Culinary Innovation Manager - Away From Home

About the role

Kraft Heinz is looking for a Culinary Innovation Manager to lead culinary Away From Home (AFH) activities across the Kraft Heinz International Zone. Reporting to the Culinary Innovation Senior Manager and sitting in the Consumer & Culinary eXperience (CCX) International team, you will be the AFH culinary authority at global and regional level, coaching other Innovation Chefs. The AFH channel covers QSR, hotels, stadiums and flights, and is described as one of the biggest growth engines for the company.

Key responsibilities

• Define and roll out the International Zone culinary strategy for AFH, with a clear roadmap for each market aligned to the business agenda.
• Develop recipes, prototypes and gold standards for the proactive new product range, showing foodservice operators how the sauces win on their menus.
• Deliver customized culinary solutions for strategic customers through co-creation sessions with Business Development Chefs.
• Lead complex AFH projects across exploration, innovation, activation and education, anchored in consumer and operator insights and sensory data.
• Embed an ESG and nutrition mindset into the AFH portfolio.
• Own resource allocation within the AFH category and manage the project portfolio.
• Act as the AFH culinary voice internally with Marketing, R&D, Sales, CX and CMI, and externally with operators, distributors and partners.
• Negotiate priorities, set expectations and influence direction.
• Manage or coach junior innovation chefs and work with the external culinary ecosystem.

Required profile

• Culinary degree (hospitality school, apprenticeship or bachelor's).
• 5+ years in food service (hotels, FSR, QSR, pubs, catering, industry or institutional), ideally with international or strong regional exposure.
• 10+ years in a corporate R&D environment, able to turn kitchen ideas into scalable products.
• Experience managing and coaching chefs.
• Deep understanding of operator economics, menu engineering and kitchen workflow.
• Comfortable presenting to senior management and working in a matrixed, multicultural organization.
• Excellent spoken and written English; agile and design-thinking ways of working are a plus.

What we offer

• A permanent contract.
• A fast career track and international exposure through cross-market projects.
• Access to an international community of chefs, R&D, sensory and consumer-insight experts.
• Ownership of end-to-end AFH culinary innovation projects.