JOB DESCRIPTIONPosition

South Indian R&D; Chef / Manager – Culinary Innovation & Product Development

Qualification & Experience

- Diploma/Degree in Hotel Management or Food Production from IHM or a reputed Hotel Management Institute – mandatory.
- 5–10 years of overall culinary experience.
- Minimum 3 years of hands-on experience in Culinary R&D;, Product Development, Menu Development, or Culinary Innovation.
- Experience in a Restaurant, QSR, Central Kitchen, Food Manufacturing, FMCG Food Company, or Hospitality industry is preferred.

Key Responsibilities1. Culinary R&D; & Product Development

- Lead South Indian cuisine R&D; and new product development from concept through commercial launch.
- Develop authentic, innovative, market-relevant South Indian recipes suitable for modern restaurant and QSR formats.
- Conduct kitchen trials, product prototyping, benchmarking, recipe refinement, and validation.
- Convert traditional recipes into commercially viable, scalable, consistent, and operationally feasible products.
- Demonstrate strong hands-on culinary skills and actively participate in kitchen trials.

2. Regional South Indian Cuisine Expertise

Possess solid knowledge of regional and sub-regional cuisines across:

- Tamil Nadu
- Kerala
- Karnataka
- Andhra Pradesh
- Telangana

Strong understanding of sub-regional cuisines, including:

- Chettinad
- Kongunadu
- Malabar
- Thalassery
- Mangalorean
- Udupi
- Coorg
- Rayalaseema
- Telangana

Understand regional spice profiles, masalas, ingredients, cooking techniques, traditional preparation methods, and their adaptation to modern commercial formats.

3. Recipe Standardisation & Commercialisation

- Develop and maintain Standard Recipe Cards (SRCs), SOPs, and process specifications.
- Define recipe grammage, yield, portion size, cooking time, temperature, and process parameters.
- Conduct small-batch, bulk, and scale-up trials for commercial production.
- Ensure consistency, authenticity, taste, texture, appearance, and operational feasibility.
- Optimise recipes for commercial scalability and multi-unit operations.
- Develop products based on available equipment, production processes, and operational capabilities.

4. Sensory Evaluation & Benchmarking

- Conduct sensory evaluations and product benchmarking.
- Perform competitive product analysis and market benchmarking.
- Evaluate products on:
- Taste
- Texture
- Aroma
- Appearance
- Authenticity
- Consistency
- Commercial feasibility
- Refine products based on sensory feedback and consumer/market requirements.

5. Costing,



Yield & Portion Control

- Calculate and optimise food cost, recipe cost, yield, portion size, and wastage.
- Ensure recipes meet defined commercial cost targets without compromising quality and authenticity.
- Monitor yield and process efficiency during trials and scale-up.

6. Vendor & Ingredient Development

- Identify and evaluate regional ingredients, spices, masalas, and potential vendors.
- Conduct vendor trials and support ingredient/product standardisation.
- Work closely with Procurement and SCM teams for sourcing and product development.
- Provide technical inputs for ingredient specifications and commercial trials.

7. Cross-Functional Collaboration

Work closely with:

- SCM & Procurement
- Quality Assurance
- Operations
- Marketing
- Vendors
- Central Kitchen
- Manufacturing Teams
- Culinary Teams

Provide technical and culinary inputs for centralised production, manufacturing, and outlet-level implementation.

8. Product Implementation & Training

- Support product implementation during pilot and post-launch stages.
- Troubleshoot product and process issues after launch.
- Conduct product training and knowledge transfer for Operations and Culinary teams.
- Conduct outlet visits to ensure adherence to approved recipes, specifications, and processes.

9. Market & Culinary Research

- Research regional food trends and emerging South Indian culinary opportunities.
- Identify new dishes, ingredients, formats, and consumer trends.
- Undertake market visits and regional food research for benchmarking and innovation.
- Explore opportunities to adapt traditional South Indian cuisine to contemporary restaurant, QSR, central kitchen, RTE, frozen, and other commercial formats.

10. Documentation & Reporting

- Maintain complete documentation of:
- Product trials
- Recipes
- SRCs
- SOPs
- Ingredient specifications
- Costing
- Yield
- Sensory evaluations
- Benchmarking
- Trial feedback
- Final approvals
- Maintain accurate records throughout the product development and commercialisation cycle.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate should have:

- Strong passion and deep expertise in South Indian cuisine.




- Excellent understanding of the culinary diversity of South India rather than expertise limited to one regional cuisine.
- Proven Culinary R&D; / Product Development experience.
- Strong R&D; mindset with the ability to research, create, test, refine, standardise, and commercialise products.
- Strong understanding of recipe standardisation and commercial scalability.
- Good knowledge of food costing, yield management, portion control, and wastage optimisation.
- Strong sensory evaluation and palate development skills.
- Experience in new product launches and menu development.
- Good understanding of restaurant/QSR operational requirements.
- Strong communication, presentation, documentation, and stakeholder-management skills.
- Creative, analytical, detail-oriented, and commercially focused.
- Willingness to travel for regional research, market visits, benchmarking, vendor trials, and product development.

Preferred Experience

Candidates with experience in the following environments will be preferred:

- Reputed QSR or Restaurant Chains
- Central Kitchens
- Food Manufacturing Companies
- FMCG Food Companies
- Hospitality Groups
- Multi-unit restaurant operations
- RTE/Frozen food product development
- Vendor development and commercial trials
- Manufacturing scale-up and productionisation

Key Screening Criteria

Candidates will be evaluated primarily on the following:

- IHM / Reputed Hotel Management Background
- Strong South Indian Regional Cuisine Knowledge
- Proven Culinary R&D; / Product Development Experience
- Hands-on Trial & Recipe Development Capability
- Commercialisation & Scale-up Experience
- Recipe Standardisation & SRC/SOP Development
- Food Costing, Yield & Portion Control
- Sensory Evaluation & Product Benchmarking
- QSR / Restaurant / Central Kitchen Experience
- Vendor Trials & Ingredient Standardisation
- New Product Launch Experience
- Ability to Work Cross-Functionally with Operations, QA, SCM, Procurement and Marketing

Core Competencies

South Indian Cuisine | Culinary R&D; | Product Development | Recipe Innovation | Commercialisation | Recipe Standardisation | SRC & SOP Development | Food Costing | Yield Management | Sensory Evaluation | Benchmarking | Scale-up Trials | Vendor Development | QSR Operations | Central Kitchen | Market Research | Product Launch | Culinary Training

Pay: ₹2,000,000.00 - ₹2,500,000.00 per year

Benefits:

- Food provided
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Provident Fund

Work Location: In person

📌 SOUTH INDIAN R&D CHEF / MANAGER (India)
🏢 Devyani International
📍 India