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About the Role

The Director of Research & Development is responsible for Orbital Kitchens' R&D function, owning product development from concept through commercialization to deliver products that meet taste, margin, and consistency targets across multiple brands and production kitchens.

Responsibilities

Set the culinary R&D strategy based on company growth objectives, brand priorities, market opportunities, and operational needs.
Build and prioritize an innovation pipeline that maximizes return on R&D resources.
Lead the development and improvement of menu items, recipes, ingredients, concepts, processes, and technologies.
Set gold standards for taste, quality, consistency, scalability, and profitability.
Own the full product lifecycle, including concept development, recipe testing, food costing, yield and shelf-life testing, stabilization, large-batch validation, tastings and approvals, launch, and post-launch review.
Run concurrent projects with clear priorities, timelines, and success criteria.
Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing R&D team.
Set clear expectations and accountability while fostering creativity, disciplined experimentation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Turn concepts into repeatable, production-ready products and systems for a high-volume, multi-brand operation.
Validate labor, equipment, storage, capacity, workflow, food safety, and execution complexity before launch.
Partner with Finance, Procurement, Supply Chain, and Operations to manage food cost, yields, waste, sourcing, and margin without compromising quality.
Deliver complete recipes, specs, yields, build sheets, quality standards, and SOPs for every approved product.
Lead launches with Operations, Production, Training, and Marketing, then validate results and hand off clear ownership.
Set R&D KPIs and use sales, margin, operational feedback, and launch results to improve the development process.

Requirements

5+ years in culinary R&D, product development, or related food-industry leadership, including leading teams and taking products from concept through commercialization.
Strong culinary foundation and knowledge of food science, recipe development, scaling, shelf life, yields, food costing, production systems, and quality control.
High-volume, multi-unit, commissary, or manufacturing experience strongly preferred.
Business acumen to balance culinary quality with feasibility, cost, and margin.
Excellent project-management skills across multiple concurrent initiatives.
Strong leadership, communication, analytical, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Working knowledge of food safety, sanitation, QA, and FDA, USDA, state, and local regulations, plus experience developing or supporting SOPs, SSOPs, and HACCP plans.

Skills

Culinary R&D
Product Development
Team Leadership
Food Science
Recipe Development
Scaling
Shelf Life Analysis
Yield Analysis
Food Costing
Production Systems
Quality Control
Project Management
Leadership
Communication
Analytical Skills
Cross-functional Collaboration
Food Safety
Sanitation
Quality Assurance
SOP Development
SSOP Development
HACCP Plan Development

Experience Level

5+ years

Education Level

Culinary or food science education
ServSafe certification preferred
PCQI certification preferred
SQF certification preferred