Development Chef

New Product Development (NPD) Chef

Move out of the kitchen and into a career where you'll be working directly with clients, developing and presenting new recipes!

• £30,000 basic salary
• Annual team bonus
• Company car

We are looking for a passionate and driven Development Chef to join this dynamic team within a fast paced food manufacturing environment.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a chef to take the next step in their career looking to transition from kitchen to a career in New Product Development.

The ideal NPD Chef:

• Full UK driving licence
• Confident, customer facing, presentation skills
• Willingness to learn and adapt in a fast paced, commercial environment
• Strong practical cooking and presentation skills, detail focused with high quality standards
• Good organisation communication skills; comfortable working with cross functional teams including technical, production, and commercial
• Must have attention to detail and a commitment to maintaining high standards
• Excellent organisation and time management skills, with the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Culinary qualification or relevant experience in a professional kitchen or food development environment (minimum 2-3 years professional kitchen)
• Computer literacy - Ability to use Microsoft Office, recipe or spec systems, and email

Key Responsibilities:

Working under the guidance of the Business Development Chef and alongside cross functional teams.

• To support the Business Development Chef with creation and delivery of new products into concepts aligned to customer briefs and growth strategy
• Prepare high quality samples for customer presentations, exhibitions and internal reviews
• Attend frequent customer exhibitions and confidently showcase our brand and culinary expertise at every opportunity
• Ensure allergen, nutritional, and food safety standards are always considered
• Working with sales team to develop relationships with target customer development chefs
• Support internal taste panels, sensory evaluations and market research to inspire and engage target customers and internal teams
• Assist in preparing documentation for internal approvals, nutritional analysis, and allergen declarations
• Help turn innovative ideas into accurate recipe database
• Must be prepared to travel and overnight stays