Recipe Innovation Coordinator

Job Status
: Full Time, Salary, Permanent

Work Hours:
 Monday - Friday, typically 7:00 am - 3:00 pm, but must be available outside of those hours sporadically (overnight and weekends) for recipe trials and ingredient testing

Work Location:
On-site, Saulter St manufacturing kitchen

The Position

As Recipe Innovation Coordinator, you will provide critical support to the Recipe Innovation Chef and the broader Food & Service Innovation Team. You'll help bring new product ideas to life by preparing, documenting, and organizing all aspects of the recipe development process. This role balances hands-on culinary work (preparing and testing recipes) with organization, record keeping, and coordination to ensure all recipe projects are well-planned, well-documented, and set up for success.

Your work will span both 
new recipe development
 and 
ongoing recipe maintenance
. On the innovation side, you'll help the team translate creative concepts into scalable recipes by preparing trial batches, sourcing ingredients, organizing tasting sessions, and capturing detailed feedback. You will also be responsible for documenting formulations, procedures, and results so that promising ideas can be accurately tested, refined, and transitioned into production.

On the maintenance side, you'll play an essential role in keeping RFRK's recipe portfolio running smoothly. You'll assist in investigating and documenting yield or consistency issues, coordinating small- and large-scale batch-up tests, validating ingredient substitutions or contingency items, and supporting the troubleshooting process alongside the Chef and Production teams. You will help ensure that recipes not only taste great but also meet operational, nutritional, and regulatory requirements on a day-to-day basis.

This position is ideal for someone with a passion for food, strong organizational skills, and attention to detail who is excited to work at the intersection of culinary creativity and operational excellence in a fast-paced, child-focused culinary environment.

The successful candidate will:

• think "outside the box" and be willing to hunt and explore for the right solution - approaching recipe development with a "how might we" attitude
• be organized and detail-oriented to succeed in a fast-paced and ever-changing environment
• be collaborative and consider "the customer" at every point - including external/internal customers & stakeholders and financial targets

Key Responsibilities

1. Recipe Innovation Support

• Assist with the preparation and setup of recipe trials and structured tasting sessions.
• Record and organize formulations, procedures, and feedback in scalable and standardized formats.
• Participate in and document daily sensory reviews and tasting meetings.
• Coordinate with Procurement on sourcing and ordering new ingredients for trials.
• Assist with yield troubleshooting and document adjustments made during reformulation.
• Support ingredient validation by preparing and testing contingency or alternative items.
• Assist in conducting both small-scale and batch-up production tests, recording outcomes for quality, consistency, and scalability.
• Support shelf-life testing activities and collect required data.

2. Documentation & Data Management

• Produce accurate recipe specification sheets, nutritional data summaries, and allergen declarations.
• Maintain thorough records of recipe trials, including ingredient adjustments, production notes, and sensory outcomes.
• Document methods, equipment settings, and control points during recipe testing.
• Support record-keeping for regulatory, quality, and research programs (e.g., SR&ED).

3. Planning & Coordination

• Organize trial schedules, order ingredients, and liaise with production teams to ensure smooth execution.
• Track multiple recipe projects simultaneously, helping to keep development timelines on track.
• Support the transition of new recipes from testing to production handoff, ensuring clarity of documentation and communication.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather feedback from trials (including kids, staff, and parents where applicable).

Required Education & Experience

• You're obsessed with all things food and culinary innovation
• 1+ years of experience in Recipe R&D, Culinary Arts, or Food Science (co-op, internship, or entry-level experience acceptable).
• Post-secondary education in Culinary Arts, Food Science, or related fields preferred.
• Strong computer skills: Microsoft Office (especially Excel), Google Suite, and recipe/ERP systems such as FileMaker Pro.
• Basic understanding of food chemistry, nutrition, and recipe costing.
• Knowledge of the Safe Food for Canadians Act & Passion for Food Safety
• Experience with diverse food manufacturing and shelf life packaging machinery (combi ovens, mixers, steam jacketed kettles, blast chillers, vacuum sealer, food pumps, Cryovac, etc)

Additional Skills

• Passion for healthy food and feeding kids real, delicious meals.
• Exceptional attention to detail and strong organizational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Collaborative mindset, able to communicate effectively with both culinary and production/QA teams.
• Open-minded and receptive to new processes, ingredients, and concepts
• Passion for food and desire to learn and study new techniques, flavours and recipes
• Intellectually curious: you're a lifelong learner; you pick things up and dissect them to see how they work, and then figure out how to improve or fix them
• Aligned with RFRK values and mission

Nice-to-have

• Experience with nutrition analysis software (e.g., Genesis R&D, Food Processor).
• Exposure to high-volume food production environments.

Working at RFRK comes with other perks too:
Benefits & Savings Programs

• Group Health Plan including Health Spending Account ($500 per year)
• Wellness Spending Account ($500 per year)
• Employee Savings Program (RRSP and RESP Matching)
• Profit-Sharing Program
• Employee & Family Assistance Program

Time Off

• Begin with three weeks of vacation and unlock additional weeks as you achieve service milestones
• 8 paid sick and wellness days per year

Continuous Growth

• $500 each year towards professional development
• Mentorship program

To apply, please upload your résumé and cover letter, including salary expectations, explaining why you'd be a great fit for this role. If you meet almost all of the requirements and are not sure if you should apply, apply anyway We may see something special in your application that sets you apart from the rest.

Real Food for Real Kids is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and inclusion in our workplace and at all levels of our organisation. We strongly encourage applications from diverse backgrounds and communities.

We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

No phone calls, emails or drop in visits, please. We'll contact applicants who fit the bill, and invite them in for an interview.

We appreciate the interest from the Staffing industry however respectfully request no calls or unsolicited resumes from Agencies.

Thanks for your interest in Real Food for Real Kids

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