Associate R&D Chef

This role sits in the new product development department as part of the Tempo culinary team. The Associate R&D Chef will be asked to assist Tempo R&D team  with key initiatives including, but not limited to: supporting the development of compound ingredient formulations and meals, cooking to support meal R&D, preparing ingredients for product sampling, editing production meals to ensure accuracy, and assisting with photography work. This is an in office role that works in both the R&D kitchen at the Old Post Office in downtown Chicago, IL and in the production kitchen in Bedford Park, IL.

Detailed Responsibilities

Kitchen Operations

• Manage and maintain ingredients for R&D and for scaling recipes at our Bedford Park production kitchen, including taking a regular inventory, placing orders for stock items, cycling out old or expired products, etc.
• Ensure that needed items are properly transferred from the production kitchen to the R&D kitchen
• Own inventory of RTH ingredients in the R&D kitchen, including knowledge of where items are located, as well as tracking/storing items that are needed both near and long term
• Work with Culinary Apprentices to help manage the grocery process, including communicating with all r&d kitchen personnel, making lists, shopping, and putting away groceries, as well as sourcing last minute items 
• Helping to order kitchen supplies, including speciality ingredients & kitchen equipment, directly from suppliers, production facilities and/or online sources 
• Become a resource for cross-functional teams

Meal and Ingredient R&D

• Mise en place and execution of meals or compound ingredients as assigned by manager
• Cook bench top rough draft formulations of compound ingredients to dial in viability for production (flavor, nutritionals, ease of execution, performance over time, etc.)
• Assemble meals according to specifications
• Take meal pictures, edit them and upload them into appropriate folders for both internal production photos and customer facing photos
• Take compound ingredient photos and upload to appropriate folders
• Participate in compound ingredient/meal feedback discussions and then work with manager to implement that feedback into formulation and procedure improvements 
• Refine ingredient amounts, recipe wording and timing to ensure compound ingredient/meal success
• Scale recipes to full R&D batches for testing and further refinements to the formulation
• Scale recipes to full production batches and test as needed at our production facility in Bedford Park
• Scale non cooking kitchen or assembly operations at Bedford Park facility (ex. testing planetary mixer settings or refining assembly only compound ingredients)
• Follow general food safety rules in the R&D kitchen
• Follow all sanitation and GMP rules  and food safety rules in the production kitchen
• Respond to feedback from R&D chef, production chefs and other Product Team members to continuously improve output and workflows
• Test new techniques to increase quality, yield, nutritionals and efficiency of compound ingredients
• Test recipe techniques and changes on an as needed basis
• Participate in setup and tasting for the new ingredient sampling process
• Execute key project work and drive workstreams when necessary

New Meal Development Support

• Participate in production meal edit checks each week and on an ad hoc basis
• Participate in ad hoc bulk meal and ingredient updates
• Assess accuracy of meal assembly photos on live menus and reshoot photos as needed
• Taste and provide feedback daily on all meals Tempo R&D chefs develop, including red meat, vegetarian, soy, seafood, shellfish, and pork (with limited exceptions) 
• Analyze customer comments and make recommendations on ways to improve

Team and Cross Functional Meetings

• Regularly attend and participate in all required Tempo culinary and cross-functional team meetings

This position requires 0-10% travel

Qualifications

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability needed for this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities.

• 1+ year experience with consumer packaged goods preferred
• 1+ year professional cooking experience preferred
• Culinary background required
• Strong understanding of food
• High attention to detail: must adhere exactly to shopping list & Home Chef cooking specifications
• ServSafe certified or strong understanding of sanitary practices
• Required to carry bags of groceries through elevator daily (carts available)
• Must be able to taste and provide thorough feedback on every meal and ingredient sample test in the kitchen, including vegetarian, pork, chicken, steak, and seafood meals, as well as meals with dairy and added sugar
• Completion of a two-year program such as an Associate degree (please describe): Culinary Arts degree

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