Product Development Chef

Hoffman Estates, IL, US

Job ID 7371 Date posted October 4, 2026 Job Category Research and Development

Product Development Chef

If you are a creative culinary professional who enjoys turning food trends and culinary ideas into commercially relevant products, this role offers an opportunity to shape innovative food and beverage applications. As a Research Chef at Sensient, you will combine hands-on culinary expertise with product development, customer collaboration, and industry insight. You will work closely with culinary, technical, commercial, and marketing teams to create compelling prototypes and solutions for food manufacturers and restaurant customers.

What You’ll Do

• Develop commercially viable culinary concepts that demonstrate the value of Sensient flavors and technologies across food and beverage applications.
• Translate emerging culinary and savory food trends into consumer-relevant concepts and high-quality menu and recipe prototypes.
• Lead the research kitchen, including inventory management, recipe development, food safety, sanitation, and day-to-day culinary practices.
• Partner with commercial, marketing, application, innovation, flavor, sensory, and technical teams to deliver customer demonstrations, innovation sessions, and tailored solutions.
• Collaborate directly with customer chefs, product developers, and research teams to understand needs and co-create innovative concepts.
• Provide culinary guidance to flavor and application teams to help ensure authentic, trend-aligned flavor delivery in finished prototypes.
• Represent Sensient at customer meetings, chef associations, industry events, and innovation forums while bringing culinary insights into product and commercial strategy.

What You’ll Bring

• Formal education in culinary arts, food science, or a related field, with professional culinary certification considered a plus.
• Significant experience in research culinary roles within food manufacturing, savory foods, restaurant menu development, or a related environment.
• Hands-on expertise developing high-quality prototypes using commercial ingredients, flavors, and food technologies.
• Experience within consumer packaged goods, business-to-business food manufacturing, quick-service restaurants, or contract manufacturing is preferred.
• Experience with product applications, customer demonstrations, menu development, recipe development, and research kitchen operations.
• Strong communication, collaboration, customer engagement, and commercial awareness skills.
• Comfort working in both a hands-on culinary environment and a fast-paced research and development setting.

What You’ll Get

• The opportunity to influence innovative food and beverage concepts and bring culinary ideas from development to customer application.
• Close collaboration with culinary, technical, commercial, marketing, and research teams.
• A fully onsite work environment that encourages hands-on collaboration with colleagues and access to the research kitchen.
• Regular opportunities to engage directly with customers, including travel to food manufacturers and restaurant customers.
• Opportunities to represent Sensient at industry events, innovation forums, and professional culinary organizations.
• Competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, and opportunities for professional development.
• A thorough onboarding and training experience designed to support your success in the role.

About Sensient

Sensient Technologies Corporation is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of colors, flavors, and extracts. Sensient employs advanced technologies at facilities around the world to develop specialty food and beverage systems, cosmetic and pharmaceutical systems, specialty colors, and other specialty and fine chemicals. The Company's customers include major international manufacturers representing most of the world's best-known brands.

About Sensient Flavors:

Sensient Flavors offers innovative, global taste solutions and specialized flavor delivery systems that help bring life to your food and beverage products. Our leading-edge technologies reflect our core philosophies to be dynamic and innovative and to add value to your applications.

The salary range for this position is $100K- $130K. Pay within the range is based on several factors, which may include, but are not limited to, education, work experience, specialized training, and labor market conditions. In addition to salary, Sensient is proud to offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits program to support the holistic well-being of our employees and their families.

THIRD PARTY AGENCY: Any unsolicited submissions received from recruitment agencies will be considered property of Sensient Technologies, and we will not be liable for any fees or obligations related to those submissions.

Sensient is an Equal Opportunity Employer, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

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