Development Chef

Zest Recruitment; City Of London; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

Zest Recruitment is seeking a passionate food developer to join our FMCG client’s innovation team. You will lead recipe creation, document processes, and partner with production to refine techniques, ensuring high-quality, costed concepts reach production efficiently.

You’ll present findings at tastings to senior leadership and trend reviews, helping shape new projects and build a strong food story across the business.

Qualifications

• Culinary training or hands-on kitchen experience required.
• Experience in FMCG food development is preferred.
• Excellent cooking and plating skills with a flair for storytelling through food.
• Ability to present ideas clearly to production teams and leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead recipe innovation and continuous improvement on live projects from concept to launch.
• Record recipes and methods precisely on the development system.
• Collaborate with production to refine cooking and preparation methods.
• Present new and existing recipes at internal tastings and leadership meetings.
• Scope new development projects and present findings to kick off ideas.
• Set quality benchmarks and run tastings to keep dishes best in class.
• Source high-quality ingredients with procurement colleagues and specify brand standards.
• Ensure recipes are costed and tracked through development and trials.

Skills

Culinary training

Food development

Strong cooking skills

Presentation skills

Multi-project management

Job description

Behind every recipe that makes it onto a shelf, there's a chef who's tested it a dozen ways, argued its case in a tasting room and made sure it still tastes just as good the twelfth time it's made in a factory as it did the first time in a kitchen. That's the craft this role is built around - part chef, part storyteller, part problem-solver.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

• Leading recipe innovation and continuous improvement on live projects, from early concept through to launch and beyond
• Recording every recipe and method precisely and consistently on the development system
• Working hand in hand with production to refine cooking and preparation methods
• Presenting new and existing recipes at internal tastings, bringing the story behind each dish to life for everyone from the wider food team to senior leadership
• Scoping out new development projects, building the plan for what to explore and presenting findings to kick off each new idea
• Setting quality benchmarks and running tastings to keep every dish competitive and best in class
• Building inspiring food presentations that communicate the story, the ingredients and the thinking behind each recipe, for colleagues and customers alike
• Sourcing new, high-quality ingredients with procurement and technical colleagues, agreeing specifications that meet the brand's standards
• Making sure every recipe is accurately costed and tracked through development
• Supporting trials and the scale-up into production, upholding dish quality and coaching site teams where needed
• Benchmarking kitchen-made samples against production output before and after launch, including regular quality checks in the weeks that follow
• Picking up ad-­hoc ingredient projects, from quality tweaks to supply issues

Alongside the development work, you'll play an active part in building food culture across the business, from trend reviews to tasting sessions and training days.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• A genuine love of food
• Culinary training or hands-­on kitchen experience
• Food development experience within FMCG is preferred
• Excellent cooking skills and strong culinary knowledge
• Confident communication and presentation skills and be comfortable pitching ideas to anyone from the production floor to senior leadership
• Strong organisation, with the ability to manage multiple projects at once
• Sharp attention to detail
• Great interpersonal skills, with a creative, can-­do, driven attitude and a genuine enjoyment of working as part of a team

Please note: Candidates must have full UK right to work, Sponsorship is not available for this role.