Senior R&D Executive

Job Title: Senior R&D Executive

Location: Kakkanchery | Full-Time | On-Site

Industry: FMCG | Packaged Foods | Snacks | Bakery

About Chefouse:

Chefouse is a fast-growing food manufacturing brand with a vision to revolutionize India's FMCG landscape by building a scalable network of small-scale, high-efficiency food production units. At the heart of our growth lies constant innovation and a commitment to delivering superior, customer-loved products.

Role Overview:

We are looking for a Senior R&D Executive to lead both new product development and existing product improvement initiatives. This role demands strong technical expertise, market awareness, and cross-functional coordination to ensure Chefouse products meet evolving consumer needs, competitive benchmarks, and internal quality standards.

You’ll work closely with the production, quality, marketing, and sales teams to drive the product pipeline from concept to launch and ensure continuous improvement post-launch.

Key Responsibilities:
New Product Development

• Identify market opportunities by studying trends, consumer behaviour, and competitor products
• Lead ideation, formulation trials, and testing processes for new products
• Ensure alignment with brand positioning, shelf life, cost, and regulatory requirements
• Coordinate lab-scale to pilot-scale trials and handover to production for final scale-up

Product Improvement & Optimisation

• Analyse the performance of existing SKUs and initiate improvements in taste, shelf life, cost, and packaging
• Incorporate feedback from the production, QC, and customer care teams to resolve product-related challenges
• Work with the branding/marketing teams to improve product appeal and relevance

Market & Competitor Research

• Conduct competitor benchmarking and sensory evaluations
• Monitor trends in flavours, formats, ingredients, and packaging
• Develop insights that guide innovation and product differentiation

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Collaborate with Marketing for product positioning and concept validation
• Coordinate with Sales for field feedback and customer expectations
• Align with the Quality Control team to ensure product consistency and complaint resolution

Documentation & Handover

• Maintain R&D documentation, including formulations, trials, batch reports, and SOPs
• Ensure smooth handover to the production and QA teams for commercial rollout

What We're Looking For:

• 4+ years of experience in R&D in reputed FMCG or packaged food companies
• Strong formulation and product development skills across snacks, bakery, or processed foods
• Hands-on experience in sensory testing, shelf-life studies, and scaling up formulations
• Excellent coordination and communication skills to work across departments
• Exposure to food safety, regulatory standards, and consumer trends
• M.Sc in Food Technology, Food Science, or related disciplines is required.

Nice to Have:

• Experience handling customer feedback loops for product improvement
• Familiarity with packaging innovations and cost optimisation
• Experience working with ERP systems and documentation platforms

Reporting To:

Executive Director

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: ₹20,000.00 - ₹30,000.00 per month

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Malappuram, Kerala: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Required)

Experience:

• Research and Development: 2 years (Required)
• FMCG Industry: 2 years (Required)

Language:

• Malayalam (Required)
• English (Required)

Work Location: In person