Culinary R&D Manager
Revolution Foods · Commerce, CA
- On site
- Full-time
- $103,000 / year
- Commerce, CA
Job highlights
- Develop craveable, nutritious recipes at scale.
- Lead product development from concept to production.
- Innovate new products and elevate menu quality.
- Collaborate cross-functionally for successful execution.
- Problem-solve and drive continuous improvement.
About the role
About Revolution Foods
At Revolution Foods, we’re redefining what school food can be: fresh, flavorful, and built to scale. We serve hundreds of thousands of meals each week, and this role sits at the center of that impact.
We’re looking for a Culinary R&D Manager who can bring together culinary creativity, product development, and operational execution. This is not a bench-only role; you will take ideas from concept to full-scale production, ensuring they deliver on taste, nutrition, and consistency across our sites.
What You’ll Own
- Develop and refine craveable, nutritious recipes aligned with USDA and internal standards
- Lead end-to-end product development: concept → kitchen trials → production → scaled rollout
- Identify gaps in current offerings and drive new product innovation, including scratch-cooked meals
- Elevate flavor, quality, and presentation across the menu
- Own recipe formulation, yields, and documentation to support high-volume production
- Scale recipes from kitchen to multi-site production environments (100K+ meals/week)
- Lead internal tastings, ingredient trials, and product validation
- Translate culinary concepts into clear SOPs, recipe cards, and meal assembly standards
- Partner closely with Operations and spend time on the production floor to ensure successful execution
- Support first production runs and troubleshoot real-time challenges
- Drive continuous improvement across recipes, workflows, and processes
- Act as a hands-on problem solver, fixing root causes, not just symptoms
- Lead student tastings and sampling sessions to validate product success
- Gather and apply qualitative and quantitative feedback to refine recipes
- Ensure meals are not just compliant, but genuinely enjoyable and repeatable for students
- Partner with Sales to support customer presentations, tastings, and product showcases
- Deliver high-quality, visually compelling food presentations that help win new business
- Translate culinary innovation into customer-ready experiences and narratives
- Work closely with FSQA, Procurement, Supply Chain, and Production to ensure feasibility and consistency
- Align on ingredient sourcing, substitutions, and cost considerations
- Ensure smooth handoff from R&D to Operations across all sites
Experience & Qualifications Required
- Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience) in Culinary Arts, Food Science, Nutrition, or related field
- 5–8+ years of experience in culinary R&D, product development, or high-volume food production, with a strong focus on scratch cooking and recipe commercialization
- Proven ability to take products from concept → development → production → scaled execution across multiple sites
- Hands-on scratch cooking expertise, with the ability to build recipes from raw ingredients and scale them effectively
- Experience developing and scaling recipes for high-volume production environments (e.g., 100K+ meals/week or multi-site operations)
- Strong understanding of flavor development, ingredient functionality, and production scalability
- Ability to operate in both a creative culinary environment and a fast-paced production setting
- Experience supporting customer tastings, presentations, or culinary showcases
- Strong problem-solving mindset with a focus on root cause analysis and continuous improvement
- Ability to collaborate cross-functionally and influence without authority
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in K–12, CPG, food manufacturing, or large-scale foodservice environments
- Familiarity with USDA meal programs (NSLP, SBP, CACFP)
- Bilingual Spanish (written and verbal) is a big plus
Key skills/competency
- Culinary R&D Manager
- Recipe Development
- Product Development
- Food Science
- Nutrition Standards
- High-Volume Production
- Scratch Cooking
- Flavor Development
- Scalability
- Foodservice Operations
Skills & topics
- Culinary R&D Manager
- Recipe Development
- Product Development
- Food Science
- Nutrition
- High-Volume Food Production
- Scratch Cooking
- Flavor Development
- Scalability
- Foodservice
- Culinary Arts
- Food Technology
- Operations Management
- USDA Standards
- Product Commercialization
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight culinary R&D, product development, and high-volume production experience, especially scratch cooking and scaling recipes.
- Showcase impact: Quantify achievements in recipe formulation, yield optimization, and successful scaled rollouts.
- Address requirements: Clearly demonstrate your Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience and 5-8+ years of relevant work.
- Prepare for interviews: Be ready to discuss your problem-solving approach and cross-functional collaboration skills.
- Highlight preferred qualifications: If applicable, mention K-12, CPG, or USDA meal program experience.
Technical preparation
Master scratch cooking and recipe scaling techniques.,Understand food science and ingredient functionality.,Develop accurate yield calculations and documentation.,Familiarize with USDA meal program requirements.
Behavioral questions
Describe a challenging product scale-up.,How do you ensure taste and nutrition?,Give an example of cross-functional collaboration.,How do you handle production floor challenges?
Frequently asked questions
- What is the typical career path for a Culinary R&D Manager at Revolution Foods?
- As a Culinary R&D Manager at Revolution Foods, you'll have opportunities to deepen your expertise in product development and scaling. Career progression might involve leading larger R&D teams, managing broader product portfolios, or moving into senior leadership roles within operations or product strategy. Your impact on hundreds of thousands of meals served weekly provides a strong foundation for growth.
- How does Revolution Foods approach culinary innovation for school food?
- Revolution Foods is committed to redefining school food by making it fresh, flavorful, and scalable. The Culinary R&D Manager role is central to this mission, focusing on developing craveable, nutritious recipes that meet USDA standards while being genuinely enjoyable for students. Innovation involves identifying gaps, driving new product development, and ensuring consistent quality and taste across high-volume production.
- What are the key differences between this Culinary R&D Manager role and a traditional restaurant R&D position?
- This Culinary R&D Manager role at Revolution Foods emphasizes scalability and operational execution for high-volume production (100K+ meals/week), unlike many traditional restaurant R&D roles that focus on smaller-scale or single-location concepts. You'll be responsible for taking recipes from kitchen trials to multi-site production, ensuring consistency and adherence to specific nutritional and operational standards, and directly impacting a large student population.
- How important is hands-on cooking experience for the Culinary R&D Manager position at Revolution Foods?
- Hands-on scratch cooking expertise is crucial for this Culinary R&D Manager role. You'll need the ability to build recipes from raw ingredients and effectively scale them for high-volume production. The role requires practical application in the kitchen and on the production floor, ensuring a deep understanding of formulation, yields, and execution challenges.
- What does 'operational execution' mean for a Culinary R&D Manager at Revolution Foods?
- For a Culinary R&D Manager at Revolution Foods, 'operational execution' means translating culinary concepts into practical, repeatable processes for large-scale food production. This involves developing clear Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), recipe cards, and assembly standards, partnering closely with the Operations team, spending time on the production floor, and troubleshooting real-time challenges to ensure successful, consistent meal delivery.