R&D Chef cum Chef De partie / Head Chef

About Soumaki

Soumaki is a premium healthy fast-casual brand delivering clean, macro-balanced meals with premium flavors. With multiple outlets and growing production capacity, we are expanding our product innovation team to:

• Elevate menu development

• Optimize existing recipes

• Lead long-term R&D pipelines including sauces, proteins, snacks, ready-to-eat packaged products, healthy desserts, and beverages
  
  

Role Purpose

The R&D Chef will research, develop, test, and optimize Soumaki’s food products from concept to launch. This role ensures recipes meet Soumaki’s standards for taste, nutrition, food safety, scalability, cost efficiency, and brand identity.

Key Responsibilities

1. Product Development

• Develop new food concepts aligned with Soumaki brand pillars: Healthy, Delicious, Clean Label, Premium, Scalable

• Create recipes with accurate measurements, formula sheets, nutritional breakdowns, and SOPs

• Develop seasonal menus, limited editions, and holiday gift products

• Conduct sensory testing and maintain tasting logs for iterative improvements

• Continuously optimize menu development and ingredients

2. Recipe Optimization & Scaling

• Convert restaurant-level recipes to scalable formulas for central kitchen and multi-outlet consistency

• Improve recipes for stability, shelf-life, and production efficiency (sous-vide proteins, sauces, snacks, beverages)

• Collaborate with production, HACCP consultants, and QC teams to meet manufacturing standards

3. Product Evaluation & Quality Control

• Ensure product quality from development to live outlet execution

• Develop plating guides, photos, and SOP manuals for restaurant and training teams

• Conduct regular taste audits at outlets and central kitchen

4. Cross-Department Collaboration

• Work with Procurement on ingredient sourcing, replacements, and supplier validation

• Partner with Marketing for product storytelling, naming, nutritional communication, and launch content

• Support HR & Training teams with training modules for new products

5. Documentation & Compliance

• Maintain R&D files, ingredient spec sheets, BOM, allergen matrix, and cost control

• Ensure compliance with Vietnam food regulations and internal food safety requirements (HACCP / ISO 22000)

• Continuously enhance R&D SOPs and recipe documentation
  
  

KPI & Incentives (4,000,000 VND Total Bonus)

• On-time product launch (1,500,000 VND): Compare actual launch vs planned schedule

• Food cost targets (1,000,000 VND): BOM cost vs approved cost %

• Recipe consistency across outlets (1,000,000 VND): Mystery audits & QC scoring

• Shelf-life validation compliance for packaged items (500,000 VND): Documentation & lab test results
  
  

Requirements

Qualifications:

• Degree in Culinary Arts, Food Technology, Nutrition, or related field (preferred)

• 4–6 years experience in international cuisine, healthy cuisine, sous-vide, or commercial-scale recipe development

Skills & Competencies:

• Strong understanding of nutrition, food science, flavor pairing, and shelf-life fundamentals

• Familiarity with HACCP, production scaling, and process standardization

• Excellent palate, creativity, and plating skills

• Strong documentation, iterative development, and communication skills

• Ability to train kitchen and production teams

Personal Qualities:

• Innovative, curious, and passionate about healthy food

• Detail-oriented, disciplined, and structured

• Growth mindset, adaptable, and solution-driven
  
  

Additional Benefits

• Bonus/incentive for successful product launches

• KPI-based bonuses for target achievement