Position: Sous Chef
Location: Summerhill Market Commissary (Railside) – Toronto, ON
Department: Commissary Production
Reports To: Executive Chef / Plant Manager / Operations Manager
Summerhill Market is seeking an experienced, hands-on Sous Chef to help lead our high-volume Commissary kitchen. Producing thousands of fresh, chef-inspired meals, soups, salads, sandwiches, sauces, and prepared foods each week for our retail stores, the Sous Chef plays a critical leadership role in ensuring exceptional food quality, production efficiency, food safety, and team development.
This is a leadership position for someone who thrives in a fast-paced production environment, enjoys coaching teams, and is passionate about creating outstanding food while continuously improving systems and processes.
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Assist in leading the daily operations of a high-volume Commissary kitchen producing fresh prepared foods for multiple Summerhill Market retail locations.
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Lead production teams while fostering a positive, respectful, and accountable workplace culture.
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Coach, mentor, and develop Cooks, Kitchen Helpers, Prep Cooks, Packers, and Team Leads.
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Assign daily production tasks and ensure labour is utilized effectively.
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Step into leadership responsibilities during the absence of the Executive Chef or Plant Manager.
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Promote teamwork and strong communication across all production departments.
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Prepare and oversee the production of soups, sauces, entrées, salads, sandwiches, side dishes, catering items, and seasonal products.
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Ensure recipes, portion sizes, cooking techniques, and presentation standards are consistently followed.
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Monitor daily production schedules to ensure products are completed accurately and on time.
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Support new product launches, seasonal menus, and recipe improvements.
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Troubleshoot production issues while maintaining quality and efficiency.
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Ensure every product meets Summerhill Market's standards for taste, appearance, freshness, consistency, and quality.
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Conduct regular quality checks throughout production.
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Monitor shelf life, yields, and product consistency.
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Investigate quality concerns and implement corrective actions.
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Assist with inventory management, ordering, and product rotation (FIFO).
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Minimize food waste through accurate forecasting, production planning, and inventory control.
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Monitor ingredient usage and food costs.
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Assist with inventory counts and production reporting.
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Ensure compliance with all CFIA, Public Health, HACCP, food safety, allergen control, and sanitation requirements.
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Monitor temperatures, cooling procedures, storage practices, and cleaning schedules.
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Ensure all team members follow safe food handling practices.
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Promote a clean, organized, and safe production environment.
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Train new employees on recipes, equipment, food safety, quality standards, and production procedures.
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Provide coaching, feedback, and performance support to team members.
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Help identify future leaders and support internal promotions.
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Foster continuous learning and professional development.
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Identify opportunities to improve production flow, efficiency, labour utilization, and product quality.
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Participate in process improvement initiatives and implementation of new equipment or systems.
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Work closely with Packaging, Receiving, Warehouse, Purchasing, Logistics, and Retail Operations to ensure smooth daily operations.
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Assist with production planning for holidays, promotions, and large-scale catering initiatives.
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Culinary diploma or equivalent professional culinary training preferred.
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Minimum 3–5 years of culinary leadership experience in a high-volume kitchen, commissary, catering operation, hotel, restaurant, or food manufacturing environment.
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Previous experience supervising and developing teams.
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Strong knowledge of food production, food safety, sanitation, HACCP, and quality assurance.
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Excellent organizational, time management, and problem-solving skills.
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Strong communication and leadership abilities.
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Comfortable working in a fast-paced, production-focused environment.
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Experience with inventory management, production scheduling, and labour planning is an asset.
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Flexible availability including early mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, and peak seasonal production periods.
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Ability to stand and walk for extended periods.
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Ability to lift and carry up to 50 lbs.
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Comfortable working around hot equipment, ovens, kettles, coolers, and freezers.
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Ability to perform repetitive lifting, bending, reaching, and pushing throughout the shift.
Summerhill Market has been serving Toronto for over 65 years and is known for exceptional food, outstanding customer service, and a commitment to quality. Our Commissary is the heart of our food production operation, supplying thousands of fresh products to our retail stores every week.
As a Sous Chef, you'll have the opportunity to lead talented culinary teams, contribute to exciting new product development, mentor future leaders, and play a key role in one of Toronto's most respected food production operations. We offer a collaborative environment, opportunities for career advancement, competitive compensation, employee discounts, health and dental benefits, and the chance to make a meaningful impact on a growing Canadian business.
