Manager, R&D - Culinary Innovation Lab

The Kraft Heinz Company
Illinois
Workplace: HybridFull timeUSD 104,200 - 130,200 annuallyFunction: Laboratory & Clinical OperationsEducation: bachelorsSkills: ["Creative","Strategic","Collaborative","Communication","Project management"]

Lead hands-on culinary innovation within the Culinary Innovation Lab, turning food trends, consumer insights, and competitive intelligence into new product, ingredient, flavor, and usage opportunities. Drive end-to-end culinary workstreams by developing and evaluating MVPs for consumer testing, applying sensory and food safety expertise, and using Agile and Design Thinking to guide opportunity identification and concept prioritization. Partner across R&D, Marketing, Insights, and external teams to deliver against objectives and business outcomes.

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The Kraft Heinz Company
The Kraft Heinz Company
3 months ago

Manager, R&D - Culinary Innovation Lab

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Last checked: 24 days agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Lead hands-on culinary innovation within the Culinary Innovation Lab, turning food trends, consumer insights, and competitive intelligence into new product, ingredient, flavor, and usage opportunities. Drive end-to-end culinary workstreams by developing and evaluating MVPs for consumer testing, applying sensory and food safety expertise, and using Agile and Design Thinking to guide opportunity identification and concept prioritization. Partner across R&D, Marketing, Insights, and external teams to deliver against objectives and business outcomes.
Location: Illinois
Workplace: Hybrid
Employment Type: Full time
Job Function: Laboratory & Clinical Operations
Seniority: Manager level

Key Responsibilities

  • •Apply culinary fundamentals (cooking techniques, ingredient functionality, safe food handling, culinary nutrition) to identify consumer insights and translate sensory attributes into product development.
  • •Develop and evaluate MVPs for consumer testing using functional ingredients and formulation principles, applying sensory evaluation best practices to assess product performance.
  • •Lead culinary research by turning food trends, consumer insights, and competitive intelligence into innovation opportunities and strategic concepts aligned to business priorities.
  • •Plan and execute culinary projects (competitive landscape reviews, immersions, trend presentations, concept ideation sessions, and product cuttings) in partnership with the Innovation Lab Lead.
  • •Lead end-to-end culinary workstreams with accountability for objectives, timelines, and business outcomes, managing multiple concurrent innovation initiatives and influencing cross-functional decision-making.
Travel: Medium travel

Pay and Benefits

Salary: USD 104,200 - 130,200 annually
Perks:MedicalDentalVisionPaid Leave401kLifeDisabilityEmployee Assistance

Key Requirements

  • •Bachelor’s degree in culinary arts, food science, nutrition, or a closely related field, plus 6+ years of progressive culinary experience in product development, cooking techniques, and flavor application.
  • •Minimum 3 years of experience in a corporate CPG or food manufacturing R&D environment.
  • •Proven ability to develop and evaluate MVPs using structured sensory and consumer research methods such as descriptive/scoring and discrimination testing.
  • •Working knowledge of food safety principles including HACCP, GMP, and allergen management, with safe culinary lab practices.
  • •Demonstrated ability to apply Agile and Design Thinking frameworks in an innovation or product development process.
Experience:CPGFood manufacturingR&D
Education:Bachelor's in culinary arts, food science, nutrition
Skills:CreativeStrategicCollaborativeCommunicationProject management
Certifications:RCA Certified Research Chef (CRC®)
Tech Stack:AgileDesign ThinkingHACCPGMPAllergen managementRecipe management systemsPLMSAP

Company Brief

The Kraft Heinz Company
The Kraft Heinz Company is a global food and beverage company producing iconic packaged foods and condiments across categories like cheese, meals, condiments, and beverages, serving retail, foodservice, and consumer markets worldwide.
Industry: Food & Beverage
Company Size: Enterprise (1,001+ employees)
Revenue: USD 1B+
Growth: Public Company
Valuation: Public Company (Market Cap in USD)
Funding: IPO / Publicly Listed
Headquarters: Chicago, United States
Founded: 2015
WebsiteLinkedIn