Senior Kitchen Engineer

Full Job Description

Recipe Unlimited Corporation is Canada’s leading full service restaurant company. Home to such iconic brands as Swiss Chalet, Harvey’s, St.Hubert, The Keg, Montana’s, Kelseys, Pubs, Bier Markt, East Side Mario’s, Landing Group, New York Fries, the Burger’s Priest, The Pickle Barrel & Catering, State and Main, Elephant and Castle and Original Joe’s. With this diverse portfolio of restaurants our Home Office Teammates have the opportunity to work on a wide variety of some of the most popular, well-loved brands in Canada. Variety isn’t the only thing we offer - we are passionate about our industry, we celebrate and support diversity of thought, we are innately curious and encourage our Teammates to take ownership. Above all else, we believe in doing the right thing for our people, our communities and our planet.

The Kitchen Engineer provides operational consulting to cross-functional stakeholders who drive new menu or packaging items and new food-production equipment, systems, and process projects from conception to implementation. This engineer is specifically tasked with developing and influencing solutions to increase the production capacity of restaurants and decrease complexity, labour, or ergonomic risk for team members.

This engineer needs to be skilled and confident in influencing and communicating with cross-functional partners at all levels of the organization. A significant contribution will be utilizing disciplined engineering analysis, problem-solving, and innovative design principles. The position must understand current state-of-the-art food-industry equipment designs and apply innovative, forward-thinking design initiatives.

What you'll do in this role:

• Provide SME (Small to Medium Enterprises) to all Recipe brands needing restaurant Operational Feasibility and process insight
• Provide a thorough understanding and process flow mapping of all our priority brands
• Provide thorough knowledge of Recipe brands Guest per hour models
• Identify barriers, bottlenecks, and pain points to continued profitable growth, prioritize problems to solve, and recommend improvements
• Find opportunities to optimize throughput and increase the speed of service for priority brands
• Influence partners across multiple brands and departments to direct large, high-impact programs related to restaurant capacity and complexity improvement
• Establish an operator feedback tool, allowing all ideas to be shared efficiently
• Provide continuous improvement recommendations for energy reduction
• Partner with high-level leadership within Recipe brands and departments, including Menu & Packaging, Food Safety, Culinary, Operations and Restaurant Central Operations Analytics, to craft strategy and ensure alignment
• Lead collaboration with cross-functional teams to ensure that projects meet all business needs and are successfully executed within constraints
• Leverage skills as an individual contributor and in a technical leadership capacity
• Align strategy and work output with various cross-functional disciplines including, but not limited to, other teams within Design, Construction, Supply Chain, Kitchen Design, Culinary and Operations
• Influence strategic direction by providing input that directly impacts specific programs or areas of the business that have a broader impact across the organization

What we are looking for from you:

• Bachelor's Degree, background in Industrial Engineering or a similar discipline (Master's Degree in Engineering Discipline preferred)
• 5-8 years of engineering experience (Industrial Engineering preferred) with high interpersonal skills
• Proven ability to provide technical leadership to stakeholders
• Ability to work with wide latitude for unreviewed action or decision on outcomes
• Advanced project management skills demonstrated
• Previous experience working in a Restaurant
• Excellent communication, relational, and team skills to enable interaction with restaurant team members, as well as corporate peers and leaders
• Knowledge of producing and maintaining technical specification documents on both process and equipment improvement opportunities
• Experience leading cross-functional teams that include both technical and non-technical aptitudes
• Proficiency in Google (Doc, Sheets, Slides)

What’s in it for you?

• Flexible/Hybrid work environment
• You’d be joining a close-knit, innovative team of creative and energetic go-getters
• You’d be a part of Canada’s largest full-service restaurant company that leads the industry in size and innovation
• 20% associate discount dining card and monthly dining allowance valid at participating Recipe brands
• A welcoming, fun and safe work environment founded on respect
• Career advancement opportunities with a company that owns some of Canada’s most iconic restaurant brands
• Industry-leading benefits, wellness programs, and total rewards programs

Recipe is committed to providing a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace. Celebrating people, being passionate and curious, owning it, and doing the right thing are the values that guide how we build our teams, support our franchisees and create a company that unlocks the full potential of everyone.

Recipe is dedicated to providing accommodations in accordance with applicable human rights and accommodation legislation. For individuals that require accommodations please contact