Culinary Innovation Lead, Pork Menu Concepts

National Pork Board; Des Moines (IA); On-site; USD 95,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

The National Pork Board seeks a Manager, Culinary Innovation to turn consumer insights into scalable pork menu applications and product solutions. This role blends culinary creativity with customer engagement and commercial execution, driving pork menu adoption across national and regional accounts.

The position is based in Des Moines, IA, with regular travel. Requirements include an accredited culinary school and at least five years as a chef, plus experience with meat fabrication, recipe

Qualifications

• Accredited culinary school completed.
• Minimum five years as a chef or similar culinary role.
• Experience with meat fabrication, preparation techniques and food safety.
• Proven ability to develop recipes and prototypes for customers.
• Ability to translate consumer and customer needs into menu applications and solutions.
• Strong project management, communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Experience with pork product development or related fields preferred.
• CEC, CCS or similar credentials preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop, test and demonstrate pork recipes, preparation methods and value-added products.
• Manage select national and regional foodservice accounts.
• Create customer-specific concepts and account plans for pork placements and distribution.
• Develop chain-ready concepts and distributor-ready applications.
• Advance innovation in ground pork, global cuisine and convenient meals.
• Partner with Retail Channel Marketing for customer-specific culinary resources.
• Translate consumer insights into relevant culinary concepts aligned with marketing initiatives.
• Collaborate with packers, meat scientists and technologists to evaluate specs and scale-up potential.
• Lead culinary demonstrations, prototypes and customer presentations.
• Oversee culinary facilities, food safety and inventory readiness.

Skills

Chef experience

Meat fabrication

Recipe development

Consumer insights

Cross-functional

Project management

Pork product dev

Culinary credentials

Education

Accredited culinary school

Job description

The National Pork Board seeks a Manager, Culinary Innovation to turn consumer insights into scalable pork menu applications and product solutions. This role blends culinary creativity with customer engagement and commercial execution, driving pork menu adoption across national and regional accounts.

The position is based in Des Moines, IA, with regular travel. Requirements include an accredited culinary school and at least five years as a chef, plus experience with meat fabrication, recipe