Senior Culinary Lead

How We Work At Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A,  Inc. ('Chick-fil-A' or 'the Company') Staff members play a vital role in achieving our strategic goals by developing their skills,  fostering inclusive teamwork,  and embracing innovation. All Staff are expected to contribute to a compelling future by inspiring and motivating those around them. Growth and development are essential at Chick-fil-A. We want Staff to seek new perspectives and adopt new methods to drive continuous improvement and adaptation to evolving business needs. Lastly,  we ask Staff to seek wisdom,  expect the best,  accept responsibility,  respond with courage,  and think others first.

Our Flexible Futures Model offers a healthy mix of working in person (currently a minimum of 8-10 days per month) and virtually,  strengthening key elements of the Chick-fil-A culture by fostering collaboration and community.
Overview

The Culinary team is responsible for cultivating remarkable food that drives Customer trust and brand value and ensuring it is executable with excellence by Team Members.  This includes development of new menu items, improvement of existing menu items and serving as the subject matter expert on cross functional work. 

Chick-fil-A is seeking a Sr. Culinary Lead to work on the Menu & Packaging Team in Marketing and will support Menu and Supply Chain innovation projects. This includes identifying and developing products, processes and tools that drive/enable growth and/or reduce overall cost to the system while ensuring product quality and product execution standards are upheld.  

The primary responsibilities for this role will be to support short and long-term projects focused on creating craveable menu items and optimizing cost to support the health of the brand. This individual will require technical expertise to assist with development and review of formulations, tools/smallwares, procedures, specifications and quality requirements for current menu items. 

This individual requires a high-level of self-direction and a proactive mindset that can provide innovative solutions to drive business growth.  He or she should have a passion for exceeding Customer expectations, for food and the science behind it, for execution and for the Chick-fil-A brand.  It is important that this role be able to collaborate effectively across various teams, both internally & externally, and is able to influence senior leadership and project leaders in regard to product and operational considerations.

Additional function-specific duties:

• Menu Development & Menu Process Simplification
• Production Method Development
• Cross Functional Support
• Restaurant Operational Expertise
• Food Industry Awareness & Expertise 

Responsibilities

• Drive growth for the organization through leading new menu development projects and enable growth through protecting the core menu.
  
• Lead the development of solutions in partnership with Supply Chain Innovation to improve cost across network while maintaining or improving quality.  
  
• Lead and manage various aspects of projects including conceptualizing, designing, developing and evaluating menu item solutions.
  
• Work with autonomy to drive outcomes while managing relationships with suppliers, internal and external partners.
  
• Lead complex projects, as a subject matter expert, effectively and professionally to ensure stakeholders are informed and aligned while also ensuring Restaurant Operator and customer expectations are met.
  
• Develop recipes or applications and convert them to final formulations for products and production.
• Coordinate field tests in Chick-fil-A restaurants and analyze results prior to chainwide launch.
  
• Organize and lead product showings and customer taste tests.
  
• Work hands-on in a kitchen/R&D facility, as well as in Restaurants, at suppliers or in manufacturing facilities.
• Design food production methods that simplify existing Chick-fil-A menu items as well as supporting new menu items. 
  
• Integrate simplification techniques into the food production process to ensure that all future menu items not only meet culinary standards but are operationally feasible.
• Responsible for deep understanding of the food production process and the impact to food quality and team member experience.  
  
• Responsible for spending time engaging in Chick-fil-A Restaurants, learning from Operators and Team Members on operational opportunities.  
• Actively explore food trends to stay abreast of changes in the marketplace.
• Exhibit strong knowledge and awareness of historical and competitive marketplace.
• Maintain professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops, reviewing professional publications, establishing personal networks, benchmarking state-of-the-art practices, and participating in professional societies.
• Demonstrate Enterprise-Wide thinking and decision-making skills.
• Exhibit the ability to present content and recipes to multiple levels of leadership – Executive Committee, Strategy Teams, Operators, Team Members, etc. 

Required Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities)

• Mastery of fundamental culinary techniques
• Strong technical understanding of food production, particularly in a quick
  service restaurant environment
• Successful track record of creating, developing and executing new menu items in a restaurant environment 
• Demonstrates a contagious energy and passion for food and the Chick-fil-A brand 
• Ability to think critically about issues and opportunities and identify solutions and options
• Experience in designing and executing experiments, process, Sensory or consumer testing
• Strong communication skills to present to senior leadership and work effectively with internal & external international business partners 
• Commitment to maintain and guard confidential proprietary company information as appropriate.
• Proficient at Project Management

Preferred Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities)

• 10+ years of culinary development experience 

Required Years of Experience

4
Preferred Years of Experience

10
Travel Requirements

20%
Required Level of Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
Required Major/Concentration

Culinary Arts, Culinary Management, or combination of Food & Beverage Management and Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering
Relocation Assistance Provided

No