Careers

Help Us Build Cookware Worth Keeping

ChefStead was founded by cookware professionals who believe that the industry can do better.

Too many products are designed around the lowest possible cost, the fastest possible sale, and the shortest path to profit. We are taking a different approach.

We are building cookware around three lasting principles:

Health. Performance. Durability.

Our goal is not simply to sell another pan. We want to create a more thoughtful way of cooking—one built on dependable materials, honest engineering, and products designed to serve families for years.

That mission requires more than a compelling idea. It requires experienced engineers, talented designers, and customer advocates who care deeply about the work they do.

We are currently building our core team and looking for people who want to help create products they can be proud of.

Current Openings

We are currently hiring for the following positions:

Position Openings
Senior Quality & Inspection Engineer 5
Senior 3D Product Modeling Designer 2
Customer Support Specialist 2

Senior Quality & Inspection Engineer

Openings: 5

The Role

Quality is not a final inspection at ChefStead. It begins with the material specification, continues through engineering and production, and remains our responsibility after the product reaches the customer.

We are looking for five highly experienced Quality & Inspection Engineers who understand cookware manufacturing and know how to identify problems before they become customer problems.

This role requires practical factory experience, sound engineering judgment, and the confidence to protect product quality even when doing so affects cost or production schedules.

Key Responsibilities

  • Develop and maintain product quality standards and inspection specifications

  • Review drawings, material specifications, samples, and production requirements

  • Establish incoming, in-process, and final inspection procedures

  • Evaluate titanium, stainless steel, bonded materials, handles, lids, rivets, welds, and surface finishes

  • Inspect tooling, prototypes, pilot runs, and mass-production units

  • Identify material, structural, dimensional, cosmetic, and performance defects

  • Analyze root causes and lead corrective and preventive actions

  • Monitor supplier process controls and manufacturing consistency

  • Review test reports, certificates, and quality records

  • Conduct or support factory and supplier quality assessments

  • Evaluate heat distribution, deformation, handle stability, surface consistency, and long-term durability

  • Work directly with engineering, design, production, and supplier teams

  • Prevent unauthorized material or process substitutions

  • Stop or escalate production when a material safety or significant quality risk is identified

  • Use warranty claims and customer feedback to improve future production

Required Qualifications

  • At least 8 years of relevant quality, inspection, engineering, or manufacturing experience

  • Strong experience with cookware, kitchenware, metal products, household appliances, or related consumer products

  • Practical understanding of stainless steel, titanium, metal forming, bonding, welding, polishing, and surface treatment

  • Experience developing inspection standards and quality-control plans

  • Ability to read technical drawings and evaluate dimensional tolerances

  • Experience with root-cause analysis, corrective action, and supplier quality management

  • Strong attention to detail and accurate documentation

  • Ability to communicate clearly with factories, engineers, and management

  • Willingness to make quality decisions based on evidence rather than production pressure

Preferred Qualifications

  • Direct experience in cookware design or manufacturing

  • Familiarity with U.S. food-contact and consumer product requirements

  • Experience with AQL inspection, FMEA, 8D, CAPA, SPC, or related quality systems

  • Experience working with third-party testing or certification laboratories

  • Knowledge of product reliability and lifecycle testing

  • Experience supporting new product introduction and mass-production launch

Senior 3D Product Modeling Designer

Openings: 2

The Role

A ChefStead product must perform beautifully and look as considered as it feels.

We are looking for two Senior 3D Product Modeling Designers who can translate engineering ideas into refined, manufacturable products. This is not only a rendering position. The right candidates must understand form, proportion, materials, construction, and the realities of production.

You will work closely with our engineering and manufacturing teams to develop cookware that feels distinctive, balanced, timeless, and unmistakably ChefStead.

Key Responsibilities

  • Create accurate 3D models for cookware, handles, lids, accessories, and packaging components

  • Transform concepts and sketches into production-ready digital models

  • Refine product proportions, transitions, surfaces, details, and visual balance

  • Develop Class-A or high-quality production surfaces where appropriate

  • Produce renderings and visualizations for internal review and marketing use

  • Collaborate with engineers on wall thickness, assembly, tolerances, ergonomics, and manufacturability

  • Support prototype development, tooling review, and design revisions

  • Prepare files and documentation for suppliers and toolmakers

  • Evaluate samples and recommend improvements based on physical prototypes

  • Maintain design consistency across future ChefStead products

  • Balance visual simplicity with engineering and manufacturing requirements

Required Qualifications

  • Senior-level experience in industrial design, product modeling, or mechanical surface development

  • A strong portfolio demonstrating high-quality consumer product modeling

  • Advanced proficiency in relevant 3D modeling and rendering software

  • Strong understanding of surface quality, proportion, materials, and manufacturing

  • Ability to develop models that are both visually refined and production-ready

  • Experience collaborating with engineers, factories, and tooling teams

  • Strong attention to small details and dimensional accuracy

  • Ability to receive feedback and improve designs through multiple iterations

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience designing cookware, kitchen appliances, home products, or premium consumer goods

  • Knowledge of metal stamping, forming, casting, machining, welding, polishing, and surface finishing

  • Experience with stainless steel and titanium products

  • Understanding of ergonomics and handle design

  • Experience preparing photorealistic product renderings

  • Familiarity with premium brands and minimalist industrial design

Please include a portfolio with your application. Applications without relevant work samples may not be reviewed.

Customer Support Specialist

Openings: 2

The Role

At ChefStead, customer support is not a department that simply closes tickets. It is one of the most important ways we learn, improve, and earn trust.

We are looking for two thoughtful Customer Support Specialists who can communicate with patience, take ownership of problems, and help customers use our cookware successfully.

The ideal candidate understands that a good response is not only accurate—it should make the customer feel heard and cared for.

Key Responsibilities

  • Respond to customer questions by email, chat, and other approved support channels

  • Assist with product selection, ordering, shipping, returns, and warranty claims

  • Explain cookware use, heat control, cleaning, maintenance, and food-release techniques

  • Help customers understand that ChefStead cookware reduces sticking but is not completely nonstick

  • Review photographs, videos, and order information related to product concerns

  • Coordinate replacements, refunds, returns, and warranty support

  • Maintain accurate customer service records

  • Identify recurring questions and report product feedback to engineering and management

  • Help improve FAQs, care instructions, recipes, and support materials

  • Communicate honestly without making unsupported product or health claims

  • Protect customer privacy and confidential information

  • Follow each issue through to a clear and appropriate resolution

Required Qualifications

  • Excellent written communication skills

  • Patient, respectful, and solution-oriented approach

  • Strong attention to detail

  • Ability to explain product information in clear, simple language

  • Reliable follow-through and personal accountability

  • Ability to organize multiple customer cases without losing context

  • Comfort learning technical product information

  • Good judgment when handling refunds, replacements, and warranty requests

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience supporting U.S. ecommerce customers

  • Experience with cookware, kitchen appliances, or consumer products

  • Familiarity with Shopify or a comparable ecommerce platform

  • Familiarity with customer support or ticket-management software

  • Experience supporting Amazon or direct-to-consumer customers

  • Strong written English; additional languages are welcome

Who Thrives at ChefStead

ChefStead may be a good fit for you if:

  • You care about the details customers may never see

  • You believe quality should not be sacrificed for short-term convenience

  • You are willing to raise concerns when something is not right

  • You prefer evidence and thoughtful judgment over assumptions

  • You take ownership rather than waiting for someone else to solve the problem

  • You respect both engineering discipline and customer experience

  • You want your work to have value beyond a sales number

  • You are excited by the challenge of building a long-term brand from the beginning

We are not looking only for impressive résumés. We are looking for people whose judgment, standards, and sense of responsibility match the kind of company we are trying to build.

How to Apply

Please send your application to:

Email: [support@chefstead.com]
Subject: Application – [Position Title] – [Your Name]

Please include:

  • Your résumé

  • A brief introduction

  • The position you are applying for

  • Your current location

  • Relevant experience and technical strengths

  • Your availability

  • Portfolio or work samples, where applicable

  • Professional references, if available

Please do not include sensitive personal information such as government identification numbers, banking details, medical information, or account passwords in your initial application.

Our Hiring Process

Depending on the position, the hiring process may include:

  1. Application review

  2. Introductory interview

  3. Technical or portfolio review

  4. Practical skills discussion or job-related assessment

  5. Final interview

  6. Reference or background checks where appropriate and permitted by law

  7. Written employment or contractor offer

The process may vary based on the role and location.

Equal Opportunity

ChefStead is committed to a respectful and professional working environment.

We consider qualified applicants without unlawful discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other status protected by applicable law.

Reasonable accommodations are available to qualified applicants with disabilities during the application and interview process. To request an accommodation, contact [Careers or HR Email].

Recruitment Fraud Notice

ChefStead will not ask applicants to:

  • Pay an application or interview fee

  • Purchase equipment from a designated individual

  • Send money or cryptocurrency

  • Provide a banking password

  • Share a one-time verification code

  • Communicate only through an unverified personal messaging account

  • Accept employment without a reasonable interview and verification process

Official recruitment communications will come from an authorized ChefStead email address.

If you receive a suspicious recruitment message claiming to represent ChefStead, please contact [Careers or Compliance Email] before responding.

Build Something That Lasts

Fifteen years in the cookware industry taught us how easy it is to make a cheaper product.

ChefStead exists because we believe experience should be used for something more meaningful: creating cookware that is healthier in concept, stronger in construction, more honest in its promises, and worthy of a permanent place in the kitchen.

If that is the kind of work you want to do, we would like to hear from you.