Sr. Manager, Customer Innovation & CulinaryWe are looking for a
Sr. Manager, Customer Innovation & Culinary to be a key partner to the Sales, Marketing, and Product Development teams by providing culinary expertise that helps drive innovation and business growth across retail and foodservice channels. This role is responsible for developing customer-focused culinary solutions, creating new product concepts, conducting product demonstrations, and translating consumer and industry trends into commercially viable food products. The Culinary Chef works directly with customers to identify opportunities, solve product challenges, and support strategic growth initiatives.
Ideally, this individual will be located
in ornear Denver, CO; Boston, MA; Atlanta, GA; Dallas, TX; or Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN.KEY RESPONSIBILITIES - Develop innovative food concepts, applications, and recipes that align with customer needs and market trends.
- Partner closely with the Sales team to support customer meetings, presentations, innovation sessions, and business reviews, serving as the culinary subject matter expert.
- Evaluate and monitor emerging food, flavor, ingredient, and menu trends to identify innovation and growth opportunities.
- Conduct culinary presentations, product demonstrations, and ideation workshops for current and prospective customers.
- Provide application expertise and recommendations to help customers enhance their product portfolios.
- Serve as a culinary ambassador for the company, promoting innovation capabilities and product excellence at strategic customer visits, trade shows, and industry events.
- Translate marketplace insights into new product concepts that deliver customer value.
- Analyze competitive products and emerging food categories to support innovation strategies.
- Support product optimization efforts related to flavor, texture, functionality, cost, and manufacturability.
- Champion efficiency and consistency in product development process, recipe management, and documentation.
QUALIFICATIONS - Professional culinary training from an accredited culinary program required
- Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts, Food Science, Hospitality Management, or related field preferred.
- 5+ years of culinary experience within food manufacturing, ingredient solutions, foodservices, or CPG environments
- Strong culinary techniques and food application expertise
- Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to interact with executive leadership, key customers, and cross-functional teams
- Experience working cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing, and Product Development teams
- Established knowledge of restaurant, foodservice, and retail trends
- Ability to manage multiple customer projects simultaneously
- Ability to travel to and navigate customers and manufacturing facilities within North America up to 70%
- Ability to work in typical kitchens and food manufacturing facilities, and the ability to lift up to 50 pounds and stand/walk for greater than 4 hours
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