Food Technical Manager

OB DESCRIPTION SENIOR FOOD TECHNOLOGIST

Company: Nesma Family Foods Pvt. Ltd.
Brands: DOSA DOSA / IDLIA®
Department: R&D / Quality Assurance & Quality Control / Production
Position: Senior Food Technologist
Employment Type: Full-Time
Reporting To: Management / Head – Operations

Job Summary

Nesma Family Foods Pvt. Ltd. is seeking an experienced Senior Food Technologist to manage product development, process standardization, quality assurance, food safety, and continuous improvement across manufacturing and outlet operations.

The role will focus on South Indian food products, idli and dosa batters, Ready-to-Eat (RTE) products, millet-based products, fermented foods, chutneys, sambar, gravies, and other menu products.

The candidate will be responsible for ensuring consistent product quality from raw-material procurement and central production through dispatch and final service at outlets.

Key Responsibilities

Product Development & R&D

• Develop and improve new products for DOSA DOSA and IDLIA®.
• Develop and standardize idli/dosa batters, millet batters, RTE idlis, fermented products, chutneys, sambar, gravies, rice products, and other menu items.
• Conduct laboratory, kitchen, pilot, and commercial-scale trials.
• Standardize formulations, recipes, ingredient ratios, fermentation conditions, cooking parameters, portion sizes, and yields.
• Lead scale-up from trial batches to commercial production.
• Evaluate new ingredients, functional ingredients, processing methods, and packaging solutions.
• Conduct sensory evaluation for taste, aroma, texture, appearance, and overall acceptability.
• Carry out product improvement and reformulation based on customer feedback, operational requirements, and market trends.

Fermentation & Batter Standardization

• Monitor and standardize soaking, grinding, fermentation, storage, and handling parameters for idli and dosa batters.
• Establish specifications for pH, acidity, viscosity, fermentation time, temperature, batter consistency, and sensory quality.
• Investigate variations in fermentation and implement corrective actions.
• Ensure consistency of batter performance across different production batches and outlets.
• Develop standardized procedures for millet-based and specialty batters.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

• Establish quality specifications for raw materials, packaging materials, work-in-progress, and finished products.
• Monitor incoming raw-material quality and finished-product compliance.
• Develop sampling and testing procedures for routine QA/QC.
• Coordinate physicochemical and microbiological testing through internal or external laboratories as applicable.
• Monitor hygiene, sanitation, temperature control, storage conditions, and food-handling practices.
• Investigate product deviations, quality failures, and customer complaints.
• Perform root-cause analysis and implement Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA).
• Maintain records of deviations, corrective actions, product holds, and quality incidents.

Central Kitchen & Production Support

• Work closely with the production team to ensure adherence to standardized recipes and processes.
• Monitor critical processing stages including raw-material preparation, soaking, grinding, fermentation, cooking, cooling, packing, storage, and dispatch.
• Establish and monitor critical process parameters and quality checkpoints.
• Troubleshoot production problems affecting product quality, consistency, yield, or shelf stability.
• Improve production efficiency and minimize wastage and batch rejection.
• Conduct production trials for process improvement and cost optimization.
• Ensure proper implementation of SOPs by production personnel.

Outlet Quality Management

• Conduct periodic quality and food-safety audits at DOSA DOSA / IDLIA® outlets.
• Ensure products supplied from the central kitchen are stored, handled, prepared, and served according to defined standards.
• Monitor product consistency across outlets.
• Check storage temperatures, FIFO/FEFO practices, hygiene, sanitation, and food-handling procedures.
• Investigate outlet-level customer complaints and product-quality issues.
• Coordinate with outlet teams for corrective actions and follow-up.
• Train outlet staff on product handling, storage, preparation, and food-safety requirements.

Shelf-Life & Product Validation

• Plan and conduct shelf-life and storage-stability studies for batters, RTE products, chutneys, sauces, and other products.
• Establish appropriate storage conditions and product-use timelines based on validation data.
• Coordinate microbiological, physicochemical, and sensory testing during shelf-life studies.
• Evaluate suitable packaging systems to improve product stability and quality.
• Maintain shelf-life validation reports and supporting technical documentation.

Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure compliance with applicable FSSAI requirements and food-safety regulations.
• Implement and monitor GMP, GHP, HACCP and FSMS requirements.
• Prepare and update SOPs, sanitation procedures, hygiene standards, and quality-control procedures.
• Review product labels for ingredient declarations, allergen information, nutritional information, storage instructions, and applicable claims.
• Maintain documentation required for regulatory and food-safety audits.
• Coordinate with external laboratories, consultants, certification bodies, and regulatory authorities when required.
• Support internal, supplier, customer, and third-party audits.

Vendor & Raw-Material Management

• Evaluate and approve new raw materials, ingredients, packaging materials, and suppliers from a technical perspective.
• Establish raw-material specifications and acceptance criteria.
• Conduct supplier evaluations and coordinate corrective actions for recurring quality issues.
• Review COAs, technical specifications, food-safety documents, and regulatory declarations.
• Work with Procurement to identify alternative ingredients and vendors without compromising product quality.

Documentation

Prepare and maintain:

• Product specifications
• Raw-material specifications
• Standard recipes
• Bills of Materials (BOM)
• Process flow charts
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Work instructions
• Batch manufacturing records
• R&D trial reports
• Shelf-life study reports
• QA/QC checklists
• CAPA reports
• Product complaint records
• Vendor evaluation records
• Audit reports
• Product and process validation documents

Cost & Process Optimization

• Identify opportunities to reduce raw-material and production costs while maintaining product quality.
• Improve product yield and reduce production losses.
• Evaluate alternative ingredients and processing methods.
• Monitor food wastage and recommend corrective measures.
• Participate in value-engineering and product-improvement projects.

Training & Team Management

• Guide junior food technologists and QA/QC personnel.
• Train production and outlet staff on GMP, GHP, food safety, product handling, SOPs, and quality standards.
• Develop training material and conduct periodic refresher training.
• Promote a strong food-safety and quality culture across production and outlet operations.

Qualification & Experience

Education:
B.Tech./B.Sc./M.Tech./M.Sc. in Food Technology, Food Science, Food Engineering, Dairy Technology, Biotechnology, or a related discipline.

Experience:
Minimum 5–8 years of relevant experience in food manufacturing, R&D, QA/QC, central-kitchen operations, QSR, RTE/RTC foods, or related food-processing industries.

Experience with fermented foods, idli/dosa batter, millet products, RTE products, South Indian foods, and multi-outlet food operations will be preferred.

Technical Skills Required

• Food Product Development
• Idli/Dosa Batter & Fermentation Technology
• Millet and cereal-based product development
• RTE/RTC product development
• Recipe and process standardization
• Sensory evaluation
• Shelf-life validation
• Food microbiology
• Physicochemical testing
• QA/QC systems
• HACCP, GMP, GHP & FSMS
• FSSAI regulations
• Food labelling
• CAPA and root-cause analysis
• Vendor development
• SOP and specification preparation
• Central-kitchen quality management
• Cost optimization and waste reduction

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Performance will be evaluated based on:

• Successful development and commercialization of new products
• Consistency of product quality across batches and outlets
• Reduction in customer complaints and product rejections
• Reduction in production wastage and process deviations
• Compliance with FSSAI and food-safety requirements
• Completion of product and process standardization
• Successful shelf-life validation
• Improvement in product yield and cost efficiency
• Timely closure of CAPA and audit observations
• Vendor and raw-material quality performance
• Training effectiveness
• Maintenance of accurate technical and QA/QC documentationRole & responsibilities

Preferred candidate profile

Perks and benefits