director, Culinary Innovation

Starbucks • Seattle, WA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Culinary Innovation contributes to Starbucks success by leading the creation and advancement of innovative food products from concept through early-stage commercialization. This role owns the end-to-end product design process while setting a compelling long-term vision grounded in Starbucks business priorities. The job requires a leader that can seamlessly blend culinary art and food science with strong business acumen, human centered design and operational rigor. As a trusted partner across the enterprise and with external suppliers, the director drives innovation that is desirable to customers, feasible to execute and commercially successful at scale.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Nutrition, Culinary Arts, or related discipline
• 15+ years of leadership experience in culinary innovation, product development, or R&D within a multiunit, global food or beverage organization
• 5+ years of experience in a food manufacturing facility
• Extensive knowledge of food technology, ingredient functionality, processing, manufacturing, food safety, and quality assurance.
• Deep culinary expertise with strong sensory and flavor development capabilities.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to lead in uncertainty, prioritize effectively, and make sound trade‑off decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders, lead cross‑functional teams, and collaborate internally and externally.
• Proficient in human‑centered design principles and consumer‑led innovation approaches.

Responsibilities

• Champion culinary excellence by translating trends, inspiration, and sensory intent into scalable product concepts.
• Oversee the product development process in the design phase and supports R&D (research & development) through development and commercialization, prioritizing and allocating work to meet business & brand goals.
• Build inclusive and high‑performing teams that maximize individual strengths and foster innovation.
• Sets goals for a work group consisting of culinary leaders, product developers, and other support functions.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders, lead cross functional teams and successfully collaborate internally and externally.
• Inspire and coach partners to deliver their best work while building meaningful, long-term careers.
• Build inclusive and high‑performing teams that maximize individual strengths and foster innovation.
• Champion change and actively guide teams through ambiguity with clarity and confidence.
• Create accessible and equitable forums for collaboration, shared ownership, and multiple perspectives.
• Set an inspiring tone by modeling Starbucks mission, values, and expectations for how results are achieved.
• Partner closely with R&D, quality, packaging, regulatory, and operations to ensure products meet safety, regulatory, and manufacturing requirements.
• Partner with insights, sensory, marketing, and brand teams to design and interpret qualitative and quantitative consumer testing.
• Partner with cross functional teams to ensure readiness for pilots, regional tests, and early launches.
• Balance creativity and rigor - pairing chef led intuition with data, science, and disciplined decision‑making.
• Set standards for culinary quality, flavor architecture, and overall product experience.
• Build and maintain trusted partnerships with strategic suppliers and external development partners.
• Co-create products with suppliers to unlock new ingredients, technologies, and processes while upholding Starbucks standards.
• Design supplier innovation pipelines to support both near-term launches and long‑term platform strategies.
• Lead hands-on benchtop development, including formulation, prototyping, ingredient selection, and process exploration.
• Guide iterative development through sensory evaluation, reformulation, and performance testing to unlock optimal outcomes.
• Translate consumer feedback and business insights into actionable culinary and technical refinements.
• Balance consumer desirability with cost, complexity, and operational feasibility.
• Oversee the product development process in the design phase and supports R&D through development and commercialization, prioritizing and allocating work to meet business & brand goals.
• Identify risks early and drive mitigation plans to support successful scale‑up.

Benefits

• medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, and other voluntary insurance benefits
• short-term and long-term disability
• paid parental leave
• family expansion reimbursement
• paid vacation from date of hire
• sick time (accrued at 1 hour for every 25 hours worked)
• eight paid holidays
• two personal days per year
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match
• discounted company stock program (S.I.P.)
• Starbucks equity program (Bean Stock)
• incentivized emergency savings
• financial well-being tools
• 100% upfront tuition coverage for a first-time bachelor’s degree through Arizona State University’s online program via the Starbucks College Achievement Plan
• student loan management resources
• access to other educational opportunities
• backup care
• DACA reimbursement

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director