R&D Culinary Specialist

Were looking for an R&D Culinary Specialist to own how Winston equipment is tested, validated, and proven.

This role is built around testing. Youll design and run structured, repeatable culinary and operational tests in the Winston Foodservice Kitchen, validating real performance with real food in real-world applications.

Youre not just running tests. Youre evaluating results, documenting what matters, and turning it into something engineering, sales, marketing, and customers can actually use.

Everything else in the role - training, demos, content development - starts here.

If you like digging into the details, running disciplined tests, and being the person who proves what works (and what doesnt), this is your role.

What will I really be doing?

Own Equipment Testing and Validation

Youll design and run structured, repeatable tests that prove how our equipment actually performs. Not in theory, not on paper - real food, real scenarios, and real results.

Turn Results Into Real Answers

You wont just collect data, youll make it make sense. What happened, why it happened, and what to do with it. Clear, organized, and useful for engineering, sales, marketing, and customers.

Support Product Development and Validation Efforts

Youll support testing, troubleshooting, and validation efforts tied to new and existing equipment. Making sure performance holds up in real-world kitchen conditions - not just in theory.

Lead Training, Demos, and Customer Support

Youll show people how to get better results. Through demos, training, and hands-on support. Sometimes here, sometimes on the road, but always grounded in what actually works.

Be Part of the Content

Youll help bring real-world credibility to what we put out. Videos, training, and application insights - all built from what youve actually tested and can prove.

Own the Kitchen

Youll keep the Winston Foodservice Kitchen dialed in. Clean, organized, safe, and ready to be used - whether its a controlled test, a customer visit, or something that just came up five minutes ago.

Why would I want this job?

You get to work at the intersection of food, science, and equipment, and actually influence how it all comes together in the real world.

You are not guessing if something works. You are the one designing the tests, running them, interpreting them, and turning the results into something the entire organization relies on to make decisions and support customers.

The work you do shows up everywhere. It impacts product development, training, customer results, and how Winston equipment is used in real kitchens every day.

You will work closely with multiple teams, making sure that what comes out of testing is meaningful and actually drives decisions, improves applications, and delivers better results for customers.

You stay hands-on with food and equipment, just without the grind that comes with a traditional restaurant role.

If you like figuring things out, making things better, and being trusted to get it right, this role gives you the opportunity to do exactly that.

What kind of experience is required?

• Youve spent real time in a commercial kitchen and understand how foodservice really works. Not just recipes, but consistency, pressure, and getting results that hold up.
• You bring at least five years of experience in culinary operations, R&D, equipment testing, or something closely related. Youve worked hands-on with food, evaluated outcomes, and made decisions based on those results.
• You know how to assess quality, yield, and performance, and youre comfortable communicating your findings.
• You can document your work in a clear, organized, and repeatable way so that others can actually use it.
• Youre comfortable working with commercial kitchen equipment and understand how it performs in real-world conditions.

What are some of the challenges of this role?

Have you ever heard the saying, too many cooks in the kitchen? Well, at Winston, we have quite a few chefs in the house. Its awesome, but you need to be able to hold your own and be confident yet open-minded in your role.

While many jobs at Winston lend themselves to a flexible hybrid work schedule, our R&D Culinary Specialist will be in the office every day. Rare administrative days are the exception.

Are there any other qualities that I need?

• Youre as comfortable following a test protocol as you are running a kitchen. Youre curious enough to ask why and disciplined enough to prove the answer. You can take something technical and explain it in a way that actually makes sense.
• Youre detail-obsessed, organized, and take ownership of your work.
• And youre the kind of person people trust because when you say something works, it does.

Why Youll Love Winston

At Winston, we know profits matter. But chasing dollars isnt what drives our decisions. What does? People. We genuinely appreciate every single contribution our team members bring to the table, and we work hard to make Winston a better place to be every day. Culture isnt an afterthought here - its the core. We love to grow talent from within, but were just as open to fresh ideas and knowledge from outside voices. Are we perfect? Nope. But were honest about that, and we stay focused on our vision: to make money and have fun doing it. After all, we helped revolutionize fried chicken, so youd better believe we know how to keep things crispy, fun, and worth savoring