Culinary Development Specialist

Minor DKL Food Group; Brisbane; Presencial; AUD 85 000 - 110 000; Tempo integral

Vantagens oferecidas por esta oferta de emprego

Flexible working arrangements

Modern Southbank office

Employer-funded paid parental leave

Purchased annual leave

Subsidised training and development

Barista-quality coffee

Resumo da oferta

Minor DKL Food Group is seeking a hands‑on Culinary Development Specialist to join our Product team in Brisbane. You will take ideas from recipe development and testing through to successful store execution across our multi‑brand hospitality network.

You'll work closely with the Head of Product and NPD team to balance creativity with commercial requirements, running kitchen trials, sensory evaluations, and supplier collaboration to bring new concepts to life.

Qualificações

• Practical experience developing and testing food and beverage products in a commercial kitchen or similar environment.
• Passion for flavour, product quality and consumer appeal.
• Confidence experimenting with recipes and ingredients in a busy setting.
• Experience with menu development or product launches is desirable.
• Understanding of balancing creativity with cost and operational considerations.

Responsabilidades

• Bring new concepts to life through hands‑on recipe development and testing.
• Run kitchen trials and sensory evaluations for taste, texture and yield.
• Develop recipes across current and future brand networks for store execution.
• Collaborate with suppliers to explore new ingredients and ideas.
• Translate concepts from test kitchen to stores and gather feedback for refinement.
• Prepare products for tastings, reviews and training, aligning with brand standards.

Conhecimentos

Food product development

Recipe testing

Kitchen experimentation

Cross-brand collaboration

Formação académica

Culinary Arts

Commercial Cookery

Food Science

Hospitality Management

Descrição da oferta de emprego

Do you love developing new food and beverage ideas, getting hands‑on in the kitchen, and turning great concepts into menu items customers will love?

At Minor DKL (The Coffee Club), food and beverage is at the heart of what we do. We're always looking for ways to evolve our menus, respond to changing customer tastes and create products that work across our current and future brands and store networks.

We're looking for a hands‑on Culinary Development Specialist to join our Product team and help bring new food and beverage concepts to life. Working closely with the Head of Product and wider NPD team, you'll take ideas from recipe development and testing through to successful store execution.

About the Role

You'll spend your time experimenting, tasting, testing and refining products, balancing creativity and great taste with commercial, brand and operational requirements across a multi‑brand hospitality environment

As our Culinary Development Specialist, you will:

• Bring new food and beverage concepts to life through hands‑on recipe development and testing.
• Experiment with ingredients, flavours and preparation methods to create and refine great products.
• Run kitchen trials and sensory evaluations, assessing taste, texture, presentation, yield and consistency.
• Develop recipes and menu builds across Minor DKL's current and future brands that excite customers and are practical for store teams to execute.
• Develop recipes with a commercial lens, balancing product quality, portioning and ingredient selection while keeping COGS targets in mind.
• Work with suppliers to explore new ingredients, products and menu development opportunities.
• Take concepts from the test kitchen into stores, using feedback to refine products along the way.
• Prepare products for tastings, Gatekeeper reviews, photoshoots and training.
• Partner with Product, Operations, Supply, Marketing and Training to bring new products and menus to launch.
• Keep across food and beverage trends and bring fresh ideas to future menu development.

About You

You're a hands‑on food and beverage person who loves creating, experimenting and making a good idea even better. You're equally comfortable testing a recipe in the kitchen or working with suppliers and teams across the business to bring it to life.

You'll ideally bring:

• Practical experience developing and testing food and beverage products in a commercial kitchen, café, restaurant, test kitchen or product development environment.
• A genuine passion for food, flavour and creating products customers will love.
• Confidence experimenting with ingredients, recipes and preparation methods.
• Experience with menu development, product trials or new product launches.
• A practical understanding of what makes a product work in a busy hospitality environment, balancing creativity, quality, consistency, portioning, ingredient selection and commercial considerations, including COGS targets.
• Good knowledge of food safety, allergens and quality standards.
• Curiosity about emerging food and beverage trends.
• Strong attention to detail, organisation and a collaborative approach.

A qualification in Culinary Arts, Commercial Cookery, Food Science, Food Technology, Hospitality Management or a related area would be great, but relevant hands‑on industry experience is equally valued.

Experience in a franchised, multi‑site hospitality or food retail environment will be highly regarded.

Why Join Us?

• Work across Minor DKL's portfolio, including one of Australia's most recognised café brands, The Coffee Club.
• Help develop products and menus that will be enjoyed by customers across our current and future brand networks.
• Be involved from initial concept and kitchen trials through to menu launch.
• Work across a diverse range of food and beverage projects.
• Join a supportive, collaborative team where you'll have the opportunity to contribute ideas and grow your capability.
• Flexible working arrangements and a modern Southbank office.
• Benefits including employer-funded paid parental leave, purchased annual leave and subsidised training and development.
• Barista-quality coffee every day.