Sous Chef

La Pera Catering is seeking an experienced, hands-on Catering Sous Chef to join our growing culinary leadership team in Austin. We are a full-service catering and events company producing everything from intimate private dinners and weddings to corporate events, brand activations, multi-day programs, and large-scale productions.

This is an ideal role for a chef who loves cooking and developing people, but also thrives on the organization, variety, and fast-moving environment of catering. Working closely with our Director of Operations and culinary leadership team, the Sous Chef will help oversee daily production, culinary staff, quality control, ordering, inventory, event pack-outs, tastings, and onsite culinary execution.

Unlike a traditional restaurant kitchen, our menus, guest counts, service styles, and production needs change every week. We're looking for someone who can think several days ahead, keep multiple events moving through production simultaneously, and ensure our teams arrive onsite organized, prepared, and ready to execute.

What You'll Do

• Lead and participate in daily prep and culinary production for upcoming events and tastings
  

• Oversee prep lists, production timelines, cook-offs, and event pack-outs across multiple events
  

• Maintain consistency in flavor, presentation, portioning, and recipe execution
  

• Assist with purchasing, ordering, receiving, inventory, food cost, product rotation, and waste management
  

• Lead, train, and develop Prep Cooks, Lead Cooks, and onsite BOH team members
  

• Coordinate with Planning and Operations around menus, guest counts, dietary needs, equipment, and onsite logistics
  

• Ensure events leave the kitchen with the correct food, equipment, and instructions for successful execution
  

• Serve as a Lead Chef onsite for weddings, corporate events, private dinners, activations, and larger catered events
  

• Support client tastings, recipe testing, seasonal menu development, and improvements to culinary systems
  

• Maintain excellent food safety, sanitation, organization, and kitchen standards
  

What We're Looking For

Ideally, you have 2+ years of culinary management or leadership experience as a Sous Chef, Chef de Cuisine, Kitchen Manager, Lead Catering Chef, or similar role. You should be a strong cook and an equally strong communicator organized, calm under pressure, comfortable leading a team, and able to balance culinary quality with labor, food cost, and operational efficiency.

Catering experience is a major plus, but isn't required. Strong restaurant, hotel, banquet, or high-volume culinary leaders can be successful here if they're excited to learn the operational side of off-premise events.

This position requires flexible availability, including weekdays, evenings, and weekends based on our event calendar, as well as reliable transportation for events throughout Austin and Central Texas.

Compensation + Benefits

Compensation ranges from $27 - $33/hour + tips, moving to $65,000+ salaried, depending on experience, availability, and position structure, plus performance-based bonus opportunities as we move to salary.

Eligible full-time employees receive a competitive benefits package including medical insurance with La Pera covering $500/month of employee-only coverage, full dental/vision insurance coverage, company-paid life insurance, paid time off, wellness time, and opportunities for continued training and professional growth.

We're looking for someone who wants to do more than execute a prep list. We want a culinary leader who loves excellent food, takes ownership, develops the people around them, anticipates problems, and wants to play a meaningful role in building an increasingly strong and organized culinary operation as La Pera continues to grow.