hands on expediter = responsable opérationnel
hands on = pratique/opérationnel

Ils disent que "l'expediter (le sous-chef) basically does all the hands-on work".

Explication :
http://www.cuisinenet.com/digest/custom/restaurant/chef_ladd...
the expediter or sous-chef (expedites ) basically does all the hands-on work (see link above)

Sous-Chef

Next under the Chef de Cuisine or Executive Chef, depending on the restaurant, this chef is always in the kitchen. He/she comes up with the daily specials, takes inventory, watches over the staff, expedites (see Expediter, below), and basically does all the hands-on work. There are sous-chefs of two ilks: those who will soon move on to open their own restaurants, becoming Chefs de Cuisine, and those who will remain as they are, preferring the rhythmic rigors of the kitchen to the bright lights of chef stardom.

Expediter

Generally the sous-chef, the expediter serves as the liaison between the customers in the dining room and the line cooks. He/she makes sure that the food gets to the wait staff in a timely fashion, so that everyone sitting at a particular table is served simultaneously. This job is all about coordination and timing.