R&D Manager

Feast & Fettle; Elkridge (MD); On-site; USD 68,000 - 83,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

401k plan

Free FF membership

Parental leave

Professional development allowance

Wellness reimbursement

Job summary

Feast & Fettle is seeking an R&D Manager to join our Culinary Operations team in Elkridge, MD. This onsite role partners with Production to ensure R&D recipes perform in live production, monitor yield and quality, and drive improvements from bench to batch-scale.

You will help plan production capacity, flag risks, and optimize SOPs while balancing member experience with operational feasibility. Ideal candidates have 5+ years in large-scale food production or catering, a related Bachelor's

Qualifications

• Strong culinary foundation with experience in large-scale food production or catering.
• 5+ years of experience and a Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Culinology, or Culinary Arts preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own recipe performance in production; ensure dishes meet R&D specs.
• Monitor live production for yield, consistency, and quality; troubleshoot as needed.
• Work with Culinary teams to diagnose root causes and implement corrective actions.
• Evaluate menu plans and SOPs for clarity, batch size, and scalability.
• Bridge R&D and Culinary Operations to ensure feasible, high-quality output.

Skills

Culinary production

Excel

Google Sheets

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Excel

Google Sheets

Job description

Feast & Fettle is hiring a R&D Manager to join our Culinary Operations Team in Elkridge, MD. This is an onsite role in Elkridge, MD, with a Thursday- Monday workweek.

The R&D Manager is a member of the R&D team who works embedded within Production to ensure R&D-developed recipes perform as intended in a live production environment. This role is responsible for monitoring recipe execution, identifying breakdowns in yield, quality, consistency, or process, and supporting timely resolution both in the moment and through longer-term recipe or SOP improvements.

This role owns recipe performance and viability, not production output or people management. When a recipe under-yields, creates quality issues, strains equipment, or proves difficult to execute at scale, the R&D Manager investigates root causes, partners with Production and fellow R&D team members to implement immediate fixes, and ensures learnings are incorporated into future recipe iterations.

The R&D Manager also supports production planning, evaluating weekly menus and historical data to ensure production plans are achievable given equipment capacity, workflow, mise en place requirements, and cook times. This includes identifying and flagging risks that could negatively impact execution, efficiency, or product quality.

This role balances the needs of two core stakeholders:

• Ensuring members receive consistent, high-quality dishes that reflect the intended culinary experience
• Ensuring Production teams are set up for success with scale tested recipes

What you’ll do

Recipe Execution & Fidelity

• Serve as the primary owner of recipe performance in production, ensuring dishes are produced to R&D specification and intended culinary experience
• Monitor live production execution to assess:
• Yield accuracy
• Consistency and repeatability
• Flavor, texture, and visual quality
• Ingredient behavior and quality
• Equipment performance and limitations
• Identify when a recipe is not performing as intended and step in immediately to troubleshoot and support correction

Real-Time Problem Solving & Regrouping

• Act as the first responder when recipes break down in production (e.g., under-yielding, quality degradation, execution challenges)
• Partner with Culinary teams across Prep, Production, FSQA, and Packout to:
• Diagnose root causes
• Implement immediate corrective actions
• Minimize disruption while protecting product quality
• Ensure issues are not only solved in the moment, but documented, escalated, and corrected for future cycles

Recipe & SOP Optimization

• Evaluate menu plans and recipe SOPs with an operational lens, including:
• Step clarity and sequencing
• Cook times and batch scalability
• Transform recipes from the benchtop to production scale to ensure:
• Recipes are repeatable with clear instructions for success
• Quality from the benchtop sample is preserved through to the member
• Identify gaps, inefficiencies, or risks and partner with R&D to:
• Clarify instructions
• Adjust processes
• Flag recipes that require redevelopment or additional testing

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Serve as the connective tissue between R&D and Culinary Operations
• Communicate clearly and confidently with production leaders and frontline cooks while maintaining accountability to the product
• Advocate for both member experience and operational feasibility in all decisions

What is Feast & Fettle?

Feast & Fettle is the fastest-growing meal delivery service in the Northeast—and that momentum comes from a team of smart, kind people who show up to build, not just keep up. We move with urgency, sweat the right details, and bring care to everything we touch.

What began in 2016 as a private chef’s side hustle has grown into a company serving thousands of households, with a mission that’s both simple and personal: to nourish everyday life. That mission shows up in every detail—from how we source ingredients and plan our weekly menus to the care in every delivery and the trust we build at our Members’ tables.

We care for our people the same way we care for our Members—with consistency, thoughtfulness, and a constant drive to raise the standard. We invest in our team because we know: when you’re supported, you do your best work—and help us do ours.

What we’re looking for

• Strong culinary foundation with experience in large-scale food production, large scale catering, or manufacturing
• 5+ years of experience and Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Culinology, Culinary Arts, or similar preferred
• Proficiency in Excel and/or Google Sheets
• Proven ability to translate culinary concepts into repeatable, scalable production execution
• Sharp problem-solving skills and comfort operating in fast-moving, real-time environments
• Deep understanding of:
• Batch cooking and yield management
• SOP development and refinement
• Exceptional communication skills — able to partner across teams without positional authority
• Detail-oriented, systems-minded, and relentlessly focused on quality
• Comfortable being embedded on the floor and getting hands-on when needed
• Experience working within R&D, product development, or commercialization teams
• Familiarity with food safety, FSQA collaboration, and regulatory considerations
• Experience supporting menu-driven or subscription-based food models

At Feast & Fettle, people safety and food safety are our top priority. Our Culinary Operations teams work with all major food allergens. This role involves full sensory contact, including touching, smelling, and tasting allergens. By applying, you acknowledge this is a work environment where allergen exposure cannot be restricted and may present risk for individuals with sensitivities or allergies.

What we offer

$75,000

Here, you’ll find comprehensive benefits that make a difference in your daily well-being, along with a safe, welcoming, and energized workplace culture committed to providing the opportunity for every team member to thrive.

We provide medical, dental, and vision coverage (with 70% of your monthly premium paid by F&F), flexible time off, and a 401(k) retirement plan. All employees enjoy a free Feast & Fettle membership—$160 worth of our fully prepared menu items every week—plus paid parental leave, an annual $1,000 professional development benefit, and a monthly wellness reimbursement you can use for anything that supports your well-being, from gym memberships to therapy copays.