Executive Chef – Sr. Director, Culinary Innovation

PepsiCo Deutschland GmbH; Cornellà de Llobregat; Presencial; EUR 70.000 - 100.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

A leading global food and beverage company in Cataluña is seeking an Executive Chef to lead culinary innovation. The role involves defining culinary direction, overseeing best-in-class food concepts, and managing culinary teams. The ideal candidate will have over 12 years of culinary leadership experience in innovation and food service, comfortable in fast-paced environments with a deep understanding of food cultures.

Formación

• 12+ years of progressive culinary leadership in innovation or food service.
• Experience in gold standard culinary creation and R&D.
• Ability to manage team dynamics and partnerships with external chefs.

Responsabilidades

• Define and drive the culinary direction across platforms.
• Oversee creation of best-in-class food concepts.
• Manage internal culinary team and external partnerships.

Conocimientos

Culinary leadership

Food innovation

Team management

Trend analysis

Descripción del empleo

Overview

At PepsiCo, we do it all—from the crunch of Lay’s, Doritos, and Cheetos, to the fizz of Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, and Bubly. With one of the world’s largest food and beverage portfolios, we’re constantly innovating, creating, and growing—faster, stronger, and better. Ready to make your mark? Dare for Better. Join PepsiCo.

The Executive Chef leads the global culinary vision and gold standard creation across all RTE, RTC, and AFH platforms within the newly formed Culinary Innovation team. This role brings chef-led inspiration into the heart of innovation sprints, shaping product experiences that are both emotionally resonant and operationally scalable.

Responsibilities

• Lead Culinary Vision: Define and drive the overarching culinary direction across platforms, ensuring ideas reflect global trends, regional nuances, and brand alignment.
• Gold Standard Development: Oversee the creation of inspirational, best-in-class food concepts that serve as the foundation for MVP development by Product & Food Tech teams.
• Chef Collaboration: Manage internal culinary team (Sous-Chefs) and lead partnerships with external chefs, culinary schools, and creators across markets.
• Cross-Functional Integration: Partner with Product Development, Food Tech, Design, and Marketing to translate gold standards into scalable food experiences that maintain culinary integrity.
• Taste & Prep Experience Leadership: Act as the lead sensory and prep systems authority, ensuring food delivers on taste, texture, emotional pull, and simplicity of use.
• Trend Scouting & External Influence: Stay ahead of macro and micro culinary trends, and translate them into relevant and forward-thinking product narratives.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of progressive culinary leadership, ideally across consumer-facing food innovation or branded food service.
• Proven experience leading gold standard creation and culinary R&D translation.
• Experience managing culinary teams and engaging with global external chefs.
• Deep understanding of food cultures, ingredient functionality, and regional food systems.
• Comfortable working in fast-paced, matrixed, and innovation-driven environments.