Culinary R&D Chef - Menu & Product Innovation

Priority Dispatch Corp.; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision plans

401(k) with company match

Generous paid time off and wellness"

Food and merchandise discounts

Job summary

Goode Company & Levi Goode Brands seeks a Research & Development Chef to lead culinary innovation across restaurants, concessions, events, and retail. You’ll translate ideas into tested, scalable products while partnering with Culinary, Operations, Supply Chain, Brand, Sales, and location teams from concept through launch.

The role requires deep culinary knowledge, curiosity, project discipline, and the ability to collaborate across disciplines to deliver guest-focused experiences.

Qualifications

• 5–10 years in a high-volume kitchen, food manufacturing, culinary R&D, or similar environment.
• Degree in Culinary Arts, Food Science, or related field preferred.
• Deep knowledge of culinary techniques, global cuisines, flavor development, and ingredient functionality.
• Experience with menu innovation, commercialization, recipe costing, yield analysis, and testing.
• Working knowledge of FDA, USDA, HACCP, allergen, and food-safety requirements.
• Excellent project management, problem-solving, communication, and presentation skills.
• Food Handler certification required or ability to obtain it promptly.

Responsibilities

• Conceptualize, develop, test, and refine new recipes, menu items, food products, and culinary experiences.
• Experiment with ingredients, flavor profiles, cooking techniques, presentation, and emerging food trends.
• Translate restaurant-quality concepts into consistent, scalable, operationally feasible products.
• Conduct food-trend analysis, competitive benchmarking, consumer research, and product reviews to identify opportunities.
• Partner with Operations, Supply Chain, Brand, Sales, and location leaders to evaluate feasibility, cost, sourcing, and launch readiness.
• Develop recipes, specifications, yields, portion standards, costing, allergen information, and supporting documentation.
• Lead tastings, pilots, photo shoots, product launches, and post-launch evaluations.
• Create training materials and teach culinary teams new products, methods, standards, and presentation techniques.
• Mentor culinary partners and foster a culture of creativity, accountability, and excellence.
• Ensure food safety, allergen management, labeling, and regulatory standards are met.

Skills

Project management

Problem-solving

Communication

Presentation

Education

Culinary Arts / Food Science degree

Tools

FDA compliance knowledge

HACCP experience

Job description

Goode Company & Levi Goode Brands seeks a Research & Development Chef to lead culinary innovation across restaurants, concessions, events, and retail. You’ll translate ideas into tested, scalable products while partnering with Culinary, Operations, Supply Chain, Brand, Sales, and location teams from concept through launch.

The role requires deep culinary knowledge, curiosity, project discipline, and the ability to collaborate across disciplines to deliver guest-focused experiences.