Senior Manager, Culinary Innovation

Subway•Miami, FL

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Culinary Innovation brings food trends to life by creating craveable products that balance flavor, quality, and operational feasibility. The role leads recipe development and testing, collaborates across functions, and guides products from concept through nationwide launch. The position also presents concepts to brand leadership and franchise partners, and mentors junior team members.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts, Food Science, or a related field.
At least 8 years of experience in culinary innovation, product development, or restaurant/R&D leadership.
Strong culinary background with demonstrated expertise in recipe development, product innovation, and food science.
Deep knowledge of industry and flavor trends, clean-label ingredients, and sensory evaluation methods.
Proven experience in product commercialization, supplier engagement, and quality assurance.
Strong understanding of food safety, including HACCP, packaged food regulations, and government requirements.
Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to influence across all levels of the organization.
Ability to balance creativity with operational feasibility and financial discipline.
Strong leadership skills and experience managing and developing talent.
Flexible, adaptable, and open-minded, with unquestioned integrity.
Willingness to travel up to 30%.

Nice To Haves

Advanced training in Culinary Arts, Food Science, or a related field.
Experience in multi-unit/QSR or food manufacturing.

Responsibilities

Lead the creation, testing, and commercialization of new food and beverage products, platforms, and limited-time offers.
Translate global food and flavor trends into relevant, on-brand innovation that excites guests and drives incremental growth.
Partner with Marketing, Operations, Sourcing, QA, and Finance to bring concepts from idea stage to national implementation.
Write and manage product specifications and recipes, and provide culinary and R&D approval for product changes.
Conduct product evaluations, yield testing, and cost analysis to balance innovation with unit-level profitability.
Collaborate with QA and Sourcing to ensure product quality, safety, and compliance with regulatory standards, including HACCP, nutrition labeling, allergens, gluten-free requirements, and sodium reduction.
Lead menu engineering initiatives for core and value platforms, identifying gaps and opportunities in the current offering.
Build and maintain supplier relationships, sourcing new ingredients and technologies that enhance product quality and innovation.
Research, taste, and explore emerging ingredients, preparation methods, and menu strategies to keep Subway at the forefront of culinary innovation.
Present new concepts and platforms to brand leadership and franchise partners with clear culinary rationale and business impact.
Mentor and develop junior team members, fostering creativity, collaboration, and excellence.