Culinary Development Chef (Baking/Pastry) - 6-month Contract
Job Overview
Compensation
Salary
Range $60,000.00 - $70,000.00
Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Paid Time Off
Retirement Plan
Employee Discounts
Career development opportunities
flexible scheduling
Job Description
Dessert Holdings is a leading global premium dessert company renowned for crafting artisanal, scratch-made desserts at scale. Specializing in culinary innovation and using only the finest real ingredients, Dessert Holdings has built a strong reputation through its collection of seven distinctive dessert brands: The Original Cakerie, Lawler's Desserts, Atlanta Cheesecake Company, Steven Charles, Dianne's Fine Desserts, Kenny's Great Pies, and Willamette Valley Pie Company. Owned by Bain Capital and headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, the company employs over 3,500 people across ten manufacturing facilities worldwide. Dessert Holdings continues to experience rapid growth, driven by its commitment to quality, innovation, and delivering tailored dessert solutions to its Retail and Foodservice partners.
As part of its expansion, Dessert Holdings is seeking a Culinary Development Chef (Dessert/Pastry) for a six-month contract position at their Aurora, Colorado facility. This specialized role will focus on supporting the prototype to plant floor commercialization process of new and existing bakery projects, emphasizing meeting key goals such as taste, functionality, quality, and cost expectations. The Culinary Development Chef plays a crucial role in bridging culinary creativity with manufacturing feasibility, ensuring that innovative dessert products are developed, tested, and introduced efficiently within a high-speed automated bakery environment.
The role involves extensive collaboration with various departments, including the Culinary Director, Sales team, and customers, to develop new product concepts and support current sales initiatives. This position demands a deep understanding of ingredient functionality and recipe formulation, with the ability to manage and improve product quality continuously through reviewing formulation and processing parameters. The Culinary Development Chef will also provide essential technical support to cross-functional teams like Procurement, QA, Commercialization, and Operations, ensuring that product specifications, data accuracy, and compliance with allergen identification guidelines meet company standards. They will stay informed of the latest dessert and baked goods trends, actively applying these insights to create commercially viable products that reflect consumer demand and market shifts.
This role requires strong sensory evaluation skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work physically in a dynamic manufacturing environment. The successful candidate will have hands-on experience in product development within a bakery setting, ideally with frozen bakery background, and possess excellent communication and organizational skills to manage multiple projects efficiently. The position offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to Dessert Holdings’ innovation pipeline, shaping the future of premium desserts with an experienced, passionate team dedicated to quality and craftsmanship.
As part of its expansion, Dessert Holdings is seeking a Culinary Development Chef (Dessert/Pastry) for a six-month contract position at their Aurora, Colorado facility. This specialized role will focus on supporting the prototype to plant floor commercialization process of new and existing bakery projects, emphasizing meeting key goals such as taste, functionality, quality, and cost expectations. The Culinary Development Chef plays a crucial role in bridging culinary creativity with manufacturing feasibility, ensuring that innovative dessert products are developed, tested, and introduced efficiently within a high-speed automated bakery environment.
The role involves extensive collaboration with various departments, including the Culinary Director, Sales team, and customers, to develop new product concepts and support current sales initiatives. This position demands a deep understanding of ingredient functionality and recipe formulation, with the ability to manage and improve product quality continuously through reviewing formulation and processing parameters. The Culinary Development Chef will also provide essential technical support to cross-functional teams like Procurement, QA, Commercialization, and Operations, ensuring that product specifications, data accuracy, and compliance with allergen identification guidelines meet company standards. They will stay informed of the latest dessert and baked goods trends, actively applying these insights to create commercially viable products that reflect consumer demand and market shifts.
This role requires strong sensory evaluation skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work physically in a dynamic manufacturing environment. The successful candidate will have hands-on experience in product development within a bakery setting, ideally with frozen bakery background, and possess excellent communication and organizational skills to manage multiple projects efficiently. The position offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to Dessert Holdings’ innovation pipeline, shaping the future of premium desserts with an experienced, passionate team dedicated to quality and craftsmanship.
Job Requirements
- Associate's Degree in Pastry Arts or Baking
- prior experience in bakery product development and commercialization
- strong sensory evaluation skills
- knowledge of ingredient functionality and recipe formulation
- ability to work physically up to 10 hours, including standing and lifting
- excellent communication skills
- proficiency with MS Office and ERP systems
- understanding of food safety and allergen regulations
- detail oriented
Job Qualifications
- Associate's Degree in Pastry Arts or Baking
- exceptional palate and sensory skills
- prior experience with taking new bakery products through concept, prototyping, trialing, and commercialization within an automated high-speed bakery environment
- recipe formulation and raw material knowledge and experience
- excellent written and oral communication skills
- working knowledge of MS Office including Outlook, Word, Excel, SharePoint, ERP systems and PowerPoint
- working knowledge of Canadian and US food standards and regulations
- strong bench work skills with the ability to execute solutions rapidly
- detail oriented
- ability to meet physical requirements including standing and working for up to 10 hours per day, ability to lift up to 50 pounds, ability to use hands and fingers and reach with hands and arms, and to work in an environment with a variety of temperatures and humidities and with food allergens
Job Duties
- Research, formulate, and develop new products within time, cost and processing requirements, making design, ingredient, and packaging recommendations
- work with Culinary Director, Sales team, and customers to develop innovative products, drive and support current sales, and fill pipeline for future sales
- manage ingredient functionality and recipe formulation within processing parameters, supporting product quality at all times
- improve product quality through ongoing review of formulation and process parameters
- provide technical support and expertise to external and internal customers including Procurement, Customers, Sales, Commercialization, QA, and Operations
- support review of food specifications ensuring data is current, accurate and compliant including allergen identification
- stay current on trending desserts and baked goods and work toward implementing those trends into manufactured sellable goods
- support other development chefs where needed
Job Criteria
Experience
Mid Level (3-7 years)
Job Location
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