Job brief: Associate R&D Chef

What JoRoute checked · Checked by JoRoute

• Listed on Home Chef's own job board. JoRoute does not take listings from job ads or recruiters.
• First seen by JoRoute 2026-11-09 (today); last confirmed on the board 2026-11-09.
• The apply link opens job-boards.greenhouse.io, the address Home Chef's board gives for this job.
• No other listing with this title and place on this board in the last 90 days.
• No layoff notices (WARN) under this name in the state files JoRoute reads.

What the listing says · Employer's own words, not checked

• Pay: $50,000 to $60,000 a year
• Job type: Not stated
• Where: Chicago, IL
• Posted: 2026-11-09

What the job asks · Employer's own words, not checked

Level: Entry level. The title says "Associate".

Must have

• Regularly attend and participate in all required Tempo culinary and cross-functional team meetings
• Culinary background required
• High attention to detail: must adhere exactly to shopping list & Home Chef cooking specifications
• ServSafe certified or strong understanding of sanitary practices
• Required to carry bags of groceries through elevator daily (carts available)
• Must be able to taste and provide thorough feedback on every meal and ingredient sample test in the kitchen, including vegetarian, pork, chicken, steak, and seafood meals, as well…

Conditions

• In 2023, Home Chef introduced a new brand, Tempo ! Tempo features a rotating selection of ready-to-heat meals delivered directly to your door.
• This is an in office role that works in both the R&D kitchen at the Old Post Office in downtown Chicago, IL and in the production kitchen in Bedford Park, IL.
• This position requires 0-10% travel
• Paid holidays, sick time and vacation time

Main duties

• Manage and maintain ingredients for R&D and for scaling recipes at our Bedford Park production kitchen, including taking a regular inventory, placing orders …
• Ensure that needed items are properly transferred from the production kitchen to the R&D kitchen
• Own inventory of RTH ingredients in the R&D kitchen, including knowledge of where items are located, as well as tracking/storing items that are needed both n…
• Work with Culinary Apprentices to help manage the grocery process, including communicating with all r&d kitchen personnel, making lists, shopping, and puttin…
• Participate in compound ingredient/meal feedback discussions and then work with manager to implement that feedback into formulation and procedure improvements

Lines copied from the posting, not rewritten. "Preferred" or "nice to have" items are not listed as must-haves.

How it compares · Compared by JoRoute from listings

• Across Home Chef's 28 open listings, 32% of those with a posting date were first posted more than 60 days ago. How Home Chef hires

What nobody outside the employer knows · Not known

• Whether the role is already filled or on hold: employers often leave listings up.
• How many people applied, and who reads the applications.
• Where in the published range an offer would land.

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