Culinary Specialist

About MiLa

MìLà is a Chinese food company. Our teams work tirelessly to enhance delicious products that we all enjoy at home! While MìLà is a Chinese food brand, it’s really a celebration of the power of food to bring us together, share our stories, and discover new flavors and cultures.

Our mission is to build something that feels authentically and uniquely true to our roots as a Chinese-American-founded brand. Something we can own, but that’s also meant to be shared. One of the things we love about Chinese food is that it’s traditionally served family-style—shared with everyone gathered at the table. MìLà is a Chinese food brand, but it’s really a celebration of the power of food to bring us together, share our stories, and discover new flavors and cultures. 

Core Values

Explore our core values here: https://eatmila.com/pages/careers

Job Summary

Under the supervision of the R&D Culinary Lead, the Culinary Specialist is responsible for recipe research, planning, and development, as well as sample preparation, feedback collection, recordkeeping and kitchen maintenance. 

Duties/Responsibilities

• Researching recipes, dishes, ingredients, product formats, and concepts related to innovation and ideation. 
• Preparing and executing recipe testing plans. 
• Managing the production, organization and presentation of samples.
• Collecting sensory feedback, analyzing and cataloging results.
• Maintaining physical (kitchen) and digital (recipes, feedback, project management tools) assets.
• The position may include travel up to 5% of the year, regionally and nationally. 
• The position is 100% onsite at our HQ in Sumner, WA.

Required Skills & Abilities

• Insatiably curious about how to create excellent food.
• Well versed in kitchen best-practices, from mise to sanitation.
• Dedicated to the scientific method, and the rigor involved. 
• Patient and persistent through trial and error. 
• Proficiency with productivity tools, including MS Office and Google Suite, with advanced skills in Excel or Sheets. Experience with Notion and Slack is a plus. 

Education & Experience

• 3 years of applied culinary knowledge (restaurants, recipe development, product development, stages, cooking abroad, etc.).
• A culinary degree is preferable, but not required with relevant experience.

What does Success look like?

• 30 Days: Learn R&D team’s analog and digital systems, processes, and ways of working. Executes research and test plans. 
• 60 Days: Designs research and test plans based on sensory feedback and analysis. Maintains continuous development cadence.
• 90 Days: Contributes to larger initiatives and long term projects.

Why Should You Join Us?

• Employer-funded health benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance. MiLa covers 75% of employee premiums & 25% of dependent premiums
• Voluntary/optional employee paid group insurance for Life & AD&D (with guarantee issue amounts at time of hire), Hospital, and Short Term Disability
• Great company culture! ENPS in the 80s!

See other openings at MiLa here: https://eatmila.com/pages/careers