Chef job description template
A small kitchen where the chef orders the stock, writes the prep list and stands on the pass. The split shift, the paperwork and the close down are all in it, because they are all in the job.
| Section | What it says |
|---|---|
| Position | Chef |
| Reports to | Owner |
| Employment type | Full time, 38 ordinary hours a week, with the roster published a week ahead |
| Where the work happens | The kitchen, the cool room and the delivery dock |
| Hours and roster | Five days across Tuesday to Sunday, usually a split between lunch prep and dinner service. Two consecutive days off are rostered each week where trade allows. |
| What the job involves | Write the prep list and work it before service. Cook to the menu and the plate specifications. Run the pass through service and call the order. Order stock against par levels and check deliveries in against the invoice. Rotate stock and keep the cool room in date order. Keep the temperature and cleaning records the business uses. Show kitchen hands and apprentices how the section runs. Close the kitchen down and leave the prep list ready for the morning. |
| A typical shift | In at 9:00: cool room check, temperatures recorded, prep list written from last night’s dockets. Prep until 11:30. Lunch service 12:00 to 14:30. Break, then stock order and a delivery checked in. Dinner prep from 16:30, service 17:30 to 21:30. Clean down, temperatures recorded again, prep list left for tomorrow, out by 22:30. |
| Skills and experience | Has run a section in a working kitchen. Can write and hold a prep list. Keeps the pass moving when the printer is full. Comfortable ordering stock and checking invoices. |
| Tickets and certificates | A food safety supervisor certificate where the business is required to have one. What is required depends on the business and the state or territory it trades in, not on the person’s title. |
| Physical demands | Long periods standing, heat, lifting stock into the cool room, and knife work at pace. |
| Pay and award | Paid at the rate in your letter of engagement. Kitchen work is usually covered by the Hospitality Industry (General) Award or the Restaurant Industry Award, and the award’s coverage clause decides which. The classification in that award, which depends on the level of the role, decides the rate. |
| How the job is reviewed | A conversation at three months about the menu, waste and how service runs, then twice a year with the owner. |
| Review date of this description | Reviewed each March, and whenever the menu changes shape. |
What is in the file
- Template, blank, with each section down the side and room for the answer.
- Example, the same sheet filled in for Wharf Road Kitchen.
- How to use, with the steps and the mistakes below.
How to fill it in
- Set the hours and the days to what the kitchen actually runs, including the split if there is one.
- Check the duties against the classification definitions in the award before you set a rate.
- Name the records the kitchen keeps, since those differ between businesses and states.
- Sign it, date it, and keep a copy with the employment documents.
Common mistakes
- A description that leaves out ordering and paperwork, which is half the week
- Writing “as required” for hours, which tells nobody what the job is
- Promising two days off together when the roster has never managed it
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
Roster Flow keeps the kitchen’s shifts, the hours actually worked and the cost of the week in one place, so a split shift is costed before it is published rather than after the pay run.
Questions
What is on the chef job description template?
13 sections down the side, running from position to review date of this description. The example beside them is filled in for Wharf Road Kitchen: prep, service, ordering and food safety records, written down for a small kitchen.
Does the chef job description template work anything out for you?
No. It is a document with 13 sections to answer in your own words, not a calculator. Nothing on it is a formula.
Can I use the chef job description template in Google Sheets?
Yes. Open chef-job-description.xlsx from Google Drive, or use File, then Import, then Upload with chef-job-description.csv. The document and its example come across either way.
Is the wording in the chef job description template ready to use as it is?
The chef job description template is a starting point for Wharf Road Kitchen or any business like it, to adapt rather than sign. The wording was checked against the official sources on 22 September 2026, it is not legal advice, and it has not been through a workplace relations professional.