R&D Sandwich Senior Specialist

About the Role

A bakery and food franchise company in Commerce, CA is hiring a Senior R&D Specialist for sandwiches and savory products. In this role you will develop new sandwich and savory products, optimize recipes and costing for scalable factory production, lead quality control, and drive new product training and implementation across factory and store environments. Reports to the R&D Senior Manager.

Requirements

Key Responsibilities

New Product Development (Sandwich & Savory)

• Research sandwich product trends and market releases.
  
• Discover new ingredients and develop innovative sandwich concepts (hot/cold sandwiches, wraps, subs, and more).
  
• Optimize recipes and costing for sandwich products.
  
• Partner with the bread team to develop savory menu items.
  
• Develop products that are scalable for factory/industrial production, with attention to production efficiency, consistency, and quality control.
  
• Refine and finalize products for production and market launch.
  

Manage Current Products

• Test existing products to improve quality, including new ingredient trials and documentation updates.
  
• Evaluate suitability when ingredients change, ensuring product quality, consistency, and operational feasibility.
  

New Product Training

• Implement new products at production facilities (factory and store).
  
• Use Q&A analysis to train QC teams on new sandwich and savory products.
  

Quality Control

• Manage production quality control and food safety for sandwich and savory categories.
  
• Manage franchise store quality control and operational standards for sandwich and savory products.
  

Documentation

• Create and maintain production documentation (factory manuals, store manuals, process documentation).
  
• Maintain test logs for product development (ingredient trials, shelf-life, etc.).
  
• Create and update store production manuals (breads).
  
• Conduct basic nutritional data analysis (BOMs, food percentage analysis).
  

Required Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Culinary Arts, Nutrition, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
  
• 5+ years of experience in food R&D, ideally in sandwich, savory, or bakery categories.
  
• Experience in a food manufacturing or industrial production environment.
  
• Proven track record of successful product development and commercialization.
  

Technical

• Strong knowledge of sandwich and savory product development (hot/cold sandwiches, wraps, subs, etc.).
  
• Recipe formulation, costing, and ingredient functionality.
  
• Understanding of large-scale (factory) production processes, including scalability and efficiency.
  
• Knowledge of food safety standards and quality control systems (HACCP, GMP).
  
• Ability to conduct shelf-life testing and product evaluations.
  
• Familiarity with nutritional analysis and BOM (Bill of Materials) management.
  

Operational & Leadership

• Experience implementing new products in both manufacturing and retail/store environments.
  
• Ability to train cross-functional teams (QC, production, store staff).
  
• Strong project management skills across multiple simultaneous initiatives.
  
• Detail-oriented with strong documentation and reporting skills.
  

Communication

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
  
• Ability to present product concepts, testing results, and training materials clearly.
  

Other

• Proficiency in MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
  
• Ability to travel between production facilities and store locations as needed.
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Bilingual (English/Korean or English/Spanish).
  

Benefits

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $80,000 - $90,000 per year
  
• Benefits: To be confirmed by client. (Standard company benefits from comparable roles can be applied if confirmed.)
  

Location & Schedule

• Onsite in Commerce, CA.
  
• Full-time, exempt. Some travel between production facilities and store locations.