Culinary, Specialist

Gordon Food Service•Ypsilanti, MI

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

Welcome to Gordon Food Service! We are excited that you are thinking about opportunities with us, and we have an amazing story to share. See below for a quick glance of who we are and the impact you could have on the food service industry. There's a seat at our table for you... Welcome to Gordon Food Service! For over 125 years, we've grown to be the largest family-operated broadline food distributor in North America by being passionately committed to the people we serve. There is a seat at our table for you! We are excited that you are thinking about opportunities with us. Here’s how we can serve you: Position Summary: The Culinary Specialist strategically utilizes knowledge and expertise, in combination with food and beverage industry trends and Gordon Food Service products, services, and resources, to provide profit-maximizing solutions in the areas of culinary application, front and back of the house operations, and overall business planning, to our divisional customers. Develop relationships with and provide value-added services to select current and potential customers.

Requirements

Six years culinary experience or restaurant experience (similar to an executive chef or restaurant manager), with knowledge of front/back of house and culinary.
Must have past experience leading and directing others.
Strong culinary knowledge and skill; safe food handling practices
Valid driver's license and willingness to travel approximately 30%
Ability to develop creative food solutions
Exceptional customer service skills
Ability to communicate in writing and verbally; and skill in presentation creation and delivery
Time management and organizational skills to manage multiple projects
Strong business acumen and understanding of restaurant operations
Proven ability to deliver results and facilitate a collaborative environment

Nice To Haves

Culinary certification (such as Certified Culinary Professional (CCP) or Certified Executive Chef (CEC)) preferred

Responsibilities

Collaborates with Business Solutions Specialist to plan and provide effective customer visits to the Concept Kitchen, demonstrating front and back of house strategies for improved business results.
Leverages Home Office content and insights to be used in the Division and to direct customers, support adoption and leverage of tools (ATR, Customer Success)
Researches local trends to complement emerging culinary trends.
Replicates and localizes research tours to help our customers explore new trends and menu ideas that strengthen their brand in the local market, with an aim to grow Gordon Food Service’s value to these and potential customers.
Provide relevant culinary solutions to complement the initiatives of our Sales and Marketing teams, with an ultimate goal of increasing the overall market share of Gordon Food Service.
Consults with key customers to provide menu analysis and development.
Supports customer menu engineering by developing and testing recipes for customers as requested by Divisional Leadership and customizes existing Gordon Food Service deck recipes to specific customer needs.
Provides culinary insights to divisional Customer Management Teams, and ensures the success of customer events and activities result in business metric improvement for both customer and company.
Ensures consistent and relevant product and culinary insight training for customers and sales teams, in collaboration with other divisional marketing team members.
Participates in the execution of food shows, other related shows and activities in support of strategic divisional events.
Participates in Culinary organizations in order to represent Gordon Food Service and to represent our company brand initiatives relevant to the organization.
Performs other duties as assigned.