execution, to tear down.
- Professional & Personal Development: Continuing to learn and improve is a job requirement of all staff. Team members are expected to be growing, learning, and improving in their artistic and professional lives.
- Brand Ambassador: All team members are expected to comport themselves in a manner that is fitting with the organization; represent the Ranch both on and off-campus, as well as online and on social media, keeping in mind that positivity and professionalism are respected and appreciated.
Other Duties:
- The descriptions above are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed in this role. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of the role.
- All personnel are required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.
- This role requires a flexible schedule including evening and weekend hours as needed, and particularly intense time demands in the summer months.
- This job description may be changed or updated at any time throughout employment.
Compensation & Benefits:
- Base Salary: $55,000 – $60,000
- Total Compensation Package Value: $64,000 – $69,000
- Company paid medical insurance, option to add additional family
- Company paid HSA contribution
- Long- and short-term disability insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid Time Off – Up to 22 days during the first year of service
- Paid Sick Leave
- Sabbatical Leave
- Professional/continuing education support
- Retirement plan 403(b) match
Employment requires successfully passing the pre-employment Background Check.
All inquiries and conversations will remain strictly confidential.
NOTE: The above is an abbreviated representation of benefits defined in the Employee Handbook, which governs all employment terms. No other verbal or written exceptions to those terms are honored without a written directive by the President and Chief Executive Officer and signed by the Chair of the Board of Trustees.
How to Apply:
Please send a cover letter and resume to hr@andersonranch.org.
Anderson Ranch is an equal-opportunity employer committed to diversifying its workforce.