Description

Location: Toronto, ON

Job Type: Full-time

Industry: Flavors / Food & Beverage Innovation

Confidential Employer

About the Role

We are seeking a highly creative and technically skilled Application Chef to support product development, innovation, and customer presentations for a leading flavor company in Toronto.

This role blends culinary expertise, R&D application work, and marketing-forward content creation. The ideal candidate understands how to bring flavors to life through food prototypes, trend-inspired concepts, and visually compelling material that helps communicate flavor stories to internal teams and customers.

Key Responsibilities

Culinary Application & Innovation

  • Develop, test, and refine food and beverage prototypes using a wide range of flavors and ingredients
  • Translate flavor briefs into finished concepts for customer demos, trade shows, internal R&D evaluations, and marketing campaigns
  • Recreate market products for benchmarking, competitor analysis, and customer requests
  • Stay current with culinary and flavor trends globally to inspire new product concepts

R&D Collaboration

  • Work closely with the flavorists, food scientists, and sales team to align culinary prototypes with customer needs
  • Assist with sensory evaluations, formulation adjustments, and application troubleshooting

Marketing & Content Development

  • Provide culinary input for marketing decks, flavor presentations, and product launch materials
  • Create visually appealing plated dishes, photography-ready samples, and trend-inspired content
  • Support development of recipe cards, application guides, cooking videos, and other marketing assets that showcase the company’s flavors
  • Assist with trade show concept development and booth culinary strategy

Customer Engagement

  • Participate in customer ideation sessions, tastings, and presentations
  • Clearly articulate the culinary story, preparation methods, and flavor pairing rationale for each concept

Qualifications

Must Have:

  • Culinary diploma or Red Seal certification
  • 3+ years of experience as an Application Chef, Culinary R&D Chef, Corporate Chef, or similar role in food manufacturing, CPG, flavor house, or restaurant innovation
  • Strong understanding of flavor technology, ingredient functionality, and product development processes
  • Ability to create, replicate, and scale recipes with precision
  • Excellent presentation, communication, and organizational skills

Bonus:

  • Experience with food photography, content creation, or basic marketing design
  • Skilled in identifying and communicating food trends
  • Knowledge of commercial food production, shelf-life considerations, and sensory evaluation

What We’re Looking For

A candidate who is:

✔ Highly creative with a strong technical foundation

✔ Comfortable moving between kitchen, lab, and customer-facing environments

✔ Able to translate flavors into compelling culinary stories

✔ Excited to support both R&D innovation and marketing-driven culinary storytelling