International Culinary Manager

Church's Chicken•Atlanta, GA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The International Culinary Manager is responsible for overseeing all day-to-day test kitchen operations for the Church’s Texas Chicken / Texas Chicken International research and development team. The International Culinary Manager plays a pivotal role partnering with cross-functional teams in marketing, quality assurance, operations, and supply chain to support new product development, testing and commercialization of menu items, and evaluating operational procedures. This role combines culinary acumen with disciplined project management to ensure that new product and menu innovation aligns with operational feasibility, profitability targets, and brand culinary identity across global markets. This individuals work will be based in the restaurant support center test kitchen with focus on the development of new products, evaluating existing products, and making menu and new product recommendations for consumer testing and menu launch. The International Culinary Manager will assist in organizing Central Location Tests, product showings, ideation sessions, and other culinary activities, and will travel as required for the role.

Requirements

Strong formal culinary knowledge.
Ability to manage kitchen operations individually and as part of a team.
Recipe and new product development experience.
Ability to provide feedback to suppliers and ingredient vendors.
Familiar with stage gate process of new product development from ideation to launch.
Ability to influence, collaborate and guide cross-functional team members and franchisees through NPD process.
Culinary degree (BA) or related field
Technical menu and new product development skills
Minimum 3 years back of the house / culinary restaurant experience.
Leadership as sous-chef or above preferred
Minimum of 3 years of menu and new product development experience with a restaurant company or ingredient supplier to QSR/FSR industry
Demonstrated experience managing stage gate new product and menu approval process
Strong knowledge of new culinary and flavor trends with ability to synthesize diverse sources of new culinary ideas into interesting and imaginative new product concepts and menu items
Demonstrated ability for technical problem solving and understanding of food systems and ingredient functionality
Understands requirements for nutritional data and knowledge of international health, food safety and other regulatory requirements (Halal, GMO free, etc.)
Understanding of cultural nuances –knowledge of what ingredients have specific meaning in various countries that may impact formulas and recipes
Project management and organization skills critical
Strong vendor management skills
Strong computer and Microsoft skills - Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills with internal, external stakeholders
Strong verbal, written communication and presentations skills
Quality assurance processes at vendor level and store operations level including food safety, HACCP, SOP’s, GMP’s
Must be able to travel 10-20% internationally, including but not limited to the Asia, Middle East, Latin America, and Canada/U.S.

Responsibilities

Brand-Led Menu Development Pipeline of Bold Texas Flavor
Collaborate with internal teams to develop, plan, test, and launch innovative and brand centric new menus and LTO’s
New product ideation – develop and perform multiple ideation sessions each year to generate new product concepts with suppliers, franchisees and field and restaurant support center stakeholders
Deliver new menu item presentations and tasting sessions for new product ideas from concept through launch phases
Work with marketing managers to plan and launch yearly marketing calendars
Organize and execute product concept tests and field based central location tests to receive consumer input and feedback for new product development
Conduct in person global tasting sessions for new product ideation and development with franchisee teams and local team members.
Conduct in person global product development and innovation sessions on new flavors, ingredients or products with vendors and ingredient suppliers.
Coordinate regular reviews and/or showings of new product pipeline with key stakeholders
Collaborate with internal and franchisee marketing teams to use consumer feedback for LTO and Marketing Calendar planning
Finalize concept recipes/ingredients with internal and franchisee Marketing, Supply Chain, Ops Teams, and Leadership teams
Coordinate ops testing process to ensure food products meet operations requirements.
Recommend and develop packaging options for all new products consistent with global standards
Participate in and contribute to global marketing and supply chain menu and calendar planning meetings as required
Manage brand culinary strategy initiatives by identifying menu and new product opportunities.
Subject matter expert on emerging culinary and flavor trends, and source of education for internal and franchisee teams for bringing these trends and innovations to the menu while managing an effective product development and approval process.
Follow a stage gate progression process of ideation, recipe formulation, consumer testing and validation, commercialization, and launch of new limited time offers (LTO’s).
Collaborate with internal and franchisee marketing teams to plan, promote, and launch new menu items on yearly marketing calendars.
Identify ways to differentiate Church’s Texas Chicken / Texas Chicken menu items from competitors.
Develop menu items aimed at raising consumer interest and trial, and generating increased traffic, revenue and profit growth for our brand and international franchisees.
Global Menu and Product Calendar Tracking
Maintain up-to-date database of country-by-country LTO launches.
Provide communication to internal and franchisee supply chain and operations teams of required new ingredients and production specifications.
Communicate with quality assurance teams as needed for providing approvals to franchisees for localized ingredients and menu substitutions.
Maintain Brand Culinary Identity in Menu Design, Food Styling, Key Visual Creation and Presentation
Collaborate with internal marketing, franchisee, and creative agency teams to generate product identity, food photography, key visual assets, and menu designs to support global new product launches, menu updates, new market entries.
Represent all culinary aspects of the brand to internal and external stakeholders.
Uphold and Advance Brand Culinary Standards
Protect, maintain or improve the integrity of our menu, brand, and culinary product standards for menu items internationally, including food costs and profits, ingredients, recipes, nutrition, operational procedures and systems, packaging, cultural acceptance and legal/import/shelf life and other regulatory requirements.
Ensure internal and franchisee team communications for yearly marketing LTO calendars
Manage international review and approval process of menu, ingredient, and LTO requests
Coordinate the review and approval process with internal and franchisee R&D, Marketing, and Supply Chain teams
Provide feedback and request any necessary changes in an iterative process
Confirm field team tastings and request samples and conduct tasting internally at RSC kitchen
Communicate and disseminate the approval of new products
Ensure menu and product database for new and existing markets is complete and up to date
Subject matter expert for maintaining, delivering, and evolving the Bold Taste of Texas through brand led photography and key visual asset campaigns.
Work with internal and franchisee marketing in the creating of LTO and menu photography briefs
Lead brand creative agency through expectations and deliverables of key visual and product photography
Organize the product builds, ingredient lists, necessary supplies to execute and new product photo sessions for the global menu and new products assets
Communicate and deliver photography and required campaign assets to international regional marketing managers and franchisees
Present all culinary aspects of the brand to internal teams, franchisees, and key stakeholders including but not limited to new product, menu development, and LTO presentations and food tastings.
Test and develop new ingredient technologies and formulations
Manage supplier development of ingredients to improve customer acceptance of menu items
Evaluate new back of house preparation methods and operational efficiencies
Constant assessment and evaluation of menu and ingredients to ensure best in class offerings
Ensure product standards are met and are within parameters for food costs and profits, operational procedures and systems, packaging, cultural acceptance and legal/import/shelf life and other regulatory requirements.
Communicate and collaborate with brand and franchisee supply chain and quality assurance teams to ensure products and menu items meet the brand standards for taste, quality, and wholesomeness.