Executive Pastry Chef & R&D

This is an on-site executive position located at our flagship facility in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico (a United States territory). Drunken Cookies will provide full O-1 visa sponsorship, relocation assistance, and compliance support with DMW/POEA requirements for the successful candidate.

Drunken Cookies, anchored by our flagship location in the historic district of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, is an expanding gourmet culinary enterprise engineering its product line for nationwide U.S. distribution. We manufacture premium, non-infused, texture-driven stuffed cookies, controlling every phase of production in-house from custom formulation to final packaging. We are seeking an elite Executive Pastry Chef to serve as our master formulator and culinary architect as we prepare our recipes and production processes for scale.

This is an executive-level culinary R&D and production leadership position demanding exceptional expertise in both fine pastry arts and industrial food science. The Executive Pastry Chef will lead our flagship kitchen operations and spearhead the advanced formulation required to transition artisan recipes into high-volume, automated production lines capable of extended transit across the mainland United States.

(Note: This role is strictly focused on culinary R&D, recipe engineering, mechanical integration, and kitchen operations; corporate and logistics expansion strategies are handled by executive leadership).

• Sensory Innovation & Flavor Architecture: Design and formulate complex, market-disruptive flavor profiles and custom fillings (including scratch-made nut pastes, ganaches, and specialized sweetener applications).
• Shelf-Life Mastery & Formulation: Apply advanced food chemistry (water activity control, fat ratios, invert sugars, emulsion stability) to engineer recipes that maintain peak fresh-baked texture, stability, and safety after 2+ days in transit—strictly avoiding low-grade synthetic preservatives.

• Manufacturing Transition: Scale delicate pastry formulations from small artisan batches to automated industrial lines, integrating recipes with heavy-duty commercial equipment (including 140-quart planetary mixers, automated encrusting machinery, and flow wrapping systems).
• Mechanical Aptitude & Troubleshooting: Serve as the technical authority on the kitchen floor. Possess a hands-on mechanical mindset capable of diagnosing and resolving operational issues with depositors, conveyor belts, and thermal packaging systems to minimize downtime.
• Standardization & QA: Author and enforce rigid Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and quality assurance protocols to guarantee absolute uniformity in weight, filling distribution, and bake profiles across daily yields exceeding 3,000 units.

• Team Management: Recruit, train, and mentor the kitchen production team, instilling a culture of precision, urgency, and continuous Audit-Ready sanitation compliance.
• Ingredient Command: Manage sourcing, recipe yield efficiency, food costs, and inventory control for premium specialty ingredients to avoid island supply-chain interruptions.

• Executive Experience: 4+ years of distinguished experience as an Executive Pastry Chef or Senior Pastry R&D Specialist, with a verified background in high-volume commercial production, manufacturing, or commissary kitchens.
• Technical Mastery: Deep, demonstrated grasp of food science principles (water activity, emulsion stability, thermal behavior of fillings) and direct hands-on comfort with commercial automated food machinery.
• Language: Full professional fluency in English for technical documentation, recipe formulation, and executive reporting.

Because this position requires sponsorship under the U.S. O-1 Visa category (Aliens of Extraordinary Ability in the Arts/Culinary Arts), candidates must be able to substantiate their industry standing. Qualified applicants should be prepared to document evidence satisfying at least three (3) of the following:

• Receipt of significant national or international culinary awards, honors, or competition prizes.
• Published material in major trade publications, culinary journals, or recognized media outlets featuring you and your work.
• Evidence of original culinary contributions, proprietary formulations, or innovations of major significance to the pastry or baking sector.
• History of leadership or essential capacity for distinguished culinary establishments or recognized commercial food brands.
• Record of commanding a high salary or substantial remuneration relative to peers in the field.
• Experience serving as a judge, panelist, or evaluator of the culinary work of peers in competitions or professional bodies.

• Compensation: Top-tier executive salary commensurate with extraordinary ability and international achievement.
• Benefits & Relocation: Full U.S. work visa sponsorship (O-1), direct assistance with Philippine overseas worker exit clearances (DMW/POEA), flight allowance, and initial relocation support to Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.