Location: Toronto, ON

Work Type: Full-time, On-site

Reports to: Head of R&D;

About the Role

Victory’s Kitchen, a leading manufacturer of soups, sauces, and dips, is seeking an innovative and technically skilled R&D; Food Scientist / Product Developer to join our team. This role combines culinary creativity with scientific precision. You’ll develop and improve recipes, reverse-engineer existing products, and support the scale-up of formulations from the test kitchen to full production.

Reporting to the Head of R&D;, you’ll take ownership of assigned projects, from initial concept through commercialization, with guidance and collaboration from R&D; leadership.

The ideal candidate is someone with a great understanding of soups, sauces, and/or kettle-cooked products who loves translating great food ideas into consistent, scalable, and commercially successful products.

Key Responsibilities

Product Development

- Develop, test, and refine new soup, dip, and sauce recipes in alignment with customer needs and internal innovation goals.
- Reverse-engineer products to accurately replicate target characteristics.
- Balance creativity with functionality to achieve ideal flavour, texture, and stability.
- Collaborate with production and QA teams to transition formulations from lab-scale to plant-scale runs.
- Stay current with emerging ingredients, technologies, and consumer trends to inspire ongoing innovation.

Quality & Compliance

- Partner closely with the QA team to ensure products meet all safety, sensory, and shelf-life standards.
- Maintain accurate formula records, ingredient documentation, and product specifications.
- Generate nutrition facts tables and assist with preliminary ingredient declarations
- Support regulatory compliance (CFIA/FDA/USDA) for formulations and labelling, in partnership with QA and the Head of R&D;

Ingredient & Process Optimization

- Apply knowledge of functional ingredients (starches, gums, emulsifiers, stabilizers, etc.)



to enhance product quality and performance.
- Investigate and recommend ingredient or process adjustments for improved yield, flavour, or texture.

Collaboration & Support

- Work with cross-functional teams (QA, Production, Procurement, and Sales) to ensure product goals are achieved on time.
- Help train production staff on new recipes and processes when transitioning products into full production.

Qualifications

Education:

- Positive to have: Degree or diploma in Food Science, Culinary Science, or a related field.

Experience:

- 2+ years of product development experience in a food manufacturing environment (soups, sauces, dips, or other kettle-cooked foods). Expertise in these types of products is mandatory.
- Experience with scaling up recipes from bench to production scale is a plus but not necessary.

Technical Skills:

- Strong understanding of formulation, food chemistry, and functional ingredient interactions.
- Hands-on experience with emulsified, pasteurized, or refrigerated products preferred.
- Working knowledge of HACCP, GMP, and food safety best practices.

Soft Skills:

- Creative thinker with strong analytical problem-solving skills.
- Detail-oriented, highly organized, and able to manage multiple concurrent projects.
- Effective communicator across technical and non-technical teams.

Computer Skills:

- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite; experience with recipe management or formulation software is an asset.

Compensation & Benefits

- Salary: Starting from $50,000-$65,000 CAD annually (commensurate with experience)
- Benefits:
- Dental, vision, and extended health care
- Life insurance

Work Location: In-person (Toronto, ON)

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $50,000.00-$65,000.00 per year

Benefits:

- Dental care
- Extended health care
- Life insurance
- Vision care

Application question(s):

- Give a short explanation of your food/culinary background. This is a food-based job, culinary expertise is of the utmost importance to us for this role.

Experience:

- Food Product Development: 3 years (required)

Work Location: In person

📌 R&D Product Developer / Food Scientist / (Soups, Sauces & Dips) (Toronto)
🏢 Victory's Kitchen
📍 Toronto