Chocolatier

Job Description

Job Description

Company Overview

Astor Chocolate is a 4th generation privately held, family-owned company and has been a leading purveyor of chocolate for over 90 years with our core strengths being innovation, creativity, and dedication to creating premium products. The company services multiple industries ranging from Hospitality, Travel Retail, Food Service, ASI, and Gourmet specialty retailers. Astor, with our energetic team atmosphere, believes the success of our growth is our strong commitment to developing our employees' potential. We are committed to building the company with talented and motivated individuals who will uphold our mission of being a market leader by innovating and servicing our customers with extreme dedication.

Location: Lakewood, NJ - Onsite
Schedule: Monday–Thursday (8–10 hours/day); Friday (3–6 hours, typically R&D-focused)

Position Overview

Astor Chocolate Corp. is seeking a skilled and innovative Chocolatier to lead daily operations within our chocolate kitchen and manufacturing environment. This role combines hands-on chocolate production, product innovation, recipe development, and operational leadership across molding and enrobing lines.

The ideal candidate will bring deep experience in chocolate and/or confectionery manufacturing, along with a passion for chocolate craftsmanship, process improvement, and high-speed production operations. This individual will serve as both a technical chocolate expert and operational leader, ensuring efficiency, quality, consistency, and innovation across all kitchen and manufacturing activities.

This is a highly collaborative, high-impact role with strong growth potential and the opportunity to directly influence new product development, manufacturing processes, equipment optimization, and team development.

Chocolate Innovation, Product Development & Craftsmanship

• Partner closely with R&D, Sales, and Production teams to develop innovative chocolate and confectionery products for multiple customer channels.
• Participate in hands-on chocolate formulation, recipe refinement, flavor development, and product trials.
• Support development of new chocolate products from concept through commercialization.
• Evaluate ingredients, inclusions, fillings, coatings, and chocolate applications for functionality, scalability, and quality.
• Conduct kitchen trials and pilot runs while documenting formulas, procedures, and process improvements.
• Bring creativity and chocolatier expertise to enhance product quality, appearance, texture, flavor, and overall customer experience.
• Collaborate on continuous innovation initiatives and seasonal or custom product development.
• Maintain strong understanding of chocolate tempering, viscosity, crystallization, molding, enrobing, and confectionery production techniques.

Operational Efficiency & Equipment Leadership

• Operate, troubleshoot, and optimize high-speed chocolate manufacturing and molding equipment as needed to support production demands.
• Oversee daily operation and efficiency of molding, enrobing, depositing, cooling, and chocolate handling systems.
• Drive equipment uptime, throughput, labor efficiencies, waste reduction, and overall production performance.
• Partner with Maintenance teams to troubleshoot mechanical issues and coordinate preventative maintenance activities.
• Monitor line performance and identify opportunities for process optimization, automation improvements, and operational efficiencies.
• Train and mentor team members on proper equipment operation, changeovers, setup, sanitation, and safety procedures.
• Support rapid response to production issues to minimize downtime and maintain production schedules.
• Ensure equipment and production processes meet all GMP, HACCP, SQF, and food safety standards.

Production Scheduling & Planning

• Develop and manage daily and weekly production schedules based on order timelines, ingredient availability, allergen requirements, equipment capacity, and staffing.
• Review scheduling communications and prioritize SKUs for production.
• Enter and manage production work orders in Astor’s ERP system (Minted), ensuring accurate access to batch details, specifications, and materials.
• Coordinate ingredient availability and submit requests to warehouse teams as needed.
• Participate in daily production meetings and adjust schedules based on operational needs.
• Track priorities, timelines, and project progress.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead daily startup meetings and assign tasks to kitchen personnel.
• Drive accountability for performance, ensuring adherence to safety, quality, and efficiency standards.
• Coach, mentor, and develop team members to improve productivity and engagement.
• Ensure all operators are properly trained on equipment and processes.
• Conduct performance reviews and provide constructive feedback.
• Enforce company policies, including progressive discipline when necessary.

Required Qualifications

• 3–5+ years of experience in chocolate and/or confectionery manufacturing environments.
• Hands-on experience with chocolate processing, tempering, molding, enrobing, depositing, or high-speed chocolate manufacturing equipment.
• Prior leadership or supervisory experience in a production or chocolate manufacturing environment.
• Strong operational, troubleshooting, and process improvement capabilities.
• Experience with recipe execution, chocolate production workflows, and confectionery manufacturing processes.
• Strong organizational, planning, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, high-demand manufacturing setting.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and ability to learn ERP systems.
• Excellent communication and team leadership skills.

Preferred

• Experience as a Chocolatier or Chocolatier Chef.
• Bilingual (English/Spanish).
• Experience supporting chocolate product development and commercialization.

Benefits

We offer a competitive compensation package including:

• Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid Time Off (PTO) & Paid Holidays
• Life and Disability Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Professional Development Opportunities