Senior Development Chef - Hawthorn East
We’ve been proudly serving Australian communities since 1914 and have grown to become a top 30-listed company on the ASX with a portfolio of iconic homegrown brands. At the heart of our continued success is over 115,000 team members working across the country, all contributing to bringing our customers smiles. You’ll not only get to see your work make a difference, you’ll be part of a team working together to help Australians eat and live better every day.
About the team
Our Commercial team is a large, but a close-knit group of trading experts, who are ready to shape the future of Coles. We pride ourselves on the long-lasting supplier relationships we build, the new ideas we develop and how passionately we work to help Australian eat and live better every day. And the best part? We’re all so different. We bring diversity of thought, backgrounds, and experience to every Business Unit across Coles Supermarkets and Liquor.
About the role
We have a rare and exciting fixed-term opportunity for a Senior Development Chef to join our Own Brand team. This role is perfect for a chef-trained culinary professional who loves food, flavour and innovation — but is ready to apply their expertise beyond a traditional restaurant or catering kitchen.
Working closely with product developers, technologists, suppliers and internal stakeholders, you’ll help create products that are delicious, commercially viable and consistently deliverable at scale.
We’re looking for someone who can combine strong cooking capability with curiosity, collaboration, presentation skills and the ability to work within a large, fast-moving organisation.
What you’ll be doing
Reporting to the Lead Sensory & Development Chef, you’ll work in a fast-paced development kitchen environment and partner closely with teams across Own Brand.
You’ll be responsible for:
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Creating, refining and improving recipes across Own Brand ranges, including the Finest range of ready meals.
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Developing inspiring back-of-pack recipes for new and existing product varieties.
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Translating food trends, dietary trends and customer insights into new product ideas.
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Partnering with suppliers to adapt recipes for production while maintaining flavour, texture, appearance and quality.
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Supporting product developers with culinary feedback to enhance taste, texture and overall eating experience.
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Participating in blind tastings, product reviews and sensory sign-off to ensure products meet Own Brand guidelines.
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Helping ensure factory processes can replicate recipes consistently and efficiently.
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Leading engaging food masterclasses to educate, inspire and bring culinary trends to life for internal teams.
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Supporting the creation and delivery of high-quality internal and external food events, including large-scale showcases.
About you and your skills
You’re a chef-trained culinary professional with strong hands-on cooking skills, a creative mindset and the confidence to work with a broad range of stakeholders.
You may come from a restaurant, catering, cooking school, product development or food innovation background — but what matters most is your ability to combine culinary credibility with commercial thinking.
You’ll bring:
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Around 10 years’ experience in a professional culinary environment, ideally within a reputable restaurant, large catering company, food business or similar.
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Experience in product or recipe development, or a genuine appetite to learn.
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Confidence presenting food concepts, running live cooking demonstrations or facilitating masterclass-style sessions.
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Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work with product developers, technologists, suppliers and internal stakeholders.
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Resilience, adaptability and the ability to pivot when project scope or business priorities change.
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Good computer skills, including confidence using Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel.
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Intermediate Food Safety Certificate.
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A culinary qualification or cooking school background would be ideal, but is not mandatory.
Please note, applications for this role will close on June 11th, 2026.
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What’s in it for you?
- Flexible working options: We know that work is only one part of your life, so we actively encourage a positive work-life balance and provide hybrid working options to help you achieve it.
- Office perks: Take advantage of our gym facility and fitness classes, free parking, BBQ area, mini-Coles supermarket, fooderie hub where you can sample new products before they hit the shelves, school holiday program and so much more when you come in.
- Discounts: Eligible team members receive 5% discount all year round on your Supermarket and Liquor online and in-store purchases. We also offer additional periods of double discount (10%) at various times throughout the year. As well as hotdeals exclusive to team members that translate into additional savings.
- Reward through recognition: Give and receive recognition, linked to our Coles values, through our digital recognition platform ‘mythanks’. You can accumulate points to redeem in the online shop for exciting gifts and electronic gift cards from an extensive range of retailers.
- Opportunities for learning and development: No matter where you start within our diverse business, you’ll have experiences, exposure, and education to satisfy you. Discover and explore a variety of career development programs and job-specific training.
- Paid parental leave: We understand how important your life outside work is and offer permanent team members paid parental leave to support you in balancing work and family.
- Investment in your future: Our annual team member share plan offer allows eligible team members to make regular pre-tax salary sacrifice deductions to purchase Coles Group shares.
About the recruitment process
We’re continuing to build a gender equitable team, and a culture that is just as diverse, inclusive and welcoming as the communities we serve. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe and respectful for our team. We encourage applications from people of all ages, cultures (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples), abilities, sexual orientation and gender identities.
We’re happy to adjust our recruitment process to support candidates with disability. For further information and additional contact details visit the ‘Our Recruitment Process’ section of our careers site or email inclusionrecruitment@coles.com.au
Job ID: 186463
Employment Type: Full time