Director Of Culinary R&D

Mama’s Creations, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAMA) is a leading marketer and manufacturer of fresh deli prepared foods, found in over 8,000 grocery, mass, club and convenience stores nationally. The Company’s broad product portfolio, born from MamaMancini’s rich history in Italian foods, now consists of a variety of high quality, fresh, clean and easy to prepare foods to address the needs of both our consumers and retailers. Our vision is to become a one-stop-shop deli solutions platform, leveraging vertical integration and a diverse family of brands to offer a wide array of prepared foods to meet the changing demands of the modern consumer. For more information, please visit https://mamascreations.com.

Mama's Creations, Inc. is continuing to build it’s team and looking to hire a skilled and experienced R&D Chef/ Food Scientist to serve as our Director of Culinary R&D.

Based in our East Rutherford headquarters, your primary responsibility will be to maintain our ‘Grandma Quality’ standards across all existing products and those under development.

Responsibilities include:

Product Development- 2/3 of time (50% responsive customer development/50% proactive ideation)

· Monitor industry trends to develop a portfolio of products ideas to pursue in the ‘Fresh, Clean, Easy-to-Prepare’ space with focus on protein & vegetable-forward deli offerings across ethnic flavors;

· Field all incoming requests for new products from customers and discuss with members of the team to evaluate viability of new product ideas;

· Invest time to design & develop new flavors/ scents/ mouth-feel sauces that can be used for our protein and veggie offerings;

· Begin development of product (bench samples for in-house team;)

· Continue development until item is approved;

· Develop bench sample for co-packers (if necessary;)

· Scale up item quantities as needed;

· Communicate effectively across all departments to manage expectations concerning new product schedule including marketing, QC, sales, etc.;

· Attend weekly NPD (New Product Development) meetings and complete actions from those meetings;

· Keep records of all stages of development;

· Work with CEO on an ongoing basis to prioritize new products in development;

QC:

· Provide product specs for all items developed in house and with co-packers;

· Provide samples for shelf-life tests and other tests as needed;

· Provide formulas for newly developed items for nutritional evaluation, specs, etc.;

Marketing:

· Discuss new trends and how they influence product development;

· Work throughout development on packaging ideas, format, etc.;

Costing:

· Provide finished formulas for costing purposes;

· Collaborate as needed throughout costing process;

Sampling- 1/3 of time

· Supervise R&D Assistant in all sampling activities

o Create custom packed order samples of existing products;

o Control flow of incoming orders using Sample Request Protocol;

o Conduct freezer inventory & replenish supplies as needed for samples;

o Tally all items pulled from inventory for Requisition Sheet;

o (Work with RTE to) Pack new product samples;

o Pack and weight outgoing samples;

Other:

· Hold QPEs (Quarterly Product Evaluations) to assess quality of products in current inventory and follow up on product improvement as necessary;

· Work with other team members to source new products (with clean labels!)

· Prepare meals/samples for Board Meetings and special events, such as Brokers’ Meetings, Investors’ Meetings, etc.

· Other related duties, as required.

The successful candidate will have:

· Proficiency (at minimum) in English and Spanish

· Culinary/Food Science degree

· Certification in Culinology (https://www.culinology.org/education ) or other similar R&D further education preferred

· Minimum of 5 years progressive experience in a kitchen leadership role

· Expert knowledge of commercial kitchen skills, food safety, food handling, food sanitation, (NJ Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) preferred)

· Strong grasp of food trends, techniques, innovations, and menu development

· Well-rounded knowledge of food categories, flavors, and ingredients

· Creative and innovative thinker with a passion for exploring new culinary creations

· Demonstrated project management skills with the ability to self-motivate, and work well under pressure and strict timelines

· Ability to adapt to changing situations in the day-to-day operations of the plant

· Outstanding communication, interpersonal, leadership, and influence skills

· Willingness and ability to accept feedback and constructive guidance

· Willingness and ability to embrace our corporate culture and commitment to ‘Grandma Quality’

· The ability to fulfill the physical requirements of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation, including seeing, speaking, hearing, standing, lifting, reaching, bending, manual dexterity to utilize kitchen tools, withstand temperature fluctuations, and the like.

Full-time, Monday-Friday

Compensation package includes generous base salary, bonus potential, paid PTO and holidays, medical, dental, vision, life insurances, and 401(k) plan.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From $120,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Experience level:

• 5 years

Shift:

• Day shift

Supplemental pay types:

• Bonus opportunities

Weekly day range:

• Monday to Friday

Experience:

• Culinary R&D: 5 years (Required)
• Product Development: 5 years (Required)

Work Location: In person