Food R&D Technician

Job Description

Job Description

Food R&D Technician / Culinary Assistant

Location: Burr Ridge, IL
Pay: $21.00–$23.00/hour
Schedule: Monday–Friday | 1st Shift

Position Type: Full-Time

Position Summary

Summit Staffing is seeking a Food R&D Technician / Culinary Assistant to join a food ingredient manufacturer in Burr Ridge, IL.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone with a culinary, professional kitchen, food production, or food product development background who is interested in taking their experience into the Research & Development side of the food industry.

The position supports the development of custom seasonings and flavor solutions for food manufacturers. Each project begins with a customer need or desired flavor profile, and the R&D team develops samples specifically for that application. This is a hands-on role involving daily cooking and sample preparation, tasting and evaluation, precise measurements, detailed documentation, and maintaining an organized R&D kitchen/lab.

We're looking for someone who genuinely enjoys working with food, understands the importance of following recipes and processes accurately, and has the patience to experiment. Product development involves trial and error — the right person will be comfortable receiving feedback, adjusting a sample, and repeating the process until it's right.

What You'll Do

• Prepare and cook food samples daily for research, development, and customer evaluation.
• Follow recipes, formulas, and R&D instructions to accurately reproduce samples.
• Weigh and measure ingredients with a high degree of precision, understanding that very small ingredient adjustments can significantly change the finished product.
• Assist the R&D team in developing and evaluating new seasoning blends and flavor profiles.
• Participate in tasting and evaluating food samples and seasoning blends.
• Prepare samples for internal testing, customer evaluation, and external laboratory analysis.
• Perform taste and visual quality checks on finished products.
• Perform quality checks on incoming raw materials.
• Taste and evaluate seasoning blends produced by the manufacturing floor.
• Accurately document formulas, observations, adjustments, test results, and product-development information.
• Maintain product specifications and supporting documentation.
• Maintain an organized inventory of ingredients and laboratory supplies.
• Keep kitchen/laboratory workspaces clean, sanitary, organized, and ready for product-development work.
• Assist with customer quality documentation and information requests.
• Support preparation for customer and quality audits.
• Use Microsoft Excel, Word, and other basic computer programs for documentation and recordkeeping.
• Work closely with R&D, Quality, Production, and other team members throughout the development process.

What We're Looking For

The ideal candidate has an established foundation working with food and is interested in developing a career within culinary R&D, food product development, or food science.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED required.
• Approximately 1+ year of professional culinary, kitchen, food preparation, food production, food manufacturing, test kitchen, or similar hands-on food experience preferred.
• Demonstrated comfort preparing and cooking food in a professional or structured environment.
• Strong ability to follow recipes, formulas, measurements, and detailed instructions.
• Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills.
• Ability to accurately document work and maintain detailed notes.
• Patience and persistence when a recipe or sample requires multiple adjustments or trials.
• Ability to take instruction, retain new information, and apply what has been learned to future sample preparation.
• Comfortable working independently and as part of a small collaborative team.
• Basic computer proficiency, including Microsoft Excel and Word.
• Ability to spend much of the workday on your feet in a kitchen/laboratory environment.
• Willingness to prepare and taste a wide variety of food products and seasoning blends, including meat-based products and ingredients such as garlic and onion.

Backgrounds We're Especially Interested In

• Culinary Arts
• Restaurant or Professional Kitchen
• Catering or Banquet Kitchen
• Test Kitchen
• Food R&D / Product Development
• Food Manufacturing
• Food Production
• Bakery or Prepared Foods
• Food Quality / QA
• Culinary or Food Science Laboratory

A culinary degree or certificate is a plus but not required. Previous food R&D experience is also a plus, but candidates with a strong professional culinary foundation who are interested in moving into product development are encouraged to apply.

Work Environment

This position works primarily within three industrial R&D kitchen/laboratory spaces using equipment similar in size and function to standard home cooking equipment.

This is more of a hands-on kitchen/lab position than a desk job. Much of the day involves preparing, cooking, weighing, tasting, cleaning, organizing, and documenting samples. The position also has a dedicated desk/work area and laptop for documentation and administrative responsibilities.

The company offers a clean, collaborative, family-oriented work environment and the opportunity to learn directly from highly experienced food-development professionals.