Development Chef

Brakes; Bicester; A distancia; GBP 40.000 - 55.000; Jornada completa

Ventajas ofrecidas por este puesto de trabajo

Company car or car allowance

Home-based contract

Holiday purchase options

Discounts on Fresh Direct brands

Descripción de la vacante

Fresh Direct is seeking an experienced Development Chef to join the Food Development team. This remote-based role is ideally located in the Bicester/Oxfordshire area, with frequent countrywide travel and occasional overnight stays.

You will lead meaningful customer collaborations, develop fresh menu concepts, and support margin growth. You will work across categories and teams to deliver exciting menus, manage customer expectations, and present at food days.

Formación

• Senior-level experience in foodservice with a passion for fresh produce and ingredients.
• Ability to adapt to diverse cuisines and menus across brands and customers.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to build strong customer relationships.

Responsabilidades

• Develop relationships with customer food development teams and internal stakeholders to deliver innovative menus.
• Collaborate with category, manufacturing, sales, procurement, marketing and technical teams to support menu development and margin growth.
• Lead NPD activities with the Food Development team: create recipes, manage expectations, track progress, and handle data.
• Plan, prepare and present customer food days aligning with briefs and business needs.
• Share food industry knowledge and provide guidance to colleagues.

Conocimientos

Culinary skills

Foodservice experience

Relationships building

Negotiation

Presentation to large audiences

PowerPoint

Excel

Word

Full UK Driver's Licence

Herramientas

PowerPoint

Excel

Word

Descripción del empleo

Development Chef

Remote based ideally located within Bicester / Oxfordshire area

39 hours per week

Benefits

• Competitive Salary
• Company car or car allowance
• Home-based contract
• Additional holiday purchase options to top up your annual leave
• Award-winning food at significant discounts

Fresh Direct is the UK's leading supplier of Fresh produce, fresh fish and seafood, speciality ingredients and meal solutions. Incorporating Fresh Direct, M&J seafood, Wild Harvest and Fresh Kitchen. we have an enviable product portfolio, impressive customer base and national reach.

An opportunity has arisen to join the Food Development team at Fresh Direct. We are looking for an experienced Development Chef with an unquestionable passion for fresh food. This role involves frequent travel throughout the country and will involve overnight stays on occasion.

What you will be doing:

• Develop meaningful, close working relationships with customers food development teams
• Develop relationships internally with category team, manufacturing teams, sales team, procurement team, marketing team and technical team to support in delivering innovation and support to customers menu development and grow sales and margin for Fresh Direct
• Take an active role in NPD with wider Food Development team - creating recipes, managing customer expectations, tracking progress, managing data
• Plan, prepare and present customer food days in line with brief and customer and business expectations
• Provide food and industry knowledge, support and expertise to colleagues

What we are looking for:

• Good commercial knowledge with excellent culinary skills and a proven track record in the foodservice industry at a senior level
• A passion for fresh produce and ingredients
• Ability to adapt to and adopt a number of culinary styles and cuisines in line with our varied customer base's menu offerings and brands
• Enthusiastic with a can do attitude
• Ability to build and develop customer relationships
• Strong relationship builder & team player with excellent inter-personal skills
• Influencing and negotiation skills
• Flexible, adaptable and resourceful
• Good knowledge of Foodservice Industry (brands, operators, influencers, trends and current market)
• Previous experience of presenting to large audiences
• Good, working knowledge of PowerPoint, Excel, Word
• Full UK Drivers Licence