R&D Chef

Tovala • Chicago, IL

1d

About The Position

We’re Tovala, a food-tech company reinventing home cooking to save consumers time. Through an innovative combination of hardware, software, and fresh food delivery, we make it incredibly simple for anyone to prepare and enjoy delicious, home-cooked meals without sacrificing time to do whatever matters to them. Through our superior technology, product experience and food quality, we have separated Tovala from the busy pack of other meal delivery businesses. In the process, we’ve amassed a loyal, rapidly growing following and our retention, product engagement and customer NPS are all best-in-class. We’ve raised over $100mm from great investors like Left Lane Capital, Origin Ventures, Y Combinator and Comcast Ventures and have invested strongly in building a unique culture that fosters growth, personal development and camaraderie.

Food development and quality are core to Tovala’s business. In this R&D Chef role, you’ll perform quality testing on ingredients, products, and new meal components; execute weekly quality checks; and support product optimization projects. You’ll use your culinary expertise to prepare gold-standard samples, provide actionable culinary feedback, assist with photoshoots, and collaborate with production and commercialization teams to maintain the highest standards across our menu.

Requirements

• Minimum three years of of culinary experience
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Strong foundation in recipe development
• Culinary or food science degree preferred but not required
• Proficiency with google sheets or excel

Responsibilities

• Perform quality testing for products, ingredients and new meal components
• Execute weekly quality checks on produced meals
• Product optimization projects as assigned
• Prepare gold-standard samples and deliver actionable feedback to production and commercialization teams
• Prep and on-site support for photoshoots as needed
• Maintain cleanliness and organizational standards

Benefits

• Flexible paid time off (with a minimum of 15 days off you are highly encouraged to take)
• Comprehensive healthcare coverage we really invest in
• 401k with match
• Free Tovala Smart Oven and discounted Tovala meals
• Paid holidays and our winter holiday office shutdown where the offices and facilities close for a week around Christmas and New Years
• Various other perks - recognition programs, continued learning stipend, casual dress code, in-office coffee, snacks and drinks, and Tovala swag

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed