Corporate Chef

FAT Brands Inc; Idle Hour (KY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

FAT Brands Inc. seeks a Corporate Chef to lead product development, menu innovation, and culinary strategy across the organization. You will oversee the test kitchen, supplier collaboration, and cross-functional teams to drive sales and profitability.

Based at our Lexington, KY headquarters, the role requires strong culinary education, menu-item development experience for multi-unit brands, and the ability to guide external partners and communicate across all levels of the organization.

Qualifications

• Strong culinary education or substantial background in full-service and limited-service concepts.
• Experience developing menu items for a multi-unit brand.
• Understanding of restaurant financials including food and labor costs.
• Experience guiding external partners and cross-functional collaboration.
• Strong written and verbal communication and the ability to engage with franchise owners.

Responsibilities

• Oversee product development and menu innovation from concept to execution (80% focus).
• Manage FAT Brands test kitchen operations, inventory, and equipment maintenance (15%).
• Represent the brand in TV, PR appearances and at conferences (5%).

Education

Culinary education

Job description

Description

JOB SUMMARY AND SCOPE

The Corporate Chef manages internal and external culinary initiatives for FAT Brands, including product development and menu innovation. This role oversees the company’s test kitchen and collaborates closely with marketing, supply chain, quality assurance, operations, and training teams. To drive sales and improve profitability, the Corporate Chef partners with the Innovation team to develop culinary strategy, source ingredients, create and document recipes, engineer costs, and present new products.

In addition to new menu item development, the Corporate Chef will work as a resource to our operations team and field-level area supervisors when they need support in their culinary processes.

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Product Development 70%

• The Corporate Chef will manage all steps of the product development process including:
• Inspiration – Using industry trends, trade shows, primary and secondary research, and competitive analysis to determine which “big ideas” FAT Brands concepts should pursue for its menu.
• Ideation – Work with our partners, suppliers, franchisee stakeholders and internal teams to produce menu concepts to present to the teams.
• Validation – Utilize survey tools, focus groups, or other data collection methods to determine if menu items produced in previous step are appropriate for FAT Brands
• Formulation – Support the operational team in writing recipes for the menu items including quantities and procedures used. Food cost targets and operational constraints must be considered in this step.

Test Kitchen Management 15%

• The Corporate Chef takes ownership regarding all activities involved with the FAT Brands test kitchen, including but not limited to ordering product, cleaning & sanitation, inventory, and equipment maintenance.

Other Activities 15%

• Represent the brand on TV and other PR appearances as necessary.
• May be called to act as a food stylist for video/photo/social media shoots.
• Attend events and conferences related to the field.

Requirements

• Strong Culinary Education or sufficient background in both full-service and limited-service restaurant concepts
• Experience in the development of menu items for a multi-unit restaurant brand
• Understanding of the financials of a restaurant operation including food and labor costs.
• Understanding of consumer research and trend analysis to support strategy development including both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Experience in effectively guiding and managing external resource partners in accomplishing assigned responsibilities.
• Experience in working in a cross-functional environment where on-going communication and information sharing are vital to achieving success.
• Strong written and verbal skills and ability to interface effectively with all levels of the organization and franchise owners.
• Ability to influence decision making using consumer and business insight to drive rationally

This position will be based out of our Lexington, KY corporate headquarters.