Junior Development Chef in Manchester

Location: The COOK Kitchen, Sittingbourne

Hours: Full time, 40 hours per week Monday – Friday 8am -4pm

Salary: £30,000 per year

This is a fixed term role for 12 months starting in June.

What this role is all about:

This is a hands-on, learning-focused role for a Junior Development Chef who loves food and wants to grow within a development environment. You’ll work closely with the Development Chef and Lead Development Chef to help bring new COOK dishes to life — supporting the journey from early concept cooking through to scaled, production-ready batches. You’ll use your solid cooking skills, curiosity and attention to detail to help test, refine and document dishes. This role is perfect for someone who wants to deepen their culinary knowledge while learning more about manufacturing and how recipes translate from a small pan to a full-scale production kitchen.

Main responsibilities:

• New Product Development / Existing Product Development
• Supporting Development Chefs in cooking, testing and refining new dishes to clear briefs.
• Preparing samples and assisting with development trials.
• Recording and tracking key data needed for scale-up.
• Helping prepare and cook dishes for tastings, reviews and sign-off sessions.
• Assisting with recipe writing, costing creation and cooking time validation.
• Learning from and supporting the Development Chef and Lead Development Chef in day-to-day kitchen activities and best practice.
• Scale-Up
• Assisting with recipe scale-up within Operations.
• Hands-on cooking of full batch recipes, from prep through to finished dish.
• Supporting verification of manufacturing methods to create repeatable recipes.
• Capturing yield data and key trial information to support costing and recipe updates.
• Helping organise ingredients, timelines and trials to keep projects running smoothly.
• Quality, Food Safety & Standards
• Ensuring all development work meets COOK’s food safety and quality standards.
• Maintaining clear and accurate documentation and records.
• Following operational processes and safety standards within manufacturing kitchens.
• Applying strong attention to detail throughout every stage of development.
• Collaboration & Continuous Improvement
• Bringing enthusiasm, curiosity and fresh ideas to the team.
• Supporting Development Chefs within both the Development Kitchen and Operations kitchen.
• Taking part in post-launch evaluations to help refine dishes and improve ways of working.

Good to Have:

• Experience working as a chef in a professional kitchen, with an interest in development and manufacturing.
• Solid cooking skills and a good foundation of food knowledge.
• Curiosity around ingredients, cuisines and how dishes are built.
• Organised, proactive and a strong team player.
• A genuine passion for food and learning, with the ambition to grow into a Development Chef role.

If you tick most of these boxes but not all—don’t stress. We’re all about potential.

Excellent Benefits including:

• Paid leave on your birthdays, moving house, becoming a grandparent or your child starts school for the first time.
• Staff profit share.
• Wellbeing program.
• 30% staff discount.
• Access to CookieJar Smart Spending discounts and free food perks.
• Team meals, events & away days.
• Be part of a B-Corp-certified business that values sustainability, people, and the community.
• Life Insurance.
• Free Lunch.

What Cook is About:

We’re a proudly independent, family-owned B Corp, which basically means we care. We have a lot about our food. About our people. And about doing the right thing—even when it’s not the easy thing. Our vision for COOK has always been that we are a place where EVERYONE is welcome. We want everyone to feel like they belong at COOK. We all have different roles, different abilities and different personalities. By collaborating we can do remarkable things. Whatever your story, if you would like to grow with COOK please apply.