Associate Chef and Food Program Launch Lead

Associate Culinary Chef / Food & Beverage Launch Lead

The Associate Culinary Chef / Food & Beverage Launch Lead is responsible for supporting Innovation on F&B product development.

Incumbent is responsible for partnering with the Culinary Innovation Chef on developing ideas, initiatives and opportunities to grow the F&B business and continuously influence short-term and long-term program strategy. The position will partner and collaborate with Category Management, Marketing, Learning & Development and Operations teams to enable and sustain F&B programs.

Incumbent will lead the launch of all new Food & Beverage Projects to be able to deliver F&B offers consistently & reliably.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop organizational food preparation and food safety standards
• Partner and collaborate with the Culinary Innovation Chef including:
• Development of new & revised items on a menu to ensure high levels of guest satisfaction.
• Leverage insights to deliver actionable business initiatives to grow the F&B business
• Menu design, product development, cook and hold settings, product sourcing and costing, equipment selection, nutrition labeling
• Standardize recipes, build procedures, and packaging to ensure repeatable execution.
• Work with Learning and Development on procedures, SOP creation and job aids. Design clear, simple training programs that support confidence and reduce variability.
• Develop both made-to-order and grab-and-go menu solutions for food and beverages.
• Accelerated development of new recipes and product innovation
• Creates and tests new innovative recipes and products for guests
• Utilizes formal Product Development Process when creating new products.
• Revises recipes and formulas using guest and associate feedback from sensory events and in-store tests, as well as sales and profitability data.
• Develop clear processes designed reduce operational complexity and minimize room for error.
• Develop scalable programs
• Prioritize, implement and emphasize speed of service initiatives that meet established prep and cook time standards for all menu items and will hold teams accountable to those time standards
• Stay up to date on competitors, culinary trends, and customer preferences.
• Evaluates products on attributes such as flavor, texture, and appearance and communicate feedback to team & vendor partners.
• Able to evaluate and make recommendations on products based on their sensorial attributes
• Leveraging both internal and external data and information assets, so that all critical decisions related to UDF's F&B are well informed and supported by strong data.
• Collaborates cross-functionally through each stage of the Product Development Process.
• Manages and maintains details for assigned projects including specification development, recipe costs and portions, and quality control checks
• Partner with the Zone Food Supervisors to implement Food Health & safety standards from Day 1 in each restaurant launch including:
• Cleaning routines and accountability throughout the day, not just at close, which will build trust through critical visual cues leading to high Food safety (internal and external) grades
• Proper food handling procedures and elevated sanitation standards to always ensure food safety.
• Cleaning checklists and holding individuals accountable, keeping prep areas, service counters, and equipment organized and clutter-free to support efficiency.
• Standards that convey that every item has its place and should always remain organized
• Lead all F&B platform and product rollouts to ensure successful launch and transition to the operations teams.
• Works independently to move assigned projects through the process to meet goals.
• Communicates well with teammates in critical situations, values ideas and opinions of teammates to streamline progress, adapts to changing environments quickly
• Lead and establish consistent expectations for our associates on how to deliver our food and beverage offers so that our guest recognizes the experience from store to store, day to day and meal to meal.
• Drive a restaurant / hospitality culture and sense of urgency / service mindset through all training materials and hands on training efforts
• Coach F&B Associates to instill operational discipline so that associates at all locations are always prepared to serve

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS & ABILITIES

• Demonstrated creativity relative to F&B development
• Refined palate. Ability to discern and recognize taste, textures, flavors as part of the product development process
• Strong commercial and customer orientation.
• Strong Analytical skills and ability to problem-solve with various levels of complexity
• Demonstrated organizational skills and attention-to-detail (strong tactical execution, project management)
• Strong relationship management and interpersonal skills (high EQ)
• Ability to develop and communicate findings and recommendations.
• Fundamental understanding of key financial and retail performance metrics
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, and possess the ability to present information to external and internal groups
• Must possess strong culinary skills and working knowledge of new product development/ product commercialization process
• Ability to operate in a complex, rapidly changing environment while adhering to tight schedules and budgets.
• Demonstrated project management skills and proven ability to balance multiple projects in varying degrees of implementation.
• Strong organizational, problem-solving and attention to detail skills are required.
• Must be well-organized and able to coordinate multiple tasks and requests.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Degree in Culinary Arts, Certified Culinary Scientist, Certified Research Chef, or related field preferred and/or at least 3-5 years of culinary experience preferred.
• Culinary and/or Operations experience in Convenience, QSR or multi-location retail preferred,
• Experience successfully creating new products or experience leading internal product development teams, and leveraging external consulting companies, who specialize in Food and Beverage development

COMPUTER / TECHNICAL:

• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite
• Prior experience with Kitchen Management Systems (KMS) highly preferred
• Prior experience with CRM based systems, Loyalty platforms and other Cat Mgmt based systems a plus.

Equal Opportunity Employer This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.