A line cook job description sets out the duties, required skills, physical requirements, and reporting structure for a kitchen position that executes food production during active service. This page gives you the full duties checklist, a station-by-station breakdown, responsibilities by experience level, shift patterns to specify, and a copy-paste template you can post today. For the role itself — what a line cook does day to day, pay benchmarks, and interview questions — see the line cook guide.
Copy-Paste Line Cook Job Description Template
Drop this template into your job board, careers page, or applicant tracking system. Replace the bracketed fields with your specifics.
Job Title: Line Cook — [Grill / Sauté / Fry / Cold / Pastry] Station
Location: [City, State]
Employment Type: [Full-time / Part-time / On-demand]
About the role: [One sentence describing your venue and service style — e.g., "150-seat neighbourhood bistro seeking a line cook to own the sauté station during dinner service, 90–120 covers a night."]
Duties and responsibilities:
- Set up and break down the assigned station each shift
- Cook and plate menu items to spec from recipe card or memory
- Maintain portion accuracy and plating consistency across every ticket
- Hold par levels of prepped ingredients throughout service
- Call and confirm tickets with expo and adjoining stations
- Label, date, and rotate perishables; keep temperature logs current
- Support other stations during rush to protect ticket times
- Flag ingredient shortages to the sous chef before service is affected
Requirements:
- [1–3] years of line experience, or equivalent culinary training
- Knife skills and safe knife handling
- Comfortable in high-heat, high-volume environments
- Able to stand for a full [8–10] hour shift and lift up to 50 lb / 25 kg
- Food safety certification (ServSafe or local equivalent)
- Authorised to work in the [US / Canada]
Schedule: [AM prep / PM service / doubles], [X] shifts per week, [X] weekend shifts required
Pay: $[X]–$[Y] per hour (US market range: $16–$35/hr by experience level)
How to apply: [Application link, email, or "Walk in between 2–4 pm Mon–Fri"]
Full pay benchmarks by city and experience level are broken down in the line cook role guide.
Skip the posting — book a vetted line cook.
Pre-screened W-2 line cooks, confirmed in under 90 minutes.
Line Cook Responsibilities
These are the line cook responsibilities to list in any full-service restaurant, hotel kitchen, or catering posting:
- Station setup before service and full breakdown at close
- Executing menu items to spec at the pace the ticket rail demands
- Maintaining portion accuracy and plating consistency
- Holding par levels of prepped product through the shift
- Clear ticket communication with expo and adjoining stations
- Labelling, dating, and rotating perishables under FIFO
- Keeping station temperature logs and sanitation standards current
- Reporting shortages and quality issues to the sous chef early
Line Cook Duties by Station
Line cook job duties change materially by station. Name the station in your posting and the duties list below becomes the body of it.
| Station | Core duties | What to screen for |
|---|---|---|
| Grill | Protein cookery to temperature, resting and carryover management, char and crust consistency | Temperature accuracy under volume; ability to hold multiple doneness levels at once |
| Sauté | Pan cookery, pan sauces, multi-component plates fired to order | Multi-pan coordination and sauce recovery under pressure |
| Fry | Fryer management, oil quality and filtration, batch timing, holding discipline | Batch sequencing and fryer safety habits |
| Cold / garde manger | Salads, cold apps, dressings, plating precision, allergen separation | Knife work, plating consistency, allergen protocol awareness |
| Pastry | Dessert assembly and finishing, tempering, portion and weight accuracy | Scaling accuracy and comfort with timed bake windows |
Required Skills and Qualifications
Required for most line cook positions:
- Knife skills and safe knife handling
- Ability to work in high-heat, high-volume environments
- Familiarity with at least one primary station (grill, sauté, fry, cold, or pastry)
- Physical stamina for 8–10 hour shifts on their feet, lifting up to 50 lb / 25 kg
- Ability to follow standardised recipes consistently
- Food safety certification — ServSafe (US) or a provincial food handler certificate (Canada)
- Work authorisation for the US or Canada
Preferred but not always required:
- Culinary school training or formal apprenticeship
- Experience at multiple kitchen types (fine dining, fast casual, banquet/catering)
- Allergen, vegan, halal, or kosher station experience — essential for hotels, senior living, and catering
- Familiarity with your ticket system (KDS or paper rail)
Experience Levels and What to Expect
| Level | Primary responsibilities | Experience required |
|---|---|---|
| Prep line cook | Mise en place, stock prep, portioning (core prep line cook responsibilities) | 0–1 year |
| Line cook | Station execution during service | 1–3 years |
| Lead line cook | Station supervision, training, ordering | 3+ years |
| Head line cook | Full kitchen management in chef's absence | 5+ years |
Shift Patterns and Scheduling
Shift ambiguity is one of the most common reasons line cook candidates drop out after a first conversation. Name the pattern in the posting:
- AM prep (approx. 7am–3pm): mise en place, stock and sauce production, station stocking before service. Suits candidates who want mornings and no late closes.
- PM service (approx. 3pm–close): full station ownership through dinner service and close. The highest-pressure pattern and the hardest to fill.
- Doubles: prep plus service on the same day. State how often doubles are expected — weekly, or only on event days.
- Weekend surge: Friday to Sunday only. Common for brunch-heavy and event venues, and the easiest pattern to fill with on-demand cover.
Also state the number of shifts per week, how many must be weekends, and whether the schedule is fixed or rotating.
What to Include in a Line Cook Job Posting
Run this checklist before you publish:
- Station named in the job title, not just "line cook"
- Service type and volume (covers per service) so candidates self-select
- Duties list specific to that station
- Experience level matched to the station, not inflated
- Physical requirements stated explicitly
- Certification and work authorisation requirements
- Shift pattern, shifts per week, and weekend expectations
- A pay range — postings without one draw materially fewer applicants
- Meal, uniform, and transport details if you offer them
- One clear application route and an expected response time
The Hiring Reality — and the Faster Path
A well-written posting still takes 2–4 weeks to convert into a working cook. DishwasherHero+ provides pre-screened, W-2 employed line cooks on demand across 31 cities. No job posting, no screening, no onboarding. Specify your dates, shift times, and station requirements — we handle the rest. Need to round out the brigade? Book prep cooks and dishwashers on the same shift.
Also see: Dishwasher job description template → · How to hire kitchen staff →
Need a line cook for your restaurant?
Book W-2 employed line cooks on DishwasherHero+ →
