The Research and Development Chef of Ready to Heat will conceive and create new recipes for the Ready to Heat (RTH) Home Chef offering that meet our nutritional, cost and ingredient specifications. 

R&D New Meals

• Conceive accessible, creative new meal and compound ingredient recipes in the test kitchen that apply to cost, ingredient, caloric/nutritional, time, and operational  constraints
• Collaborate with other chefs to improve and test each other’s dishes
• Take extensive and honest feedback every day on meal accessibility and flavors and incorporate into recipes
• Work with cross functional partners to expand and refine RTH pantry of ingredients with a focus on customer satisfaction and operational complexity
• Drive for higher customer ratings and satisfaction

Evaluate Customer Feedback

• Thoroughly understand how average customer interacts with product and strive to make meals as accessible and delicious as possible
• Analyze customer comments on meals from menu runs and incorporate learnings into new recipes

Weekly Culinary Meetings

• Attend and participate in weekly culinary team meetings, including Performance Board, Team Check-ins, and Taster Standup

This position requires 0-10% travel. 

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.

• 5+ years experience working in a kitchen or other professional cooking environment. Able to work in a clean and organized manner
• 2+ years prior recipe development experience
• Culinary degree preferred
• Understanding of current nutrition, food and food industry trends
• 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
• Self-starter and highly motivated to make meals that an average person can successfully cook at home 
• ServSafe or food handling certification preferred 
• Sense of teamwork and collaboration. Works well in group settings to move projects forward, provide constructive feedback when needed, and support the overall team workload
• Strong verbal communication skills
• Willing and able to receive feedback and implement suggestions

Salary Range: $60,000 - $65,000 plus bonus opportunity 

Perks and benefits:

• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance – benefits start the 1st day of the month following your start date
• Company-paid Life Insurance, Short Term Disability, and Long Term Disability
• 401(k) Employer match
• Flexible spending accounts (FSA) for qualified Medical, Dependent Care, Parking, or Transit expenses
• Flexible paid time off (PTO) policy, holidays and sick time
• Generous Parental Leave
• State-of-the-art office in the historic Old Post Office building in downtown Chicago, close to multiple Metra and CTA options, and amenities such as a food court, onsite gym, and communal rooftop space
• Discounts on Home Chef meal kits and at Kroger stores
• Casual dress in a fun, friendly, and collaborative work environment

Candidates can experience Home Chef as a customer - enter promo code PEOPLE30 for $30 off your first order!

How We Work Together

We are humble team players.
We are warm and gracious with team members and customers. We seek feedback to improve ourselves - and respectfully listen to and accept input.

We are pragmatic next-level thinkers.
We come up with novel and unique ideas. We explore new strategies to avoid being constrained by conventional thinking.

We take ownership.
We approach ambiguous problems, prepared to dive in, get curious, and learn more. We are results-driven, always challenging ourselves to exceed goals.

Be at Home at Home Chef

We all show up authentically at Home Chef. Our team includes individuals with a variety of identities, backgrounds, and perspectives. You can trust that you’ll be able to bring your whole self to an inclusive and enjoyable workplace.

We welcome people of all races, colors, religions, national origin or ancestry, sex (including sexual identity), age, physical or mental disabilities, pregnancy, veteran or military status, unfavorable discharge from military service, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, order of protection status, citizenship status, arrest record or expunged/sealed convictions, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local law.

Home Chef is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Home Chef will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact our People team at hr@homechef.com.

Home Chef is an equal opportunity employer.

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