Culinary Director, Product Development & Commercialization

A Growing Food Manufacturing company in the San Francisco East Bay area seeks a Culinary Director of Product Innovation & Commercialization to lead the entire lifecycle of product development. This is a full-time leadership role that requires a mix of strategic vision, food science expertise, operational execution, and cross-functional collaboration. Seeking candidates with a strong culinary experience and a food science background. This role will have both creative and operational responsibilities.

The R&D Chef will be responsible for ideation of menu applications for the product and R&D to launch and post-market performance of their diverse products. This position will also oversee the manufacturing process from concept validation (research, testing), supplier sourcing (ensuring products can be source traced for regulatory requirements), compliance (ensuring the product meets all legal, safety, and regulatory requirements) and launch (overseeing the final production, packaging, marketing coordination, and release of the product to customers). In addition the Director is responsible for managing the product portfolio in collaboration with marketing and sales to deliver customized and scalable solutions to meet customer requests.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end product development – from concept validation, supplier sourcing, prototyping, compliance, to launch.
• Be customer facing expert on product development to meet unique needs of different customer channels
• Drive innovation pipeline – build and manage a roadmap of products aligned with consumer trends and market gaps.
• Partner with marketing, sales & operations – ensure launches are integrated across supply chain, creative, and go-to-market campaigns.
• Optimize unit economics & margins – negotiate with suppliers, improve COGS, and build scalable systems.
• Ensure compliance & quality control – manage regulatory requirements across categories and markets.
• Own timelines & execution speed – keep projects on track, moving from ideation to launch without bottlenecks

Must-Have Skills:

• Proven experience in end-to-end product development of food products (Food Service and Sauces experience preferred).
• Executive presence and proven ability to influence customers
• Strong culinary experience in the Food Service Space and ability to prepare meals for corporate events and customer meetings
• Ability to collaborate with Chefs and culinary teams to develop recipes and formulas for the restaurant/hotel’s food programs
• Strong supplier management & sourcing skills.
• Excellent project management and cross-functional leadership.
• Ability to balance speed, quality, and cost in execution.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States

Nice-to-Have Skills:

• Regulatory and food safety knowledge in CPG and Food Service space.
• Experience in packaging development and production technology.
• Startup or high-growth environment background.

Experience & Education:

• 8+ years in product development, food science or R&D for a food brand
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Food Science or Culinary.
• Majority of experience in the Food Product development space.

Benefits:

• Salary range: $145-175K
• Medical, Dental, Vision
• Life insurance
• Flexible savings accounts
• Employee Assistance Program
• Bonus compensation
• Short term disability
• EOE - We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.