Ingredient Application Specialist-Contractor(Part-Time)

About Maia Farms

Maia is the expert mushroom integrator for food manufacturing. We specialize in mushroom based ingredients that are scalable, reliable, and versatile. Our products improve nutrition while preserving the taste, texture, and clean-label integrity that modern consumers demand. Our ingredients are manufactured with an unwavering commitment to meeting the rigorous global quality, safety, and compliance standards required for modern food manufacturing.

Maia Farms began with a challenge to feed astronauts in deep space and has become one of Canada's leading food-tech companies. Headquartered in Vancouver, the company is rapidly expanding. We’re building toward a future where innovation never stops. Our mission is to Nourish Life. Our values: Food First, Planet Forward, and Agile Evolution.

Our core business is to seamlessly embed mushroom-based ingredients into everyday foods. We focus on delivering functional performance, measurable nutritional benefits, and dependable execution for our industry partners. The company is positioned at the intersection of food science, extrusion, and fermentation. This synergistic approach allows us to translate innovation into tangible, high-impact products that truly matter to the food industry and to consumers worldwide.

The Opportunity

We are looking for an Ingredient Application Specialist to bring Maia’s products to life in the test kitchen, and turn validated technical functionality into delicious, memorable culinary experiences.

This is a hands-on, cooking-first role. Moving away from fundamental R&D, you will spend most of your time at the stove and bench: preparing, plating, and presenting client-facing demos built on standardized recipes and formulations. You’ll run a well-organized preparation process, present dishes with consistency and precision, and show customers exactly how Maia’s ingredients look, taste, and perform in finished food.

You will partner closely with the sales team and the food science team to demonstrate the functional and sensory value of Maia’s commercially available ingredients, connecting Maia’s ingredients to what’s possible on a customer’s production line.

Key Responsibilities

• Test Kitchen Demo Preparation: Cook, prepare, and plate demo dishes and product samples in the test kitchen using pre-established, standardized recipes. Execute every recipe with chef-level precision so demos are consistent, repeatable, and ready for client presentation.
• Tasting Events & Product Showcases: Plan, prepare, and host interactive client tastings and culinary showcases, both in the Maia kitchen and at client venues. Own the full flow from cooking, plating, and presentation.
• Test Kitchen Workflow: Maintain a clean and organized workspace. Follow facility operating procedures for ingredient and sample inventory, equipment operation, food safety and sanitation standards, and coordinate schedules to support a steady flow of demo requests.
• Side-by-Side Culinary Benchmarking: Prepare food prototypes against customer standards or competitor formulations using established recipes. Let the food tell the story, making texture improvements, yield enhancements, cost-in-use benefits, and clean-label advantages tangible on the plate.
• Sales Enablement: Work with Commercial teams to quickly turn around demo dishes, sample kits, and tasting presentations tailored to specific sales opportunities.
• Documentation: Keep meticulous records of recipe execution, prep and cooking steps, and customer feedback.

Qualifications

• Education: Culinary Arts degree or professional chef credentials, or a technical degree in Culinary Science, Food Science, or Food Technology paired with hands-on cooking skills.
• Experience: Minimum 2 years of professional cooking experience in a test kitchen, culinary development kitchen, restaurant, or food application lab.
• Culinary Execution: Strong time management skills, cooking techniques, equipment operations, plating sense, with a proven ability to follow standardized recipes exactly and reproduce results consistently.
• Demo & Presentation Skills: Comfortable cooking and presenting in front of clients, able to engage both technical and business audiences while running a smooth tasting.
• Kitchen Operation: Solid command of prep planning, food safety, and sanitation practices in a professional kitchen.
• Communication: Excellent verbal and written skills, with the ability to explain ingredient benefits in simple, compelling commercial terms.
• Soft Skills: Highly organized, customer-focused, collaborative, and calm under fast-paced sample and event timelines.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in a corporate test kitchen, culinary innovation center, or ingredient supplier demo kitchen.
• Experience working with meat products is preferred.
• A track record of hosting client-facing tastings, cooking demonstrations, or product showcases.
• Working understanding of commercial food manufacturing.
• Food safety certification (e.g., Food Handler, ServSafe, or equivalent).

Position Details & Compensation

• Type: Part-time Contractor
• Location: Vancouver, BC (On-site / Test Kitchen)
• Compensation: Competitive contract rate, negotiated based on experience.

Equal Opportunity 

Maia Farms is committed to building a respectful, inclusive workplace where diverse backgrounds and experiences are welcomed and valued. We hire based on capability, integrity, and alignment with our values, and we encourage qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply.