Assistant Development Chef

Job Description

Assistant Development Chef

Location:

East Midlands | Job Type: Full-Time, Permanent

Our client is an established UK food manufacturer with more than 25 years of experience creating high-quality food products for a diverse range of customers, including leading retailers, food service operators, and travel catering providers.

Innovation is at the core of everything they do. From developing new product concepts to delivering them successfully into large-scale production, they are passionate about creating exciting food that meets evolving customer needs. As their business continues to grow, they are looking for an enthusiastic individual to join their development team.

This is a practical and creative position within their New Product Development (NPD) team. Working closely with the Development Chef, you will support the entire product development process—from initial concept and recipe creation through to factory trials, production launch, and team training.

The role combines time in the development kitchen with hands‑on involvement in the production environment, giving you the opportunity to ensure products can be successfully manufactured while maintaining quality and consistency. If you enjoy working in a fast‑paced environment, have a genuine passion for food, and want to help bring innovative products to market, this could be an excellent opportunity.

• Support the Development Chef in creating new products in response to customer briefs and internal innovation.
• Research ingredients, global cuisines, and emerging food trends to inspire new product ideas.
• Scale recipes from kitchen development to commercial production while addressing manufacturing challenges.
• Assist with planning and conducting factory trials alongside Production and Technical teams.
• Present new products, recipes, and ingredients confidently to colleagues and customers when required.
• Spend time on the production floor supporting cooking teams to maintain product quality and consistency.
• Assist with ingredient sourcing by identifying cost‑effective options and evaluating new suppliers in collaboration with technical and procurement teams.
• Participate in daily product tastings to help maintain quality standards.
• Maintain a clean, organised, and well‑managed development kitchen.

The client is looking for someone who is comfortable working with a variety of product types, including vegan, vegetarian, and meat‑based recipes, and who recognises the importance of tasting and evaluating products as part of the development process.

You should be confident, professional, and able to communicate effectively with both internal teams and customers. Experience working within both low‑care and high‑care food manufacturing environments would be beneficial.

Strong computer skills are essential, as the role involves regular use of business systems and Microsoft Excel.

Most importantly, you will take pride in producing high‑quality food and be committed to delivering excellent results.

• Company uniform provided
• Company events
• Pension scheme
• Free on‑site parking