Farmer’s Fridge makes fruits and vegetables accessible and approachable for everyone. We offer a variety of fresh, healthy, ready-to-eat meals and snacks through our fresh food vending machines, wholesale partners, and our office pantry solution — providing chef-curated meals to customers within seconds. Today, we operate a network of Fridges and partner with clients nationwide in high-foot-traffic areas, such as airports, hospitals, universities, and large office buildings — where there is limited accessibility to fresh, healthy, grab-n-go options.

We care deeply about what we’re creating and aspire to make sure our customers feel that through every touchpoint. This shows up in many ways across the business. We are committed to prioritizing food safety, we are passionate about product quality, we value our employees, we champion the best idea no matter where it comes from, and we’re committed to making an overall positive impact as we scale.

About this Role:

Our R&D Chef will be responsible for bringing new products to our customers by developing recipes that meet cost, brand, and strategy goals. Working out of our corporate test kitchen and occasionally from our production facility, you will create new menu items on rapid innovation timelines that meet the quality standards that our customers know and love. You will work collaboratively with our R&D Engineering, Merchandising, Marketing, and Procurement teams to develop recipes that meet the constraints and capabilities of our business.

What You’ll Do:

New Product Development

• Oversees all aspects of new product innovation from initial ideation through viability
• Creates benchtop recipes that meet the cost, nutrition, and company goals
• Execute tasting and customer panels to ensure recipes meet purchase intent and sensory goals
• Works with the R&D team to guide the R&D process and ensure recipes are designed to fit within cost, nutrition, shelf life, and food safety standards.
• Guide Associate R&D Chef and R&D process engineer during R&D testing and scale up
• Works cross-functionally with merchandising, marketing, procurement, and R&D engineer teams to create dishes aligned with company goals, guardrails, and capabilities.
• Manage the weekly schedule of the Associate R&D Chef and aid in their development

Sourcing

• Partner with the Procurement team to identify new ingredients and suppliers to support innovation or continuous improvement work streams
• Lead R&D conversations with co-manufacturers
• Identifies better ingredients for shelf life and supply chain reliability with procurement team

Continuous Improvement

• Capture and utilize data (from internal stakeholders and customers) to ensure we’re meeting the quality standards our customers expect
• Analyze customer feedback and sales trends to set renovation priorities and incorporate learnings into new recipes. Quickly iterate on recipes based on customer feedback.
• Assists in solving recipe issues that arise at scale

Test Kitchen Facilities Management

• Oversees equipment maintenance and planning for all test kitchen events
• Ensures kitchens are properly maintained and stocked

Sourcing/Sustainability

• Maintain ingredient and supplier guardrails
• Active thought partners with internal stakeholders to define and refine our forward-looking brand and sustainability roadmaps
• Handles all top-of-the-funnel new ingredient sourcing including individual ingredients, value-added ingredients, co-manufactured products, and CPG
• Ensure our vendors fall within good partner standards, animal welfare standards, and clean label standards

Who You Are:

• 5 years of experience relevant to the above;
• A Culinary Degree, Culinology Degree or equivalent background and experience.
• Experience in food production or large-volume food service is a must (commissary, catering, manufacturing).
• An obsession with perfection and you’re open to constructive feedback
• A deep understanding of mass market trends and flavors. You have a pulse on food industry trends and a demonstrated track record of leveraging insights to inform new products.
• A passion for healthy food and the ability to transform fan favorites into better-for-you versions.
• Experience in a high-growth, rapid-change environment
• Strong project management skills and ability to manage multiple work streams and priorities
• The ability to operate in ambiguous situations and be flexible as the organization changes and grows - we are a new place every quarter!
• An insane passion for the Farmer's Fridge mission to improve people’s lives through 24/7 access to fresh food.

Benefits at Farmer's Fridge:

In This Together - We stay connected, whether in person or virtually. We encourage business transparency through monthly town hall meetings and weekly financial updates. We set out to make the best product on the market, and we believe we’ve done it. We value your input in the new menu creation process. From regular tasting panels, where employees provide new menu menu feedback.

Happier Workdays - Each day at work should fill you with joy. We're a fun and passionate group, and we don't take ourselves too seriously. Bring your unique self to work, dress comfortably, and always feel free to share your thoughts and opinions. We encourage curiosity; there's no hierarchy here when we're all swapping ideas.

Never run on empty - Daily Farmer's Fridge meal, draft cold brew and beer, and office snacks are just some of the offerings to make sure you aren't distracted by a growling stomach. Recharge with our paid sabbatical program after four years of service.

Innovate & Elevate - We're all teachers and learners. You'll grow, and help grow the company through cross-functional collaboration, open access to leadership, and regular business updates. You have a direct impact on the company’s bottom line. You can also impact your personal bottom line by participating in our 401(k) plan that includes a company match with immediate vesting.