Senior Innovation Chef

Job Description

Job Description

Description:

The Senior Innovation Chef will be responsible for developing KGF NA’s innovation pipeline, collaborative recipe development with our customers and will also have responsibility for the day-to-day operations of our “Customer Hub” (R&D Innovation Center) facility.

Role and Responsibilities

• They will be working closely with the Director of Innovation on Pipeline development as well as Marketing & Design Specialist for external content
• Lead Hub operations: Running the operation of the kitchen (flow and equipment usage and maintenance, etc.)
• Responsible for assisting planning and execution ideation sessions both internally and externally
• Developing innovation recipes based on work done with Director of Innovation for all classes of trade
• Primary resource for external facing activities, including Customer meetings (on-site and off-site), Social Media content, Tradeshows- Overnight travel may be necessary
• Participate & contribute in cross-functional teams to drive new product innovation
• Identify gaps in our portfolio through competitive analysis of our categories with the Director of Innovation
• Consult in new product development projects and assist in setting specifications, including, but not limited to: sourcing/qualifying ingredients, establishing equipment requirements, determining manufacturing processes for new products
• Prepare and serve food for customer presentations
• Work with rest of R&D group to understand recipe scale up feasibility as needed
• Lead menu development with customers for food service channel
• Know, adhere to and enforce all GMP’s
• Performs other duties as assigned

Supervisory Responsibilities

• This position may have supervising responsibilities over support staff in the future

• Culinary Degree required
• 5 to 8+ years’ experience as a Culinary and/or R&D Chef
• Experience with a wide range of commercial kitchen equipment, including sous vide cooking method.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Products

Core Competencies, Knowledge, and Skill Requirements

Candidates should be self-starters with a strong work ethic and the ability to prioritize their workload to ensure timely issue resolution. In addition, this individual should possess the following skills:

• Personality and Performance: This person will have the opportunity to be the “face” of KGF NA. This could include online video production, in-house demonstrations and multiple customer-facing opportunities.
• Communication and Presence: Effectively conveys information and expresses thoughts and facts to a diverse audience of both internal and external stakeholders. Demonstrates effective use of listening skills and displays openness to other’s ideas and thoughts. Can lead large-scale presentations and discussions as well as collaborative working sessions.
• Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Kitchen Management Experience: Must have knowledge/experience of variety of commercial cooking equipment (including cleaning and maintenance).
• Analytical Thinking: Must be able to identify and define problems, extract key information from data and develop workable solutions for the problems identified to test and verify the cause of the problem. Develop solutions to resolve the problems identified.
• Organization: Organize and prioritize your own actions efficiently. Be flexible and react favorably to multiple priorities, changing schedules and daily assignments while paying attention to detail.