Tovala Hiring for R&D Commercialization Chef Job at Salt Lake City, UT Full Time

About us.

We’re Tovala, a food-tech company completely reinventing home cooking to save consumers time. Through an innovative combination of hardware, software, and food, we give our customers a way to enjoy really good, good-for-you meals without sacrificing time to do whatever matters to them. We’ve amassed a loyal, rapidly growing following in just three years, radically changing the day-to-day lives of people across the country and successfully creating a new model for the food industry. We’re looking for great people to join our team of hardworking, food-loving nerds.

About the job.

Food is one of the pillars of our business—and our company has grown to the point where it’s time to expand our food team. We’re looking for a R&D Commercialization Chef to join our culinary team on a full-time basis.

Since we’re both a fresh food and technology business, this role will be different from traditional food industry roles. At Tovala, you will take newly created recipes that were developed at our Chicago test Kitchen and validate them in our West Valley City, Utah facility. You will work with our production managers, lead cooks, and pack out supervisors to ensure all new products are being produced properly. Additionally, you will work with our procurement team to keep our ingredient nutrition database updated.

Note: While this position will be based out of our West Valley City (WVC) location, travel to our Chicago headquarters may be required during the onboarding period to train with our culinary team.

How you’ll spend your time at Tovala.

• Create production samples each week.

• Support opening our brand new Utah production facility.

• Test existing recipes at scale and at elevation.

• Support WVC production team as needed with training on new processes and questions about recipes, etc.

• New recipe nutrition data entry.

• Conduct shelf life studies for components with ingredients specific to WVC.

• Assist the SKU Commercialization (SKU COM) team with researching and identifying product improvements and cost optimization opportunities for existing meals and future development.

• Coordinate and collaborate with multi-functional teams during all stages of development to ensure a seamless journey from creation to production.

Requirements.

• Strong kitchen skills.

• Experience in recipe development.

• Culinary arts degree preferred.

• Food science degree is a plus but not required.

• 3+ years experience related to food service, manufacturing and/or volume cooking.

• Ability to work in a fast-paced start-up environment.

• Ability to travel to Chicago for training required.

About You.

• You are an optimistic and resourceful self-starter, ready to take on any challenge.

• You’re hardworking, disciplined, and skilled at planning, organizing, prioritizing, and executing simultaneous projects and activities.

• You have culinary vision and passion for food, with an understanding of industry trends.

• You enjoy working in a small-group work environment.

• You want to work in an environment that takes a people-first approach; values humility, integrity, and ambition; and is focused on creating a culture that keeps people happy and challenged.

Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discount
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Referral program
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Experience:

• food service, manufacturing and/or volume cooking: 3 years (Preferred)

Work Location:

• One location

Work Remotely:

• No

Work Location: One location