Culinary Project Manager (Food Science)

Chefman; Mahwah (NJ); On-site; USD 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Chefman in Mahwah, NJ, is seeking a CHEF iQ Culinary Project Manager who blends culinary expertise, food science, and project management to define how our smart kitchen products should perform. You will be the culinary voice of CHEF iQ, shaping testing, quality control, and product experiences.

This onsite, full‑time role requires a bachelor’s in Food Science or Culinary Arts, 3+ years in product development or test kitchen, and 2+ years coordinating cross‑functional teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Culinary Arts, or related field or hands‑on equivalent experience.
• 3+ years of culinary experience in product development or test kitchen work.
• 2+ years of project management or cross‑functional coordination experience.
• Experience writing and running product or food testing procedures.

Responsibilities

• Define and communicate culinary performance and experience standards for all CHEF iQ products.
• Provide culinary feedback on hardware, firmware, software, and UI/UX.
• Test and validate firmware and app releases with documentation of bugs and enhancements.
• Organize testing procedures and ensure repeatable results across testers and units.

Skills

Culinary expertise

Food science knowledge

Excellent communication

Excel data analysis

Project management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science or Culinary Arts

Tools

Excel

Job description

CHEF iQ Culinary Project Manager
Chefman | Mahwah, NJ | Onsite | Full-time

Be the culinary voice behind smart cooking
If you love food, science, and getting the details right, this role is for you. As the culinary voice of CHEF iQ, you blend culinary expertise, food science, and project management to define how our smart kitchen products should perform, and you prove it through rigorous, repeatable testing. Your work shapes the food people cook at home and how safely they cook it. Quality is the heart of this job.

What you’ll do

Be the culinary voice

• Define and communicate culinary performance and experience standards for all CHEF iQ products
• Give culinary feedback on hardware, firmware, software, and UI/UX
• Challenge product decisions that compromise cooking performance or food safety, backed by testing data
• Maintain quality control for all CHEF iQ products and content

Test and validate

• Write, standardize, and maintain testing procedures so results are repeatable across testers, units, and SKUs
• Assess products at each development stage, with clear, concise feedback and recommendations
• Test and validate every firmware and app release, documenting bugs, features, and enhancements for the right team
• Oversee presets for all products, tested with real food

Know the market

• Develop product function charts and run market research, including competitive testing, to set quality benchmarks
• Track competitor launches and culinary features, and turn them into product and positioning recommendations

Manage and collaborate

• Manage culinary workstreams on new products, including timelines, deliverables, and milestones
• Be the main contact for product-related culinary questions across teams
• Partner with UI/UX, Software, Firmware, and Product Development on features and new products
• Present testing results to Product Development with clear recommendations
• Keep spreadsheets current and show where each product stands

Content, marketing, and sales

• Organize all Guided Cooking recipe content for development and release
• Support Marketing, Copywriting, photo, and video teams on content, functionality explanations, and packaging review
• Support Sales with product demonstrations, cooking demos, and product inquiries

What you bring

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Culinary Arts, or a related field, or a culinary degree plus equivalent hands‑on experience
• 3+ years of culinary experience in product development or test kitchen work
• 2+ years of project management or coordination experience, ideally on cross‑functional product teams
• Hands‑on experience writing and running product or food testing procedures
• Experience with competitive testing, benchmarking, or market research for consumer products

Skills

• Extensive culinary expertise, including technique and validating standards, with a deep understanding of smart kitchen technologies. Recipe development is a plus.
• Food science knowledge applied to food testing
• Organized reports that combine culinary and technical results
• Planning, prioritizing, and tracking multiple projects and deadlines
• Exceptional communication across teams, translating technical and culinary information for non‑technical audiences
• Excel data analysis, such as averages, variance, and charts across test runs
• Strong organization, attention to detail, and critical thinking about how a product performs
• Collaborative, flexible, and respectful of others’ opinions

Preferred

• A food science testing background with sensory experience, such as Sensory Scientist, Food Technologist, or R&D or test kitchen roles
• Experience testing small kitchen appliances or smart and connected consumer products
• Restaurant experience is a plus
• Some familiarity with AI tools

Why you’ll love it

Your work helps people cook with confidence. You’ll join a close team that loves food, with a supportive manager who is there when you need her and trusts you to do the work.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.

The base salary range for this role is provided below. Compensation is determined based on job-related factors such as experience, skills, and internal equity, in accordance with New Jersey pay transparency requirements.

New Jersey pay range

$70,000 - $80,000 USD