Chef Mentor (40087)

Sunway Education Group; Selangor; On-site; MYR 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading culinary institution is seeking a Chef Mentor to guide food entrepreneurs in refining their recipes and developing scalable products. The ideal candidate will have extensive culinary experience and a passion for coaching. Responsibilities include mentoring, conducting workshops, and assisting with operational planning. Join to make a significant impact in the food startup ecosystem in Selangor, Malaysia.

Qualifications

• 5 to 10 years of professional culinary experience in senior kitchen roles.
• Experience in mentoring and coaching food founders.
• Strong understanding of food startup fundamentals.

Responsibilities

• Mentor food entrepreneurs to refine recipes and improve product quality.
• Transform culinary ideas into commercially viable products.
• Conduct kitchen operations training and workshops.

Skills

Recipe development

Mentoring

Product testing

Commercial scale-up

Communication skills

Job description

Sunway Le Cordon Bleu is looking for a Chef Mentor to support food founders and early-stage culinary entrepreneurs in developing, testing, and scaling food concepts from kitchen to market. This role seeks a culinary professional who combines strong technical skills with entrepreneurial thinking and enjoys coaching founders through real-world challenges.

Key Responsibilities

• Mentor early-stage food entrepreneurs to refine recipes, improve taste, texture, and presentation.
• Transform culinary ideas into scalable, commercially viable products while maintaining quality and consistency.
• Provide feedback through sensory evaluation, product testing, and one-to-one coaching during incubation programmes.
• Conduct demonstrations, workshops, and practical training on production efficiency and professional kitchen operations.
• Coordinate incubator schedules, pilot runs, tastings, and showcases while ensuring compliance with hygiene and food safety standards.
• Advice on ingredient sourcing, substitutions, and equipment selection for small-to-medium scale production.
• Support recipe standardisation, costing, pricing strategies, and operational planning for commercial readiness.
• Assist participants with business plans, investor presentations, and documentation for market entry.

Requirements

• 5 to 10 years of professional culinary experience, including senior kitchen leadership roles.
• Proven experience in mentoring, coaching, or training aspiring chefs or food founders.
• Strong capability in recipe development, product testing, and commercial scale-up.
• Practical understanding of food startup fundamentals, including pricing, unit economics, branding, and go-to-market strategies.
• Exposure to central kitchens, cloud kitchens, R&D kitchens, or product development environments is an advantage.
• Experience working with startups, SMEs, or innovation programs is highly desirable.
• Collaborative, adaptable with excellent communication and organisational skills.
• Comfortable in fast-changing environments and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Operates with integrity, professionalism, and respect for confidentiality.

We thank all applicants for expressing their interest in this vacancy. Please note that only shortlisted applicants will be notified.