Catering Chef jobs

CULINARY PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CHEF
Short-Term Contract | Calgary, Alberta | Immediate Start

ABOUT NATIVPOTT

NativPott is a Calgary-based food-truck and catering brand creating modern Nigerian-inspired street food under the promise “Culture on a Plate.”

We are rebuilding our core menu into a small, distinctive and highly repeatable product system. Our goal is not to create a large collection of recipes. We are developing a focused menu that can be prepared consistently by trained employees, served quickly in a food-truck environment and eventually scaled into multiple locations.

We are looking for an experienced Culinary Product Development Chef to help turn our approved product concepts into commercially workable prototypes.

This is a product-development assignment—not a private-chef, catering or general kitchen position.

THE ASSIGNMENT

You will work with NativPott’s founder and kitchen team to develop and test a small number of proprietary Nigerian-inspired street-food products.

The work will include:

• Translating approved concepts into practical food prototypes
• Developing precise recipes measured by weight
• Testing flavour, texture, structure and presentation
• Designing recipes for batch preparation and high-volume service
• Testing holding quality and takeaway packaging
• Simplifying production for repeatability and speed
• Working within NativPott’s existing food-truck equipment
• Calculating yields, waste and preliminary food costs
• Training another team member to reproduce each approved product
• Documenting every test, change and final method
• Identifying when a concept is not technically or commercially viable

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

A successful product must:

• Taste premium and distinctive
• Respect its Nigerian flavour identity
• Appeal to customers from different cultural backgrounds
• Be easy to explain and order
• Be produced consistently by trained employees
• Work during busy food-truck and festival service
• Hold and travel well in takeaway packaging
• Use commercially available ingredients
• Minimize waste and unnecessary complexity
• Produce a healthy commercial margin
• Be supported by a complete written recipe and operating procedure

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE

Applicants should have professional culinary experience and demonstrated ability in at least some of the following areas:

• Culinary product development
• Quick-service restaurant operations
• Food trucks or mobile food service
• High-volume commercial kitchens
• Recipe standardization
• Batch production
• Menu engineering and food costing
• Packaging and holding tests
• Commercial kitchen training and SOP development

Experience with Nigerian, West African, African-diaspora or globally inspired street food is a strong asset, but it is not mandatory. Respect for the cultural identity of the food is essential.

THIS ROLE IS NOT A FIT IF:

• Your work is primarily private dining or fine-dining plating
• You rely on unmeasured ingredients or recipes kept in memory
• You are unwilling to document your complete process
• You cannot work within cost, equipment and service-time limits
• You expect NativPott to adopt a product solely because it tastes good
• You are unwilling to sign confidentiality and intellectual-property agreements

PROJECT STRUCTURE

This will begin with one paid, tightly scoped product-feasibility project.

The first phase will include:

• Review of the approved product brief
• One initial development plan
• Small-batch prototype testing
• Documentation of each formulation and result
• Operational and holding assessment
• Preliminary cost and equipment assessment
• A written recommendation to proceed, modify or discontinue the concept

Successful completion may lead to additional product-development work and possible ongoing opportunities with NativPott.

This is a Calgary-based assignment. The selected candidate must be available for in-person kitchen testing. Some planning and documentation may be completed remotely.

COMPENSATION

This is a paid contract. We are open to a fixed project fee or a clearly defined hourly arrangement with a maximum approved budget.

Please include your proposed rate or project-fee range. Final scope, milestones, payment schedule and deliverables will be agreed upon before work begins.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND OWNERSHIP

The selected candidate will be required to sign confidentiality and intellectual-property agreements before receiving NativPott’s confidential product concepts.

All recipes, formulations, processes, test results, photographs, documentation and other materials created specifically under this paid engagement will be documented and assigned to NativPott as set out in the final contract.

Applicants must not submit or use confidential recipes belonging to current or former employers.

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit:

• A short introduction explaining your relevant experience
• Your résumé or professional profile
• Two examples of commercial products or menus you helped develop
• A sanitized sample of a recipe, production sheet or SOP you created, with confidential information removed
• Your experience with food costing, batch preparation and high-volume service
• Your availability in Calgary
• Your proposed hourly rate or fixed-fee range
• Two professional references

Please answer these questions:

• Tell us about a product you developed for commercial or high-volume service.
• How did you make the product repeatable across different employees?
• How would you test whether a crispy product survives takeaway packaging?
• How do you calculate the true cost of a finished serving?
• What would you do if an exciting concept proved too slow or expensive?
• Are you comfortable developing within existing equipment and a fixed budget?
• Are you willing to sign confidentiality and intellectual-property agreements?

Applications without relevant examples or answers to the screening questions may not be considered.

Job type: Short-term contract, with potential for additional work
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Start date: As soon as the right candidate is selected

Pay: $15.20-$20.00 per hour

Expected hours: 40.0 per week

Work Location: In person