Cssmerge Culinary R&D Associate leads culinary development and recipe pipeline for new and core brands in a food robotics company. Owns recipe development, testing, scaling, and operational playbooks.
Responsibilities
You're the culinary engine behind everything we build — new brands, core brands, and everything in between. You translate market opportunities and brand briefs into real food: the component systems, recipes, and operational playbooks that make our brands cook at scale. This isn't just an R&D role — you're helping define the culinary roadmap for a business with ambitions of X+locations, household-name brands, and the gold standard in digital-first dining. You'll own the full pipeline from first sketch to production-ready, and launch execution.
Define and execute a cohesive culinary roadmap — new brands, core brands, and LTO strategy — aligned with our long-term goals: X+ locations, highly profitable, the gold standard in digital-first
Lead the R&D pipeline for both new and core brands
Own the full recipe pipeline: menu outline → component architecture → recipe parametrics → testing → scaling → kitchen ready
Develop and execute an LTO strategy that balances culinary innovation with the realities of small, extremely high-volume footprints
Develop, test, and iterate recipes from base testing through production-scale validation (COGS + labor); parameterize and certify for robotic systems
Build prep task libraries, order guides, and weekly production plans from PMIX models
Research supplier opportunities to reduce costs and improve ingredient quality
Build and maintain the component library — identify cross-brand reuse opportunities to maximize efficiency
Collaborate with Ops to establish and enforce elite standards for prep, presentation, and safety (HACCP)
Partner with Brand Manager, Designer, Ops, and Tech to ensure new launches are executed flawlessly in every kitchen
What we are looking for
Qualification
Required
2 years culinary experience with at least 4 years in recipe development and culinary R&D
Strong and diverse knowledge of different cuisine types
Strong systems thinking designing components not just dishes
Experience working at speed developing and iterating recipes
Methodical recipe developer with organized testing and roadmap planning
