Development Chef, Development Chef

Pilgrim's Europe; Grantham; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

Pilgrim's Europe is seeking a Development Chef to join the Product & Innovation team in Grantham. You will transform consumer insights into innovative, scalable products and work across marketing, commercial and customer teams to deliver exciting concepts with culinary excellence.

The successful candidate will combine exceptional cooking skills with strong commercial awareness, lead multiple development projects, and help drive growth across categories.

Qualifications

• Relevant chef experience within restaurants, hospitality, foodservice or food manufacturing.
• Exceptional culinary skills with a passion for food innovation.
• Strong creativity combined with commercial awareness.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines.
• Self-motivated with the ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Willingness to travel when required.

Responsibilities

• Develop insight-led food concepts and commercially viable products in line with customer and category strategies.
• Create innovative products that meet customer briefs while delivering exceptional quality and consistency.
• Present concepts, products and ideas directly to customers, demonstrating culinary expertise and market awareness.
• Identify emerging food trends and translate them into exciting opportunities within customer innovation pipelines.
• Build strong relationships with customer development chefs and industry influencers.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to successfully commercialise new product concepts.
• Manage multiple development projects from concept through to customer presentation and handover.
• Ensure recipes and product specifications are accurately costed and documented.
• Work closely with NPD, Operations, Procurement, Packaging and Commercial teams to ensure product feasibility and successful launches.
• Support factory handovers and maintain product quality throughout the development process.
• Contribute towards budget targets, value chain projects and overall business performance.
• Deliver training through our Food Academy programme, sharing culinary skills and industry knowledge across the business.
• Support the development of future trainers and promote best practice.

Skills

Chef experience

Culinary creativity

Commercial awareness

Communication skills

Project management

Self-motivation

Willingness to travel

Education

City & Guilds 706-1, 706-2, NVQ Level 3 in Professional Cookery

Job description

Development Chef

Location: Grantham

Department: Product & Innovation

Reporting to: Product Development Manager

Shape the Future of Food Innovation

At Pilgrim's Europe, we're on a journey to become a world-class food company. We are looking for a passionate and creative Development Chef to join our Product & Innovation team and play a key role in delivering customer-led innovation, exciting new product development, and culinary excellence.

This is an exciting opportunity for a talented chef with strong commercial awareness to transform food trends and consumer insights into innovative, scalable products that delight both customers and consumers.

Working closely with Product Development, Marketing, Commercial and Customer teams, you'll be instrumental in developing and showcasing new food concepts, supporting key customer partnerships, and driving growth across our categories.

What You'll Be Doing

Customer Innovation & Product Development

• Develop insight-led food concepts and commercially viable products in line with customer and category strategies.
• Create innovative products that meet customer briefs while delivering exceptional quality and consistency.
• Present concepts, products and ideas directly to customers, demonstrating culinary expertise and market awareness.
• Identify emerging food trends and translate them into exciting opportunities within customer innovation pipelines.
• Build strong relationships with customer development chefs and industry influencers.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to successfully commercialise new product concepts.

Category & Culinary Support

• Support the development and delivery of category innovation plans.
• Help identify new market opportunities through trend analysis and consumer insight.
• Act as a culinary subject matter expert within your designated categories or sites.
• Support category and site teams through training, planning and implementation of innovation initiatives.

Project Management

• Manage multiple development projects simultaneously from concept through to customer presentation and handover.
• Ensure recipes and product specifications are accurately costed and documented.
• Work closely with NPD, Operations, Procurement, Packaging and Commercial teams to ensure product feasibility and successful launches.
• Support factory handovers and maintain product quality throughout the development process.
• Contribute towards budget targets, value chain projects and overall business performance.

Food Academy & Knowledge Sharing

• Deliver training through our Food Academy programme, sharing culinary skills and industry knowledge across the business.
• Support the development of future trainers and promote best practice.
• Contribute to monthly food trend editorials and insight sessions.
• Help foster a strong food culture throughout the organisation.

Compliance & Sustainability

• Adhere to all food safety, environmental, health & safety, ethical and company policies.
• Support sustainability initiatives, including waste reduction and responsible resource management.
• Contribute towards Product & Innovation KPI delivery, including revenue from NPD and project conversion targets.

What We're Looking For

Essential Skills & Experience

• Relevant chef experience within restaurants, hospitality, foodservice or food manufacturing.
• Exceptional culinary skills with a passion for food innovation.
• Strong creativity combined with commercial awareness.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines.
• Self-motivated with the ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Willingness to travel when required.

Qualifications

• City & Guilds 706-1, 706-2, NVQ Level 3 in Professional Cookery or equivalent culinary qualification.

Why Join Pilgrim's Europe?

At Pilgrim's Europe, Our Values Shape Everything We Do

• Availability - We embrace opportunities and new challenges.
• Humility - We listen, learn and respect one another.
• Discipline - We deliver on our commitments.
• Sincerity - We act with honesty and integrity.
• Simplicity - We focus on what matters most.
• Ownership - We take responsibility for our actions.
• Determination - We drive success through passion and perseverance.

If you're an innovative chef who loves creating food that inspires customers and consumers alike, we'd love to hear from you.