Culinary Innovation Chef

Culinary Innovation Chef

The Nestlé Professional Solutions at Nestlé USA leverages its position as the world's largest food and beverage company to bring brands that you enjoy in your home, to other areas of your life such as the workplace, restaurants, hotels, and your neighborhood college or university. Our portfolio of products and solutions includes beloved brands such as Stouffer's, Coffee mate, Nescafé, and Starbucks. With our extensive networks and industry knowledge, we offer unparalleled support and guidance to foodservice operators, ensuring their success in a competitive market. We strive to contribute to a healthier future by providing the finest ingredients and operational knowledge to every type of foodservice operation. The strength of our trusted brands is supported by a team of skilled professionals who are dedicated to deepening their industry experience. Our team of culinary experts and skilled product developers partner closely with foodservice professionals to generate creative, branded food and beverage solutions that address a wide variety of needs. Our employees thrive on opportunities to grow and develop within the food-service industry, ensuring that we are always at the forefront of industry trends and innovations.

The Culinary Innovation Chef is responsible for bringing the Nestlé Professional Solutions (NPS) portfolio to life through innovative culinary applications, customer-inspired solutions, and exceptional culinary execution. This role serves as a strategic culinary resource supporting both the Marketing and Sales organizations by transforming products into compelling foodservice solutions that drive awareness, trial, customer engagement, and business growth. The Culinary Innovation Chef partners closely with Sales and Marketing to create meaningful brand experiences, provide culinary expertise, and execute projects that support brand innovation, customer engagement, and commercial objectives. This is a highly collaborative, hands-on culinary position that combines innovation, culinary operations, event execution, and sales enablement.

Key Responsibilities

• Culinary Sales & Customer Support: Support Sales teams through culinary ideation, menu concept development, customer presentations, and product demonstrations. Develop recipes, tasting menus, and food presentations that help customers understand the value and application of NPS products. Prepare ingredients, coordinate logistics, assemble materials, and manage shipments required for customer meetings and culinary engagements. Partner with sales teams to create compelling culinary stories that align with customer needs and business opportunities. Provide onsite culinary support during customer visits, operator workshops, sales meetings, and strategic account presentations. Act as a culinary subject matter expert, helping translate product features into operator-relevant solutions.
• Culinary Operations & Onsite Execution: Manage culinary inventory, ingredient procurement, and product organization to support projects, meetings, and events. Coordinate product and sample shipments to customers, internal teams, and event locations. Plan and execute elevated food experiences for internal meetings, leadership sessions, customer visits, and cross-functional events. Ensure efficient kitchen operations, food preparation, food safety compliance, and execution excellence. Maintain culinary workspaces, equipment, and supplies to support a high-performing culinary environment.
• Innovation & Application Development: Develop innovative culinary applications that showcase the versatility, performance, and value of the NPS portfolio across foodservice channels. Participate in ideation sessions and innovation workshops, providing culinary leadership and industry expertise. Translate menu trends, operator challenges, and business objectives into relevant food and beverage concepts. Support Marketing and Product Development teams by creating recipes, applications, menu concepts, and culinary content that strengthen brand positioning. Stay current on industry, menu, ingredient, and flavor trends to identify opportunities that support brand growth strategies.
• Event & Brand Experience Support: Support the planning and execution of trade shows, industry events, customer showcases, culinary workshops, and internal meetings. Lead culinary preparation activities including menu development, recipe testing, ingredient sourcing, food production, packaging, transportation, and event setup. Execute live demonstrations, tastings, and culinary presentations that highlight NPS brands and capabilities. Collaborate with Marketing to create memorable brand experiences that reinforce key messaging and innovation platforms. Represent Nestlé Professional Solutions at industry events, customer engagements, and culinary forums.

Preferred Qualifications & Experience: Minimum 5 years of culinary or foodservice experience required. Culinary degree preferred (Culinary Arts, Food & Nutrition, Food Science, or related field). Serve Safe Certification preferred. Experience across multiple foodservice channels preferred. Strong understanding of foodservice operations, menu development, culinary techniques, and food preparation. Experience planning and executing culinary events, demonstrations, and customer presentations. Strong organizational, project management, inventory management, and logistics capabilities. Excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to influence diverse audiences. Self-motivated with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. Proficient in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. Ability to travel up to 50%.