Culinary Project Manager (Food Science)

Chefman•Mahwah, NJ

11d•Onsite

About The Position

The Culinary Project Manager serves as the culinary voice of CHEF iQ, combining culinary expertise, food science, and project management to define and validate the performance of smart kitchen products. The role establishes culinary performance and experience standards, maintains quality across products and content, and conducts rigorous, repeatable testing to support product performance and food safety. The position manages culinary workstreams for new products and collaborates across Product Development, UI/UX, Software, Firmware, Marketing, Copywriting, photo and video teams, and Sales. It also supports the development and release of Guided Cooking recipe content, product demonstrations, and product-related communications. The role is onsite in Mahwah, New Jersey, and is full-time.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Culinary Arts, or a related field, or a culinary degree plus equivalent hands-on experience.
At least 3 years of culinary experience in product development or test kitchen work.
At least 2 years of project management or coordination experience, ideally on cross-functional product teams.
Hands-on experience writing and conducting product or food testing procedures.
Experience with competitive testing, benchmarking, or market research for consumer products.
Extensive culinary expertise, including culinary techniques and validation standards, and a deep understanding of smart kitchen technologies.
Knowledge of food science applied to food testing.
Ability to prepare organized reports combining culinary and technical results.
Ability to plan, prioritize, and track multiple projects and deadlines.
Exceptional communication skills, including translating technical and culinary information for non-technical audiences.
Excel data analysis skills, such as calculating averages and variance and creating charts across test runs.
Strong organization, attention to detail, and critical thinking about product performance.
Collaborative, flexible, and respectful approach to others’ opinions.
Authorization to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Recipe development experience.
Food science testing background with sensory experience, such as work as a Sensory Scientist or Food Technologist, or in R&D or test kitchen roles.
Experience testing small kitchen appliances or smart and connected consumer products.
Restaurant experience.
Some familiarity with AI tools.

Responsibilities

Define and communicate culinary performance and experience standards for all CHEF iQ products.
Provide culinary feedback on hardware, firmware, software, and UI/UX, using testing data to challenge decisions that could compromise cooking performance or food safety.
Maintain quality control for CHEF iQ products and content.
Write, standardize, and maintain testing procedures to ensure repeatable results across testers, units, and SKUs.
Assess products at each development stage and provide clear feedback and recommendations.
Test and validate every firmware and app release, documenting bugs, features, and enhancements for the appropriate team.
Oversee and test product presets using real food.
Develop product function charts and conduct market research, including competitive testing, to establish quality benchmarks.
Track competitor launches and culinary features, and turn findings into product and positioning recommendations.
Manage culinary workstreams for new products, including timelines, deliverables, and milestones.
Serve as the main contact for product-related culinary questions across teams.
Partner with UI/UX, Software, Firmware, and Product Development on features and new products.
Present testing results and recommendations to Product Development.
Keep spreadsheets current and communicate the status of each product.
Organize Guided Cooking recipe content for development and release.
Support Marketing, Copywriting, photo, and video teams with content, functionality explanations, and packaging review.
Support Sales with product demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, and product inquiries.