RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE (MK)

Job Summary

To create, refine, and standardise in-store food products—including premixes, sauces, skewers, karaage, and related items—that consistently deliver on taste, quality, food safety, cost efficiency, and ease of execution.This role is highly hands-on, working closely with operations teams and suppliers to turn culinary ideas into practical, scalable, and repeatable in-store solutions that perform reliably at store level.

Job Responsibilities:

1. In-Store Food Product Development

  • Develop and improve in-store food items including:

o Premix (coating, batter, seasoning)

o Sauces (hot, ambient, chilled)

o Skewers (protein, marinaded items)

o Karaage and fried products

  • Other ready-to-cook or ready-to-heat items
  • Ensure products are easy to execute at store level with minimal variability.
  • Support new product launches and reformulation of existing SKUs.

2. Culinary & Sensory Excellence

  • Ensure products meet taste, texture, aroma, appearance, and
  • consistency standards.
  • Conduct sensory evaluations, benchmarking, and improvement
  • trials.
  • Adjust formulations to suit local taste profiles and customer
  • expectations.
  • Balance culinary quality with cost, shelf life, and preparation
  • simplicity.

3. Food Science & Technical Support

  • Apply basic food science principles in formulation, frying
  • performance, sauce stability, and holding quality.
  • Support shelf-life testing, oil stability, reheating performance, and
  • product robustness.
  • Assist in preparation of nutritional facts, COA, allergen, and
  • product specifications.
  • Work closely with QA to ensure HACCP, GMP, and halal
  • compliance.

4. Process & In-Store Execution Understanding

  • Understand store equipment limitations (fryers, microwaves, hot
  • displays, holding cabinets).
  • Optimize products for consistent results under real store
  • conditions.
  • Develop clear cooking, reheating, and handling SOPs for store
  • operations.
  • Support trial runs and feedback collection from operations teams.

5.Supplier & Raw Material Collaboration

  • Work with suppliers on ingredient selection, premix formulation,
  • and sauce development.
  • Participate in supplier trials, sample evaluation, and technical
  • discussions.
  • Support sourcing alternatives to improve cost, quality, or supply continuity.

6. Documentation & Continuous Improvement

  • Maintain proper R&D documentation, recipes, trial reports, and specifications.
  • Support continuous improvement projects to enhance quality, yield, and cost efficiency.
  • Assist in troubleshooting quality or execution issues from stores or production.

Job Requirements:

  • Diploma or Degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Culinary Arts, or related field.
  • 2–5 years’ experience in R&D, central kitchen, QSR, or in-store food development.
  • Hands-on experience with fried products, premixes, sauces, or marinated items is highly preferred.
  • Basic understanding of food safety, shelf life, and processing.
  • Strong interest in culinary development and practical food execution

  Employment Type:  Permanent (Full Time)

  Min. Education:  Diploma

  Spoken Language:  Malay, English

  Written Language:  Malay, English