Location: Chester, MD (On-site Test Kitchen)
Schedule: Full-time Monday – Friday daytime hours (shifting to Tuesday – Saturday once per month during Franchisee Training cohorts). Includes situational remote flexibility on Mondays for dedicated curriculum writing and administrative development, depending on test-kitchen and training schedules.
Compensation: $70,000 – $80,000 (commensurate with experience) + Health/Dental/Vision, 401(k) Match, Unlimited PTO
Reports To: Director of Operations
About the Role
Taste Buds Kitchen is seeking a Culinary Curriculum & Training Manager to serve as our brand's chief instructional designer, training facilitator, and culinary educator.
This is an educational design and coaching role, not a restaurant back-of-house line position. A culinary degree or professional kitchen experience is not required. If you are an exceptional teacher who loves food, understands kitchen fundamentals, and knows how to break down steps so anyone can learn them, you will thrive here.
Based at our corporate office and test kitchen in Chester, MD, you will build turnkey cooking curricula, write class guides, and train incoming franchise owners and studio instructors to deliver high-energy cooking experiences.
Priority Deliverable: Digital Training Shift (Months 1–6)
- Video Production & On-Camera Demos: Record practical instructional class and recipe walkthroughs and equipment setup guides using accessible creator gear (smartphone, tripod, ring light) for our central video library.
- E-Learning Design: Turn onboarding workflows and recipe standards into engaging digital modules in our operations platform (Operandio).
Core Responsibilities
1. Curriculum Architecture & Lesson Planning
- Turnkey Course Blueprints: Design lesson plans, tool staging maps, and minute-by-minute teacher run-of-shows for youth camps, adult classes, parties, and corporate team building events.
- Accessible Teaching: Structure lesson flows so non-chef staff can easily lead engaging, safe classes within strict time limits.
- AI-Assisted Workflows: Direct internal AI models and prompt libraries to accelerate drafting seasonal concepts, agendas, and run-of-shows—reviewing outputs for kitchen safety, allergen compliance, and brand voice.
- Systems & Brand Operations Governance: Maintain our central operations platform (Operandio), formatting both culinary and studio operations modules into clear franchisee learning guides—including kitchen tech, music systems, CRM workflows, and studio checklists using content from internal partners.
2. Franchisee Onboarding & Hands-On Instruction
- Lead Monthly Cohorts: Facilitate monthly on-site certification cohorts at HQ, training new franchise owners and managers on kitchen workflow and brand standards.
- Train the Trainer: Coach adult learners in "culinary entertainment," classroom pacing, and group dynamics.
- Seasonal Training & Opening Support: Host digital training for peak seasons (Summer Camp Prep, Gingerbread 101), lead cooking sessions during monthly Discovery Days, and serve as occasional on-site backup for new studio grand openings (0–3 trips/year).
3. Recipe Testing & Test Kitchen Oversight
- Recipe Standardization: Test, adapt, and scale recipes and the culinary entertainment experience across youth and adult programs for simplicity, profitability, and strict allergen safety (100% nut-free; gluten/dairy-free adaptable).
- Marketing Partnership: Collaborate with Marketing to operationalize trend-forward seasonal menus and event packages.
- Test Kitchen Management: Oversee Test Kitchen inventory, food costing, sourcing, and sanitation for testing and training cohorts.
Qualifications
- 3+ years in curriculum/lesson design, adult training, corporate hospitality L&D, or recreational cooking school instruction.
- Proven experience writing clear lesson plans, run-of-shows, or SOPs.
- Strong comfort with home cooking/baking fundamentals and food safety (ServSafe Manager certified or able to obtain).
- Tech & AI Agile: Comfortable using generative AI tools (ChatGPT/Claude) for drafting and managing digital LMS platforms.
- Comfortable on camera and capable of lifting up to 30 lbs and remaining on your feet during active test-kitchen and training cohort days.
- Prior experience with franchise networks or multi-unit concepts preferred.
About Us
Taste Buds Kitchen has taken the country by storm with a refreshingly simple concept. We provide culinary entertainment to kids, families and adults in a fun, beautiful and state-of-the art Kitchen Studio. Kids ages 2 to teen love our hands-on cooking classes, camps, birthday parties and field trips. Adults love our byob date night cooking classes, birthday parties, bachelorettes, showers and corporate events. Our innovative programs are as entertaining as they are educational. We always strive to engage and delight our guests.
Job Opportunities
We have incredible career opportunities in each of our growing Kitchen Studios nationwide, as well as our corporate office. Get involved in an exciting and growing company. We are always looking for dynamic talent to join our fun-loving and hard-working team! Perfect for culinary professionals, passionate foodies, teachers, managers, administrators, marketers and college and high school students alike.