Head of Culinary- Away From Home

Job Description

We are looking for a seasoned expert to lead and elevate the culinary practice to a world-renowned, world-class level within the Away From Home (AFH) channel.  This senior, executive level leader will lead our culinary team of 10+ in crafting culinary-inspired innovation, identifying new intellectual properties and service offerings, monitoring and reporting on the latest trends, and driving new business through close interaction with our versatile marketing, sales and customer marketing teams.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities

• Provide vision and leadership for culinary practice, including mentoring and developing the culinary practice team members and creating a culinary culture within KHC, ensuring Kraft Heinz culinary efforts deliver on “food company” vision and designing for consumers

• Actively and thoughtfully lead a team of dedicated culinarians, providing meaningful learning & development guidance and mentorship.

• Work with the KHC Culinary, R&D teams and outside sources, oversee valuable thought leadership, culinary-inspired new product ideas, and prototyping on food and beverage projects as initiated through stage gate.

• Increase sell-in success through active involvement in customer meetings and sales opportunities.

• Guide and direct the activities of the Culinary Development Team. This includes collaborating and co-leading projects with Innovation and internal teams on a range of projects including culinary prototyping, menu design and development, and near- and long-term product development.

• Present to and interact with internal teams, representing KHC Culinary’s unique suite of services, ranging from early-stage ideation through commercialization, refinement and/or execution.

• Lead product/concept testing process at KHC by using the culinary team’s strengths in formulation, rapid distillation, and presentation during market and consumer research processes.

• Participate in business development activities such as the creation of capabilities presentations for internal clients and scoping exercises designed to optimize KHC’s contribution to the development of its customers’ businesses.

• Partner to KHCs industry outreach at shows, conventions, symposia, and in the media, exemplifying KHC’s position as an industry leader in culinary landscape.

• Provide experience-based guidance during the development and continued elevation of KHC’s Culinary practice offerings.

• Engage appropriately with customers to help establish and reinforce KHC’s culinary authority while maintaining departmental profitability within KHC’s overall practice.

• Serve as a member of the AFH Leadership Team, demonstrated executive leadership presence.

• Interact with executive leadership team in reporting culinary development activities, balancing strategic and tactical elements of the practice, and tracking departmental KPIs.

• Responsible for building a high-impact and effective team, developing, and maintaining strong client relationships, creating product and innovation offerings, and driving superlative execution across the company.

Expected Experience & Required Skills

• 15+ years of experience, including a culinary leadership role at a CPG and/or foodservice organization, or a role at a CPG food development or innovation firm

• Holds a professional culinary degree, and/or food science degree

• Bachelor’s degree preferred

• Possesses national-level foodservice expertise and credibility

• Displays an insatiable passion for food and CPG industries

• Dynamic and persuasive presentation skills; demonstrated writing, public speaking, and PR experience

• Inspiring and transformational leader who others want to follow

• Can execute on their vision and organize work for self and others

• Exhibits strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills that are supported by finely tuned written and verbal communications

• Can operate equally independently and collaboratively to accomplish work plan

• Leads with a client service orientation, driving engagements with a problem-solving mentality.

• Understanding of culinary financials, budgets & company P&L’s

• Can serve as a culinary and cross-departmental skill player:

  • Proven ability to contribute to project deliverables (including briefs, concepts, marketing plans, trend presentations).

  • Ability to contribute to kitchen engagements, including participating on teams of chefs for FOH (demonstrations, cuttings) and BOH (ideation, protocepting) experiences.

  • Accomplishes project goals outsi