What is a sous chef?
"Sous" is French for "under". The sous chef sits directly under the head chef in the brigade and runs the kitchen at the operational level: the pass during service, the prep lists the sections work to, the ordering, the daily food safety and allergen records, and the supervision of every Chef de Partie and commis on the line.
In practice the sous is the seat that keeps a kitchen moving shift to shift. The head chef owns the menu and the numbers; the sous makes the day happen. When the head chef is off, on leave, or gone, the sous runs the kitchen outright, which is exactly why the seat hurts so much when it is empty. A kitchen without a sous has no deputy, no second pair of senior eyes on the sections, and no cover for the head chef's days off.
Sous chef, CDP, or head chef: which tier do you book?
Booking the wrong tier is the most common error we see in senior kitchen cover, in both directions. The table below sets out where each brigade tier sits, what it carries, and the 2026 agency pay band for each, using the bands already published across our rate pages.
| Tier | What they run | 2026 agency pay band |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen Porter | Wash-up, cleaning schedule, deliveries | £12.71-£16/hr |
| Commis Chef | Prep and section support under supervision | £12.71-£17/hr |
| Chef de Partie | One section, unsupervised, to service standard | £15-£20/hr |
| Sous Chef | The whole line, the pass, ordering, the team | £17-£24/hr |
| Head Chef | Menu, GP, suppliers, hiring, the kitchen as a business | £20-£30+/hr |
The working rule: if the gap is one section, book a CDP. If the gap is the person who runs the kitchen for a defined period while ownership of menu and numbers stays with someone else, book a sous. If the gap is open-ended kitchen leadership, book the head chef tier, because a sous priced into a head chef vacuum will either step up and demand the rate or burn out and leave.
When do you need to hire a sous chef?
Sous chef calls reach us in a handful of patterns, and they skew longer than CDP bookings.
The recruitment bridge. The head chef resigns, your own sous steps up to acting head, and the sous seat opens behind them. A head chef search realistically takes 10-14 weeks. An interim sous holds the line for exactly that window, then hands back.
Maternity and long-term leave. The longest sous bookings run 6-12 months at a fixed weekly rate, usually with a one or two week shadow handover at each end so the allergen matrix, supplier list, and team routines transfer intact.
Holiday and weekend cover. A kitchen that runs one head and one sous has no senior cover the moment either takes leave. A relief sous on a known block is cheaper than a head chef working 14 days straight.
Seasonal and event peaks. Banqueting operations, conference venues, and hotels add a second sous for a defined season. Plated dinners at 400 covers need senior hands on the pass, not just more CDPs on the sections.
Temp-to-perm and permanent search. You want the seat filled permanently but you want to see the chef run your kitchen before you commit. A temp placement with a conversion option does that; we also run straight permanent search at this tier alongside the relief work.
How much does it cost to hire a sous chef?
Two numbers to keep apart: what the chef is paid, and what the venue is billed.
Agency worker pay for sous chefs in 2026 sits at £17-£24 per hour, with London and premium venues at the top of the band. On the permanent side, salaries run £32,000-£38,000 outside London with the median around £35,000, and roughly £37,500 in the capital (Caterer.com benchmarks, set out in our 2026 chef salary guide). A £35,000 permanent sous costs the employer closer to £45,000 once the April 2026 employer rules are loaded in: 15% National Insurance above the £5,000 threshold, 3% pension, holiday, and day-one sick pay.
The agency bill rate sits above the £17-£24 pay band because it carries those same statutory layers, holiday pay at 12.07%, employer National Insurance at 15%, pension at 3%, plus compliance cost and agency margin. The difference is that the agency carries them only for the hours you book. We do not print a single charge number here; the published charge bands by role and region are in the UK chef hire rate benchmark 2026, the hourly detail is in the 2026 temp chef rates guide, and the permanent-versus-agency break-even maths is in chef agency vs direct hire. To model a sous booking against your own rota, use the chef cost calculator.
How fast can we place a sous chef?
For central postcodes in London (W1, EC1-EC4, SE1, WC1, WC2), Manchester (M1-M4), and Liverpool (L1-L3), our 2-hour response commitment applies to sous chef bookings: a named chef confirmed within two hours of your call, 24 hours a day. On in-scope calls between April 2025 and April 2026 we confirmed inside the window on 90-95% of more than 100 placements across all role tiers.
An honest caveat that matters more at this tier than any other: the sous bench is shallower than the CDP bench, because senior chefs are simply fewer. A same-day sous for a Saturday service in Soho is a realistic ask. A French-classical sous for a 12-week interim in a rosette kitchen is a 24-72 hour shortlist, and we say so on the call. Care and education settings add the Enhanced DBS layer and run a 24-hour window, consistent with our DBS-checked kitchen staff standard, and we supply sous-tier cover into hospitality, contract catering and B&I, care, education, and events.
How to brief us for a sous chef booking
A sous brief carries more weight than a junior booking because the chef will run people, not just a station. Six data points cover it.
1. Venue and postcode. Sets the bench, the travel plan, and whether the 2-hour window applies.
2. Dates and shift pattern. A single weekend, a rolling block, or a fixed-term interim. For bookings past two weeks we agree the rate at the start and invoice weekly.
3. What the sous will own. Service only? Service plus ordering? Full kitchen accountability including the food safety diary and rotas? Each step up narrows the shortlist and changes the rate.
4. Brigade shape. How many CDPs and commis the sous will supervise, and whether the head chef is present, partly present, or absent for the booking.
5. Cuisine and menu style. A gastropub sous and a banqueting sous are different chefs. Name the style and the covers.
6. Rate. Tell us the number you want to work to. We will tell you on the call whether it is realistic for the spec, the notice, and the postcode.
What three typical sous chef placements look like
Illustrative scenarios drawn from common sous chef bookings. Details are anonymised and framed as typical; Chefs Bay does not publish named client case studies.
London W1: hotel restaurant, 12-week recruitment bridge
A 90-cover hotel restaurant loses its head chef on four weeks' notice. The sous steps up to acting head, and the sous seat opens mid-quarter with the recruitment expected to take three months.
We place an interim sous on a 12-week fixed booking: service, ordering, and the daily compliance records, with the acting head keeping menu control. The permanent hire starts in week 11 and the interim runs a one-week handover before standing down.
Birmingham B1: banqueting venue, conference season block
A city-centre venue running plated dinners of 300-450 covers through October and November needs a second sous for the season. The booking is placed three weeks ahead for an eight-week block, Wednesday to Saturday.
We shortlist from the Birmingham bench for volume plated experience rather than restaurant service. The venue's own sous runs the pass; the relief sous runs the plate-up line. Same chef all eight weeks.
Manchester M2: restaurant group, six-month maternity cover
A 110-cover restaurant's sous starts maternity leave in six weeks. The booking is agreed at a fixed weekly rate for 26 weeks, with a two-week shadow before the leave starts.
The relief sous takes over the ordering, the allergen matrix, and the section checks during the shadow fortnight, runs the kitchen's second-in-command duties through the full leave, and hands back with a mirrored two-week overlap at the end.
What is outside the scope of a sous chef booking
Being specific about what we do not do:
- We do not place a sous into an open-ended head chef vacuum. Interim cover during a defined recruitment, yes. A permanent leadership gap priced at sous rates, no; that booking gets re-priced at head chef tier or paired with a search.
- We do not supply kitchen managers or multi-site operations managers. The sous tier is a cooking and supervising role inside one kitchen.
- We do not guarantee Michelin-specific matching at short notice. The eligibility pool for rosette and star backgrounds is narrow, and a 2-hour clock does not change that.
- We do not run unpaid "working interviews". A trial shift is a paid booking; temp-to-perm exists precisely so you can evaluate at length without unpaid labour.
- We do not apply the 2-hour window outside the central London, Manchester, and Liverpool postcodes listed on our response commitment page. Outside those zones we give a realistic window at the point of call.
Frequently asked questions
What does a sous chef do?
A sous chef runs the kitchen day to day under the head chef and runs it outright in the head chef's absence. The job covers running the pass during service, supervising the Chefs de Partie and commis chefs, ordering and stock control, the daily food safety records, and training juniors. 'Sous' is French for 'under': the role is the head chef's deputy, and in most kitchens it is the seat that actually keeps the operation moving shift to shift.
What is the difference between a sous chef and a head chef?
The head chef owns the menu, the GP, the supplier relationships, and the team; the sous chef executes and deputises. A sous can run service, ordering, and compliance for days or weeks at a time, which is why interim sous cover works during a head chef recruitment. What a sous does not carry is the long-term accountability: menu development, costing, and hiring sit at head chef tier, and a booking that needs them should be priced there.
What is the difference between a sous chef and a chef de partie?
A CDP runs one section of the line; a sous chef runs the whole line and the people on it. The sous sets the prep lists the CDPs work to, checks their sections before service, and takes the pass. Pay reflects the gap: CDPs sit at £15-£20/hr on agency, sous chefs at £17-£24/hr. A strong CDP is usually two to three years away from making the step up.
How much does it cost to hire a sous chef?
Agency worker pay for sous chefs in 2026 sits at £17-£24/hr, with London and premium venues at the top end. Permanent salaries run £32,000-£38,000 outside London with a median around £35,000, and about £37,500 in the capital. Client charge rates sit above worker pay once holiday pay at 12.07%, employer National Insurance at 15%, pension at 3%, and agency margin are added. The full charge bands by role and region are in our published 2026 rate benchmark.
Can a sous chef run the kitchen without a head chef?
For a defined period, yes; that is the core of the role. A competent sous will hold service, ordering, allergen records, and the team for days or weeks, which is why interim sous cover is the standard bridge while a head chef recruitment runs its 10-14 weeks. What a sous placement does not replace is permanent kitchen leadership: menu development, costing, and hiring decisions still need an owner. If the gap is open-ended, book the head chef tier or run the search alongside the cover.
How quickly can you place a sous chef?
For central postcodes in London (W1, EC1-EC4, SE1, WC1, WC2), Manchester (M1-M4), and Liverpool (L1-L3) we confirm a named chef within two hours of your call, 24 hours a day. Be aware the sous bench is shallower than the CDP bench because senior chefs are fewer, so the honest window for a specific cuisine match or an interim booking is 24-72 hours. We tell you which window applies on the call, not after.
Do sous chefs have DBS checks?
Where the setting requires it. Sous chefs on our care bench hold an Enhanced DBS with the Adults' Barred List check, and those on the education bench hold an Enhanced DBS with the Children's Barred List check. Hospitality and B&I venues do not normally require DBS at this tier. Every sous chef on the bench holds right-to-work documentation and food safety certification, and we confirm the DBS level of the chef being sent before they arrive.
Can a relief sous chef become permanent?
Yes. Temp-to-perm is a standard route at this tier: you work with the chef across a booking of four to eight weeks, and if the fit is right we agree a conversion priced separately from the relief placement. It removes the biggest risk in a senior kitchen hire, which is finding out in week three of a permanent contract that the chef and the kitchen do not match.
Further reading and sources
Pay figures on this page draw from Caterer.com salary benchmarks and the Institute of Hospitality 2025 salary survey (instituteofhospitality.org), ONS ASHE occupational earnings data for SOC 5434 chefs (ons.gov.uk ASHE), GOV.UK National Living Wage and employer National Insurance guidance (gov.uk), and Recruitment & Employment Confederation standards for agency conduct (rec.uk.com). For the framework on choosing a staffing partner, see our how to choose the best chef agency guide.
