R&D Support Specialist

Northgate Gonzalez Markets•Anaheim, CA

4h•$74,880 - $93,547

About The Position

About Us: Northgate Gonzalez Market has grown from one store in Anaheim in 1980 to over 40 locations across Southern California, and we’re looking for passionate, customer-focused team members to join our family. We offer flexible schedules, opportunities for growth, and an associate discount of up to 20% for you and your household—all in a positive and fun work environment where you’ll feel valued and appreciated. If you’re enthusiastic, team-oriented, and ready to build a career with us, we’d love to meet you. To learn more, please visit www.northgatemarket.com . JOB SUMMARY: The Recipe, Yield Specialist is responsible for building, validating, and ensuring the accuracy of recipes, yields, product specifications, and system data as required from our fresh item management systems. This role is responsible for supporting R&D in product cuttings and evaluations. This role actively puts recipes together, validates units of measurement and yields, conducts field tests and cut tests, and ensures accurate transfer of information into Logile. The position requires strong familiarity with Northgate products, departments, and production realities, serving as the bridge between Culinary, Operations, Category Management, Finance, and Supply Chain to ensure recipes are executable, accurate, and margin-aligned across Meat, Bakery, Tortillería, and Cocina. This role is critical to supporting freshness, cost control, food safety, and operational consistency across all production environments. Set a positive example of the company's values and excellent customer service. Exemplifies the desired culture, values, and philosophies of the NGM organization: Servant Leadership, Hard Work, Respect, Loyalty, Unity, Innovation, Communication, Openness, Objectivity, Education, Humility, Trust & Honesty.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in recipe management, fresh departments or commissary environments.
Strong understanding of fresh food production, batch cooking, and yield management.
High attention to detail with the ability to manage complex data without losing culinary intent.
Must have critical thinking with exceptional problem-solving skills and able to work independently or in a team environment.
Must be able to lead, delegate, monitor, and follow up.
Ability to work hands-on in a fast-paced production kitchen environment.
Must have strong leadership skills.
Must have good communication and mentoring skills.
Must have a very strong Customer service commitment.
Able to resolve operational problems related to projects and minimize delays or unexpected cost increases.
Proactive, resourceful & highly motivated with good communication skills and ability to work in high output environment.
Ability to develop creative solutions to problems and challenges as they are identified and resolve them in a timely manner.
Able to demonstrate attention to detail and follow through in all areas of responsibility.
Ability to develop & coordinate project plans/projects and communicate changes and progress effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the department associates and plant management.
Must have solid knowledge on Microsoft Excel, Word, and Outlook
Must be able to lift 25 Lbs. frequently and 40 Lbs. occasionally; stand, reach, climb, and lift frequently.
Must be able to use calculator to perform general mathematical functions.
Must be able to work with others and coordinate production with other associates.
Must work with minimum or no supervision.
Must have an excellent attendance record, reliable and flexible cooperated with busy season required occasionally.
Menu Development & Management experience in multi-Unit Corporations preferred
Experience in good manufacturing practices and food safety for a restaurant kitchen environment.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to read, write and speak English satisfactorily to perform the essential functions.
Bi-lingual English – Spanish highly desirable.
Strong excel, word and power point knowledge.

Nice To Haves

Menu Development & Management experience in multi-Unit Corporations preferred
Experience in good manufacturing practices and food safety for a restaurant kitchen environment.
Bi-lingual English – Spanish highly desirable.

Responsibilities

Validate and maintain standardized recipes, formulations, and batch instructions for all fresh and prepared food items, including commissary and store-level production.
Ensure all recipes are complete, standardized, and version-controlled, including ingredients, weights, yields, batch sizes, procedures, and shelf-life parameters.
Recipe Build, Validation & Commercialization Assemble and build recipes based on culinary input, existing Northgate standards, and operational requirements.
Ensure recipes are complete, standardized, and production-ready, including: Ingredients and approved product specifications Batch sizes, procedures, and scaling logic Shelf life, dating, and handling instructions
Validate recipes through field testing and execution verification prior to system activation.
Yield Validation & Cut Testing Conduct yield validations and accurate cut tests across fresh departments Meat department items used in Prepared Foods
Measure trim loss, cook loss, baking loss and finished yields and validate against system assumptions.
Partner with Finance and Category Management to confirm yield-driven costing and margin accuracy.
Costing, Yield & Margin Integrity Ensure recipes accurately reflect true units of measure, yields, trim loss, cook loss, and finished weights.
Monitor ingredient usage, yields, and costs; identify opportunities to reduce waste and improve efficiency.
Support new product development, testing, and commercialization efforts Conduct recipe audits and troubleshoot production or quality deviations.
Support audits, data integrity reviews, and continuous improvement initiatives.
Works closely with the Category Buyers and Finance Department to provide accurate costing of new projects.
Executes HACCP and GMP programs and follow all safety rules and regulations per Company standards.
Performs other duties as directed.