Sundance Trail Ranch

Assistant Cook / Sous Chef. Mountain kitchen. Two ways in — pick the one that fits.

We bought Sundance Trail Ranch to run it for a long time, and we're building the kitchen team that runs with it. The Head Chef seat is filled. Now we're hiring the right hands beside it — and we're holding this role open in two shapes, because the right human matters more than the box they fit in.

We're 138 acres at 8,000 ft, with Roosevelt National Forest as the back fence. Fort Collins is 45 minutes down the road for the days you want a 'city' and Denver's about two hours away.

I want to be clear, this isn't a vacation gig. It's for a cook who's done real service — restaurant lines, hotel kitchens, camps, or catering — and wants to cook real food properly, with people who actually care.

Two ways in.

Option A — Assistant Cook, live-in. Full-time, second-in-command to the Head Chef across all service. On-ranch housing and three meals a day included. Right for a developing chef who wants the kitchen and the mountain. $18–$25/hr + tips, dependent on experience.

Option B — Dinner Cook, local. Afternoons and evenings. You take the lead on dinner — planning, prepping, and running the evening meal with the Head Chef's support. Dinner is the heart of the ranch day: guests and crew around one long table after a day on the trail. You own that moment, and you drive home after it. $15.16–$25/hr + tips, dependent on experience.

About the money (live-in especially — read this before you scroll).

• Private room on-ranch, three meals a day, every day — the same food the guests eat
• Lodging and meals provided per IRC §119, untaxed
• HFWA paid sick leave and FAMLI
• No rent, no grocery bill, no commute

A Front Range cook pulling a similar hourly rate is often netting less than you will here once rent, groceries, and commuting costs are factored in. The cooks who've made this kind of move and actually run the numbers usually come out ahead. That math is part of the point of this offer — look at it twice.

You'll thrive here if:

• You cook like it matters — breakfast or dinner, to the guest who just rode in from the trail, it does
• Clean, organized, on time. The basics, done right, every single service
• You handle pressure without making the rest of the kitchen feel it
• You like a small team — close quarters, real relationships, shared purpose
• You're hungry to learn from a Head Chef who'll actually teach — or strong enough to bring something to the table yourself. Either direction works
• You actually want to live in the mountains (Option A) or already do (Option B)

You won't if:

• You think hospitality is theater instead of care
• "From scratch" means defrosting it yourself
• You think staff should eat differently than guests
• The dishroom on a Tuesday night feels beneath you

What you'd be cooking.

Whole food. From scratch. Clean. We don't open bags. Stocks from bones, bread from flour, the land sets the menu. Our food philosophy sits closer to a wellness retreat than a standard ranch kitchen — organic where it matters, seasonal, non-processed, food-as-medicine. That's not a marketing line, it's how we actually eat.

Dude ranch season is the heart of the work. Family-style breakfasts that fuel a day on horseback. Trail lunches that hold up at the top of a ridge. Dinners that bring 24 guests around one big table, plus up to 15 staff eating the same food. One plated adult-only dinner mid-week — the night the parents booked the trip for. Built around a weekly arc, not a static menu.

The place, real talk.

8,000 ft. Tobacco-free (no chewing or smoking), drug-free, random screening. WiFi limited, cell signal patchy, by design. Chef uniform in the kitchen, western when you step out. Uniform can be provided. Full ranch access on days off — riding, hiking, jacuzzi, disc golf, shooting range, miles of forest out the back gate.

It's beautiful here. It's also remote, weather-dependent, and physical. Some weeks will stretch you. That's part of the work.

Who you'd work with.

You report to our Head Chef — a working chef who leads from the line, not a clipboard. Behind the kitchen are Jade and Monty — partners in life, in business, and in this ranch.

Monty spent 25 years in the ski industry, working with some of the most iconic mountain resorts in North America. He's now part-time CFO for boutique destination, cat, and heli-skiing operations across British Columbia and Colorado, including Silverton Mountain. He stepped out of the corporate noise to live closer to the mountains. The bar he holds for guest experience is high.

Jade has spent two decades coaching companies to build high-performance, human-centered organizations across Australia, the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia. STR is the most direct expression of her work she's ever built. You'll get real mentorship — career and life, not just kitchen feedback. The kind most cooks never get.

Start: ASAP

Will you join us?

Employment Type: Full Time
Years Experience: 1 - 3 years
Salary: $18 - $25 Hourly
Bonus/Commission: Yes