Food Program & Innovation Director

Sodexo•Atlanta, GA

15d

About The Position

The Food Program & Innovation Director shapes the future of food and workplace experience for one of Sodexo’s most strategic global clients. This role sits at the intersection of program design, innovation, storytelling, food concept development, graphic design, and user engagement — ensuring great ideas are clearly designed, well understood, and adopted at scale. You’ll play a key role in shaping how thousands of people experience food every day. That means exploring emerging trends, translating insights into scalable programs, and partnering closely with chefs, operators, and client teams to bring bold ideas to life. You’ll look at the full ecosystem — cafés, micro‑kitchens, specialty concepts, and guest experience touchpoints — and identify opportunities to elevate, streamline, and innovate. As part of our team, you’ll champion new ideas, elevate the guest experience, and introduce fresh thinking that reimagines how people connect with food at work. Your work will influence everything from menu strategies to service models to the way our culinary identity shows up across the client’s operations. You’ll also bring strong visual communication skills — designing compelling food concepts, creating clear and engaging graphics, and developing toolkits that help teams understand and execute the vision. This is a strategic, creative leadership role — not an operational one. You’ll bring design thinking, visual storytelling, food concept design, graphic design capability, and program clarity to a complex, multi‑region environment.

Requirements

Expertise in food concept design with the ability to translate culinary ideas into clear, compelling concepts that can be piloted and scaled
Strong graphic design skills and comfort creating visual assets, toolkits, and presentations that communicate program intent with clarity and creativity
A strategic, design‑thinking mindset with the ability to simplify complexity and turn insights into actionable, scalable programs
Experience collaborating with chefs, operators, and cross‑functional teams to bring new ideas to life
Exceptional visual storytelling skills that help teams understand, adopt, and champion new programs
Strong communication and presentation abilities, especially when engaging client stakeholders and senior leaders
A passion for innovation and a curiosity for emerging food, hospitality, sustainability and workplace experience trends
Ability to work in a fast‑paced, multi‑region environment, balancing creativity with structure and clarity
Minimum Education Requirement - Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience
Minimum Management Experience - 5 years
Minimum Functional Experience - 3 years of experience in program management or a related field

Responsibilities

Develop new food concepts, service models, and guest experience programs
Create clear, visually compelling materials, graphics, and toolkits that communicate program intent
Partner with chefs, operators, and client teams to bring concepts from idea to launch
Present program ideas and updates to client stakeholders with clarity and confidence
Collaborate across culinary, operations, and experience teams to ensure alignment
Map guest journeys and identify opportunities to elevate the workplace dining experience
Simplify complex ideas into clear, actionable frameworks for multi‑region adoption
Lead global program design and evolution aligned to client priorities
Shape sustainability initiatives into clear, experience‑led programs