R&D Chef Leader: Scale Innovative Menus for Multi-Brand

Orbital Kitchens; New York (NY); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Orbital Kitchens is seeking an hands-on Research & Development Manager to lead the culinary team across 20+ brands, driving development, testing and commercialization from concept to scale. You will ensure taste, margin targets and production readiness while mentoring a growing R&D team.

You will manage recipe creation, costings, shelf-life validation and SOP documentation, partnering with Operations, Procurement and Finance to deliver high-volume, quality products.

Qualifications

• Experience leading culinary R&D projects from concept to launch.
• Strong understanding of food science, recipe development, shelf life, yields, and food costing.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience with high-volume, multi-brand production is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead hands-on development of menu items, recipes, ingredients, and processes from concept through approval.
• Run concurrent R&D projects with clear priorities, timelines, and success criteria.
• Pitch new products and menu improvements using trends, data, and customer feedback.
• Lead, train, and develop the R&D kitchen team and establish a culture of disciplined experimentation and documentation.
• Turn concepts into production-ready products and resolve operations issues before launch.
• Build accurate costing and work with Procurement, Supply Chain, and Finance to hit margins.
• Write complete recipes, specs, yields, build sheets, and SOPs for approved products and support launches with cross-functional teams.
• Track KPIs and drive continuous improvement based on results and feedback.

Skills

Culinary R&D

Team leadership

Project management

Food cost & yields

SOP documentation

Education

Culinary or food science education

Job description

Orbital Kitchens is seeking an hands-on Research & Development Manager to lead the culinary team across 20+ brands, driving development, testing and commercialization from concept to scale. You will ensure taste, margin targets and production readiness while mentoring a growing R&D team.

You will manage recipe creation, costings, shelf-life validation and SOP documentation, partnering with Operations, Procurement and Finance to deliver high-volume, quality products.