Development Chef in Craigavon

Avondale Foods is a leading food processing company of Fresh and Chilled products supplying leading retail businesses such as Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, and Waitrose in the UK. The purpose of this role is to research and explore new food products to maintain and develop sales in accordance with agreed business plans. Interaction with customers encourages relationship building and securing of business, which also builds an impression of professionalism and innovation for new customers.

Key Responsibilities

• Interpret development briefs in line with customer expectations and company business plans.
• Demonstrate culinary knowledge and skills to create new recipes to satisfy customer briefs.
• Prepare and cook new products for customers to sample, including hospitality for visits.
• Assist and present in customer presentations and product submissions demonstrating interpersonal skills.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of food styles, restaurant and food industry market trends, and competitor activity, translating food trends into relevant and commercially viable product development.
• Take responsibility for short-term or long-term projects where required.
• Complete basic documentation and recipe record keeping on the recipe system.
• Understand site capabilities and attend development trials when necessary.
• Perform general kitchen and culinary duties.
• Lead by example by adhering to company general policies, i.e., Food Safety, Health Safety, Absence, etc.
• Undertake other appropriate duties as deemed necessary within the scope of the role.
• Contribute to the development of a culture of integrity and collaboration in all interactions.
• Ensure food safety compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements to remain audit-ready at all times.

Essential Criteria

• Culinary Expertise: Strong chef background with excellent knowledge of flavour, ingredients, cooking methods, textures, and presentation.
• Product Development: Proven experience developing new food products from initial concept through to factory production.
• Manufacturing Knowledge: Understanding of large-scale food production, manufacturing processes, equipment, batch cooking, and production constraints.
• Recipe Formulation: Ability to create accurate, scalable recipes and specifications, including ingredient percentages, yields, and cooking parameters.
• Scale-up: Experience translating a kitchen recipe into a commercially viable factory recipe while maintaining quality and consistency.
• Food Safety: Good working knowledge of HACCP, allergen management, microbiological risks, traceability, and food safety controls.
• Technical Awareness: Understanding of shelf life, ingredient functionality, processing, preservation, packaging, and product specifications.

Desirable Criteria

• Food Technology Qualification: HNC/HND/Degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Nutrition, or a related discipline.
• Customer-facing NPD: Experience presenting concepts, samples, and development work directly to customers.
• Experience conducting competitor benchmarking and identifying opportunities for product improvement.
• Trend Awareness: Good awareness of current food, consumer, and culinary trends.
• Presentation Skills: Confidence presenting concepts and products to senior management, customers, and cross-functional teams.

Skills: Interpret development briefs, culinary knowledge, customer presentations, food trends.

Benefits: Medical Aid / Health Care, Pension, Referral bonus, Wellbeing initiatives.