Senior Manager, Culinary

Factor_ a brand of HelloFresh is seeking a culinary expert to help lead our culinary Op’s team and help support our R&D team in the creation, iteration and improvement of our innovative prepared meals. This expert will delight our loyal customers’ taste buds, provide optimal nutrition to elevate their performance, and be able to produce these meals in large volumes that maintain integrity and presentation before, during and after transit. This role will also oversee the financial success of Factor through hitting food cost and labor cost metrics, and always looking for innovative ways to streamline efficiency in daily production. This expert will train and share their knowledge of culinary excellence and experience with the team of Factor chefs and culinary team.

You will be responsible for …

 Meal / Product Development 

•  Working directly with our Chef team, Culinary Director, VP of Operations, Menu Team, Growth & Strategy Team and Registered Dietitians to help develop new and innovative product lines and product development strategies that meet our nutritional guidelines
  • Support the designing of new meals and complementary add-on product lines, hitting on nutrition, cost parameters, labor efficiency and scalability.  
  • Support the development of recipes and weekly rotating menus by utilizing your knowledge of nutrition principles, food production methods, seasonal ingredients and procurement, etc. These recipes and menus:
• Can easily be produced in large-scale consistently and with high-quality 
• Must travel and present well when delivered to customers via our shipping partners across the country 
•  Be optimized for taste and include a nice profit margin
• Utilize market data, seasonal ingredients, customer trends and feedback to continuously evolve and improve our meals and the process by which we develop them. Continuous improvement of our products is a must.
• Actively participate in weekly R&D meetings and tastings with executive team
• Actively participate in weekly innovation meetings and tastings with the executive team

Scheduling/Training/Staffing

• Support in coordinating kitchen production schedule across two facilities
• Support in coordinating staffing schedules across two facilities
• Responsible for kitchen labor and food costs across 2 facilities
• Assist in the training and development of both hourly & salary kitchen staff 
• Assist in the development of chef training program for both Operations and R&D

 Quality Assurance and Supervision 

• Partner with kitchen management and staff to implement new recipes as well as make improvements to existing recipes (e.g. proper production techniques for all meals) 
• Ensure all finished food products meet specifications 

Procurement / Organization 

• Work with our procurement team to ensure the highest quality ingredients are used while minimizing food costs 
• Address and eliminate product quality issues/customer complaints arising from problems originating with production of meals. 

Communication 

• Collaborate with Registered Dieticians to balance Menu offerings
• Work with Production Supervisors to ensure meal accuracy of finished cooked products weights, sauces, garnishes
• Participating in Recipe meetings to communicate yield loss, scaling adjustments, and nutrition label accuracy

You are…

• You are a self-starter, take initiative and get stuff done with a high degree of excellence 
• You are skilled at planning, organizing, prioritizing, and executing projects and activities 
• You are open-minded and always interested in learning new and better ways of doing things 
• You believe that things can ALWAYS be improved 
• You are passionate about helping people achieve their goals and improve themselves 

At a minimum, you have…

• BS degree in Culinary Science or similar qualifications preferred
• 6+ years of experience creating recipes and/or running a commissary or large restaurant / banquet / catering 
• Knowledge of USDA/FDA guidelines
• A strong understanding of dietary lifestyles including but not limited to paleo, ketogenic, plant-based, low/slow carb, etc.

You’ll get… 

• Competitive salary, 401k with company match that vests immediately upon participation, and company equity plan based on role
• Generous PTO, including sabbatical, and parental leave of up to 16 weeks
• Comprehensive health and wellness benefits with options at $0 monthly, effective first day of employment
• Tuition reimbursement for continuing education
• Up to 75% discount on subscriptions to HelloFresh meal plans (HelloFresh, Green Chef, Everyplate, and Factor_)   
• Access to 7 different Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) including those for BIPOC, women, veterans, parents, and LGBTQ+
• Inclusive, collaborative, and dynamic work environment within a fast-paced, mission-driven company that is disrupting the traditional food supply chain

This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the responsibilities. However, the Company reserves the right to adjust, modify, or reassign work tasks and responsibilities as needed to meet changing business needs, operational requirements, or other factors.