Product Development Specialist - Protein

Overview

The Culinary & Customer Experience Product Development Specialist serves as a customer-facing culinary ambassador for the company, with deep experience in cooked, value-added meat products developed in a manufacturing environment. This role works within a small product development team and partners closely with Sales, Operations, and customer culinary teams to translate customer needs and market insights into actionable, manufacturable product opportunities.

The position balances culinary creativity, technical understanding of cooked meat production, and commercial insight to support customer engagement, innovation, and growth across ready‑to‑eat and value‑added protein categories.

• Lead the culinary preparation, cooking, and presentation of value‑added meat and prepared protein products for customer meetings, internal cuttings, and sales presentations.
• Understand strategic customer assortments and shelf presence within cooked and ready‑to‑eat meat categories; conduct competitive benchmarking and market analysis to inform development opportunities.
• Collaborate with Product Development, Sales, Operations, and QA to tailor flavor profiles, marinades, seasonings, portion sizes, and cooking methods that are scalable, cost‑effective, and aligned with manufacturing capabilities.
• Support hands‑on product development activities within a value‑added meat manufacturing plant, including line extensions, customer‑specific solutions, reformulations, and innovation concepts.
• Provide culinary, technical, and operational credibility during customer interactions, supporting Sales with expertise in cooked meat applications and product performance.
• Maintain and present concise culinary trend reports and seasonal inspiration aligned to protein and prepared foods.
• Ensure all customer‑facing product presentations are professional, well‑planned, and reflective of both culinary excellence and manufacturing reality.

• Product development experience within a value‑added meat or prepared foods manufacturing plant.
• Strong understanding of cooked meat processes, yields, cook loss, and scale‑up.
• Familiarity with food safety, quality, and regulatory requirements for cooked meat products.
• Experience working directly with customer culinary teams in retail or food service environments.

• Entry level

• Full‑time

• Product Management and Marketing

• Manufacturing