Culinary R&D Manager

Role Overview

Flat White Specialty Coffee is looking for an inventive and commercially minded Culinary R&D Manager in Doha, Qatar. This full-time position suits an experienced culinary leader who can combine hands-on kitchen discipline with the vision to shape new food concepts, improve existing menus, and support scalable production across several brands and formats.

The role focuses on developing creative yet practical dishes, setting up clear recipe standards, refining production methods, and making sure kitchen operations remain efficient, consistent, and commercially sound in both restaurant and central kitchen settings.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the full lifecycle of new food concept creation, including menu items, seasonal additions, and limited-time offers.
• Study market movements, guest preferences, and competitor activity to uncover product opportunities.
• Design recipes and product ideas that are innovative, workable in operations, and profitable.
• Continuously improve menu performance using testing, data review, and customer input.
• Develop and update detailed recipe documentation, prep instructions, product standards, and plating directions.
• Set standard recipes, portioning rules, and yield-control processes.
• Build clear SOPs for food preparation and kitchen workflows.
• Partner with central kitchen and operations teams to make sure products can be produced efficiently at scale.
• Enhance production flow, efficiency, consistency, and food cost control.
• Lead trials, pilot rollouts, and implementation planning for new menu launches.
• Ensure every product is commercially viable and workable in day-to-day operations.
• Define quality standards and carry out routine product assessments.
• Maintain compliance with food safety requirements, HACCP practices, and internal standards.
• Protect product consistency across all outlets and locations.
• Work closely with Operations, Marketing, Procurement, and Training teams to launch products and concepts successfully.
• Train and coach kitchen teams on new items and operating procedures.
• Contribute to growth plans such as new concept development and brand expansion.

Experience & Requirements

• 8–10 years of progressive experience in culinary leadership.
• 3–5 years in a senior role such as Executive Chef, Group Executive Chef, Culinary Manager, or Culinary R&D Manager.
• Proven ability to manage large kitchen operations, high-volume production, and central kitchen environments.
• Strong background in menu development, recipe standardisation, and culinary innovation.
• Experience across multiple brands or concepts is a strong advantage.
• Previous experience in the GCC region is strongly preferred.
• Excellent culinary creativity and a strong instinct for innovation.
• Commercial awareness and proven experience in food cost optimisation.
• Solid understanding of production planning, kitchen workflow design, and scalable operations.
• Strong project management, organisation, analytical, and problem-solving abilities.
• Confident leadership and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to convert culinary ideas into products that can be executed consistently in operations.

Additional Information

This is a full-time onsite role based in Doha, Qatar. The position is intended for a senior culinary professional who can lead innovation while ensuring disciplined execution across operational and production environments.