Culinary R&D Manager

Requirements

• Develop and refine craveable, nutritious recipes aligned with USDA and internal standards
• Lead end-to-end product development: concept → kitchen trials → production → scaled rollout
• Identify gaps in current offerings and drive new product innovation, including scratch-cooked meals
• Elevate flavor, quality, and presentation across the menu
• Own recipe formulation, yields, and documentation to support high-volume production
• Scale recipes from kitchen to multi-site production environments (100K+ meals/week)
• Lead internal tastings, ingredient trials, and product validation
• Translate culinary concepts into clear SOPs, recipe cards, and meal assembly standards
• Partner closely with Operations and spend time on the production floor to ensure successful execution
• Support first production runs and troubleshoot real-time challenges
• Drive continuous improvement across recipes, workflows, and processes
• Act as a hands-on problem solver, fixing root causes, not just symptoms
• Lead student tastings and sampling sessions to validate product success
• Gather and apply qualitative and quantitative feedback to refine recipes
• Ensure meals are not just compliant, but genuinely enjoyable and repeatable for students
• Partner with Sales to support customer presentations, tastings, and product showcases
• Deliver high-quality, visually compelling food presentations that help win new business
• Translate culinary innovation into customer-ready experiences and narratives
• Work closely with FSQA, Procurement, Supply Chain, and Production to ensure feasibility and consistency
• Align on ingredient sourcing, substitutions, and cost considerations
• Ensure smooth handoff from R&D to Operations across all sites

Benefits

• Generous Paid Time Off
• 401k Matching
• Retirement Plan
• Four Day Work Week
• Generous Parental Leave
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Relocation Assistance