Culinary Innovation Manager

The Kraft Heinz Company
Netherlands
Workplace: OnsiteFull timeFunction: Hospitality & Food ServiceExperience: 5+ yearsEducation: bachelorsSkills: ["Teamwork","Communication","Ownership","Organization","Storytelling"]

Lead Away From Home (AFH) culinary innovation across the Kraft Heinz International Zone by owning the IZ culinary strategy, building next-generation recipes, and translating consumer/operator insights into scalable prototypes and in-market execution. Partner with Business Development Chefs for customer co-creation sessions, manage a portfolio of complex AFH projects, and coach innovation chefs. Serve as the AFH culinary voice with senior stakeholders and embed nutrition and culinary ESG priorities—without compromising taste.

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The Kraft Heinz Company
The Kraft Heinz Company
2 months ago

Culinary Innovation Manager

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Source: Company careers pageValidated by: Fursa AI
Last checked: 26 days agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Lead Away From Home (AFH) culinary innovation across the Kraft Heinz International Zone by owning the IZ culinary strategy, building next-generation recipes, and translating consumer/operator insights into scalable prototypes and in-market execution. Partner with Business Development Chefs for customer co-creation sessions, manage a portfolio of complex AFH projects, and coach innovation chefs. Serve as the AFH culinary voice with senior stakeholders and embed nutrition and culinary ESG priorities—without compromising taste.
Location: Netherlands
Workplace: Onsite
Employment Type: Full time · Permanent
Job Function: Hospitality & Food Service
Seniority: Manager level

Key Responsibilities

  • •Define and roll out the IZ culinary strategy for AFH across global and regional levels, ensuring each market has a clear culinary roadmap aligned to the business agenda.
  • •Develop next-generation recipes, prototypes, and gold standards for the proactive new product range for foodservice operators, scaling what works.
  • •Deliver customized solutions for strategic customers through co-creation sessions, translating briefs into bespoke culinary solutions that unlock new volume.
  • •Lead multiple complex AFH projects across Exploration, Innovation, Activation, and Education from insight to prototype to in-market execution.
  • •Own resource allocation within the AFH category, manage the project portfolio, and coach innovation chefs while serving as the recognized AFH culinary voice with senior stakeholders.

Key Requirements

  • •Hold a culinary degree (hospitality school, apprenticeship, or bachelor’s) and have 5+ years in food service (hotels, FSR, QSR, pubs, catering, industry, or institutional), ideally with international or strong regional exposure.
  • •Have 10+ years inside a corporate R&D environment, with experience turning kitchen ideas into scalable, repeatable, market-ready products.
  • •Have managed and coached chefs, with experience growing people and delivering projects.
  • •Demonstrate deep AFH/foodservice instincts, including operator economics, menu engineering, kitchen workflow, and what makes a sauce win during real service.
  • •Be a confident storyteller and influencer comfortable presenting to senior management; excellent English (spoken and written) is required; Agile/design-thinking ways of working are a plus.
Experience:5+ years
Education:Bachelor's
Skills:TeamworkCommunicationOwnershipOrganizationStorytelling
Languages:English

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