Join the largest delivery-first restaurant group in the United States!
Who we are:
At Salted, we're leading the charge to build the next generation of the restaurant industry. We focus on making better-for-you cuisine accessible while offering clean-label, plant-driven, and most importantly – delicious food. Join us in shaping the future of the restaurant industry and be part of our innovative culinary journey!
The Role:
This role owns how new products and ingredients get sourced and brought to market at Salted. You'll partner with our brands and culinary teams to take an idea and turn it into a supplied, spec'd, priced, food-safe item running in our kitchens.
You'll find and qualify co-manufacturers and specialty suppliers, manage sample and cutting cycles, build the cost models that tell us whether an idea is viable, and run the qualification work that keeps us compliant and protected. Where our existing suppliers can't deliver what our brands want, you go find who can.
You'll also negotiate the commercial terms behind every new item and own the demand plan that makes those terms achievable. Getting a good price depends on committing to volume with confidence, so forecasting new and transitioning items accurately is central to this role, not an afterthought.
This role suits someone who has commercialized food products before and knows the co-manufacturing and ingredient landscape well enough to make calls quickly. You'll report to our VP of Finance, who continues to own our largest supplier relationships and overall supply chain strategy, so your focus stays on what's new and what's next.
Your Impact:
- Source new ingredients and new formats of existing ingredients that improve quality, cost, or kitchen labor
- Identify, vet, and onboard co-manufacturers and specialty producers for finished and semi-finished products
- Run product briefs from concept to first production run, including spec development, sample rounds, cuttings with the culinary team, pilot runs, and launch handoff
- Build landed cost and yield models, and lead make vs. buy analysis so leadership can decide with real numbers
- Run RFIs and RFPs, compare quotes, and negotiate pricing, MOQs, lead times, and commercial terms with new suppliers and co-manufacturers
- Own the demand plan for new and transitioning items, forecasting volume across our kitchens to size production runs, set inventory levels, and support the volume commitments that earn better pricing
- Own supplier and co-manufacturer qualification, including food safety certifications, HACCP plans, allergen controls, continuing guarantees, insurance, specs, and nutritional and labeling data
- Partner with distribution on new item setup, stocking levels, and backup supply plans
- Maintain the specs, documentation, and supplier records behind every new item
- 5-10 years in sourcing, procurement, or product commercialization in food manufacturing, restaurant, or CPG
- Direct experience finding, qualifying, and managing co-manufacturers, with a track record taking food products from concept to production
- Demonstrated negotiation experience covering pricing, terms, and volume commitments
- Cross functional leadership experience
- Working knowledge of food safety and regulatory fundamentals, including GFSI schemes (SQF, BRC), allergen controls, and FDA labeling
- Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills for cost, yield, and quote comparison models
- Highly organized and detail-oriented, comfortable with evolving priorities, and able to explain technical topics to non-technical partners
Salary: $140,000 - $160,000
Benefits:
- Unlimited PTO
- Medical, Dental, & Vision Insurance
- 401k with up to a 4% employer match after one year
- Remote Work
- Paid Parental Leave
Responsibilities and tasks outlined in this document are not exhaustive and may change as determined by the needs of the company.
Salted is an equal-opportunity employer committed to building an inclusive team. If you require accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact [email protected].
Skills Required
- 5-10 years of experience in sourcing, procurement, or product commercialization within food manufacturing, restaurants, or CPG
- Direct experience finding, qualifying, and managing co-manufacturers
- Track record taking food products from concept to production
- Demonstrated negotiation experience covering pricing, terms, and volume commitments
- Cross-functional leadership experience
- Working knowledge of food safety and regulatory fundamentals, including GFSI schemes such as SQF and BRC, allergen controls, and FDA labeling
- Strong Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets skills for cost, yield, and quote comparison models
- Highly organized and detail-oriented, comfortable with evolving priorities, and able to explain technical topics to non-technical partners
What We Do
Salted is a platform for scaling better-for-you, digital-first restaurant brands, without the overhead of actual restaurants. It operates as a builder of digital-first restaurants and offers an online cooking tutorial platform.
