Corporate Innovation Chef

Kraft Heinz•Glenview, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

As a Corporate Innovation Chef, you will support Away From Home (AFH) innovation and renovation by building culinary prototypes, partnering with R&D on technical feasibility and functional performance, and enabling the business through strong lab operations, inventory management, and sample execution. In addition, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping and executing the culinary strategy for both the market and key customers for Kraft Heinz’s AFH and Kraft Heinz Ingredients (KHI) business.

Requirements

Possess a degree in Culinary Science, Culinology, or a combined field of Culinary Arts and Food Science. Candidates with a degree in a related field or a relevant professional background will also be considered.
3+ years of product development experience, including sauce, dip, condiment, and soup formulations.
5+ years of commercial or corporate culinary experience, or extensive food service experience with a proven background in various food service channels such as hotels, FSR, QSR management, bar and grills, catering, B&I, or institutional dining.
A passion for learning, solving challenges, and leveraging insights for product innovation.
Strong interest in food trends, flavor profiles, and culinary innovation to inspire new product development and stay ahead of market demands.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to build and maintain effective business relationships.
Adept at working with live customer interactions, providing culinary demonstrations, and engaging in presentations with confidence and professionalism.
Possess a deep understanding of commercial restaurant cooking equipment, cooking techniques, and principles.
Extensive familiarity with food ingredients, including their origin, handling, cooking applications, flavor pairings, and sensory attributes.
Strong knowledge of food manufacturing processes and their influence on product development.
Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), with the ability to create clear reports and presentations.
Must have a valid driver’s license and meet MVR requirements.
Ability to travel up to 30% of the time.

Responsibilities

Create bench prototypes and collaborate with R&D scientists to ensure technical feasibility.
Provide technical expertise and culinary insights to meet regional and channel-specific taste and quality standards for innovation and renovation projects.
Collaborate with product developers to address functional product aspects during development (e.g., stability, viscosity/texture, hold time, reheat performance, sensory targets).
Test product performance in applications and document findings clearly for R&D and commercial teams.
Conduct competitive reviews of product portfolios and summarize key learnings.
Create product formulas leveraging Kraft Heinz AFH and KHI products, aligning with customer manufacturing and back-of-house capabilities.
Translate global and local market food trends into relevant food concepts and recipes to optimize the Kraft Heinz product portfolio.
Partner with cross-functional teams, including Sales, Marketing, and R&D, to prioritize new product offerings and improvements aligned with business objectives.
Lead professional culinary sessions with regional and global customers to showcase new products, demonstrate product versatility, and address customer needs.
Manage and grow culinary business relationships with key accounts in specific channels.
Support industry trade shows and activations.
Provide on-site consultations, engaging in menu concept development, tastings, and culinary training to meet customer objectives.
Contribute innovative concepts supported by market data to R&D and Innovation chefs to align with the company’s NPD/Innovation strategy.
Engage in ingredient sourcing and supplier qualification processes; communicate with vendors to obtain materials urgently when needed.
Manage lab material inventory proactively (ingredients, disposables, smallware’s); maintain tracking, reorder points, and inventory accuracy.
Organize and clean the lab/kitchen in partnership with other R&D team members to ensure readiness and standards.
Ensure compliance with safety and hygiene policies.
Operate the lab and kitchen efficiently, maintaining a focus on safety, operations, and finances.
Prepare and ship samples/products as needed, including time-sensitive customer sample orders.
Maintain lab and sample inventories with R&D and technical services teams.
Conduct professional and engaging presentations with confidence, ensuring seamless execution though advance planning, organization, detailed communications, and appropriate time management.
Works on a variety of projects, including menu concept development, product development, customer work sessions, tasting, product cuttings & testing, culinary product training and other company and customer related projects as needed.