Senior R&D Chef (all genders)

HelloFresh; Verden (OK); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Learning & Development

Factor Meals

Compensation & Time Off

Health & Wellbeing

Future & Flexibility

Job summary

Factor, the HelloFresh ready-to-heat meal service, is seeking a Senior R&D Chef to join our culinary team. You will develop new recipes each week, refine existing ones, and drive cross-functional collaboration with Operations, Nutrition, Procurement, and Menu Planning to deliver meals that meet nutrition targets, cost constraints, and production needs.

You bring 6+ years in recipe development, a Culinary Science degree, and a passionate, entrepreneurial mindset.

Qualifications

• 6+ years experience creating recipes or leading large kitchen operations.
• Ability to adapt recipes for production scale and cost targets.
• Strong collaboration across cross-functional teams including Operations, Nutrition, Procurement, and Menu Planning.

Responsibilities

• Develop new recipes weekly meeting product priorities, nutrition targets, cost targets, and production constraints.
• Improve existing recipes based on feedback and data.
• Analyze market trends and competitor activity to inform future development.
• Conduct bench-testing and panel tastings to refine products.
• Document and track recipes in development tools with clear iteration history.
• Collaborate with Sourcing to approve new ingredients that balance quality and cost.
• Work with Commercialization Chefs to ensure tests for large-scale production.
• Assist kitchen production to adapt recipes when needed while maintaining quality.

Skills

Recipe development

Large-scale kitchen operations

Communication

Organizational skills

Entrepreneurial mindset

Curiosity/open-mindedness

Deadline-driven

Education

Culinary Science degree

Job description

The role

We are seeking a Senior R&D Chef to join the culinary team of our newest brand, Factor: a healthy, ready-to-heat meal delivery service. At Factor, our goal is to revolutionize the way consumers eat: we make it more convenient to get delicious, healthy meals delivered to your doorstep; we cater to distinct dietary lifestyles and provide an ever-changing menu that appeals to a wide population of people. We are growing exponentially and are looking to continue to build our team with entrepreneurial-minded people who have a passion for culinary innovation, nutrition, and helping people achieve their goals.

Reporting to the Culinary Lead, the Senior R&D Chef will be responsible for developing delicious new recipes and innovating on existing recipes in order to drive excitement across our customer base. This role is required to develop recipes across all diet and meal preference types, while maintaining specific cost and nutritional targets. You will be expected to deliver on end-to-end culinary recipe development from ideation through initial editorial steps. The role is cross-functional and will work closely with our Operations, Nutrition, Procurement, and Menu Planning teams to develop the best possible product for our customers.

What you’ll do

You will...

• Develop new recipes weekly that meet Factor’s product priorities, nutritional targets, cost targets, and production constraints
• Continuously improve existing recipes by analyzing customer feedback and performance data
• Dive deep into customer data, market trends, and competitor activity to inform future development
• Bench-test new recipes and run panel tastings to refine products through peer feedback
• Input and track recipes in our development tools to ensure clear documentation and iteration history
• Partner with Sourcing to evaluate and approve new ingredients that improve the customer experience, and meet quality / cost standards
• Collaborate with our Commercialization Chefs to ensure recipes are thoroughly tested and designed for large scale production
• Collaborate with kitchen production team to adapt recipes or make ingredient substitutions when required, ensuring customers still get the best quality and tastiest meals

What you’ll bring

• 6+ years experience creating recipes, and/or running a commissary or large restaurant/banquet/catering
• A strong understanding of recipe execution at large scale and the ability to quickly adapt recipes and processes for improved output
• A degree in Culinary Science or a similar culinary-related field
• Curiosity and open-mindedness: you are always interested in learning new and better ways of doing things
• Outstanding communication and organizational skill: you excel at planning, prioritizing, and executing projects, are highly collaborative and can manage diverse opinions and competing priorities, and never miss a deadline
• An entrepreneurial mindset: you take initiative, are highly accountable, and love to get things done, all with a high standard of excellence
• An obsession with food and a passion for helping people achieve their goals!

What we offer

• Learning & Development: Access to internal training programs and an annual budget to support your personal and professional development.

• Factor_ Meals: Exclusive employee discounts on our delicious and nutritious Factor_ meals.

• Compensation & Time Off: Competitive salary and 30 days of paid annual leave.

• Health & Wellbeing: Access to a variety of wellbeing initiatives, with additional fitness and wellness benefits being introduced.

• Future & Flexibility: We continuously expand our benefits portfolio, including mobility support and retirement benefits, to provide even greater flexibility and long-term security.