Director, Menu Strategy and Innovation

KFC; Plano (TX); On-site; USD 174,000 - 184,000; Full time

Job summary

KFC in Plano, Texas seeks a Global Director, Menu Strategy & Innovation to define the global Menu Vision, portfolio priorities and an innovation roadmap that will guide growth across markets. You will translate strategy into consumer-facing concepts, lead a cross-functional team, and partner with Insights, Culinary Development and Retail to translate opportunities into tangible menu platforms and LTOs.

This senior role requires 10+ years in strategy or menu innovation, strong leadership, and the

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Strategy, Innovation or related discipline.
• 10+ years of experience across strategy, innovation, category management, menu innovation or adjacent consumer-led growth roles.
• Ability to turn ambiguous inputs into clear business, portfolio and innovation choices.
• Experience translating consumer insight into compelling concepts and strategic platforms.
• Proven ability to manage an innovation portfolio across time horizons.
• Strong communication to influence senior stakeholders and simplify complex questions.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve KFC's global Menu Vision and long-term menu roadmap across priority layers (core, value, premium, LTO).
• Lead development of consumer-facing menu concepts for global-led propositions.
• Partner with Insights to validate concepts and with Culinary Development to translate them into prototypes.
• Act as senior strategic partner to markets translating the Menu Vision into local roadmaps and use cases.
• Own the LTO and innovation pipeline, ensuring alignment with Menu Vision priorities.
• Lead and develop the Menu Strategy & Innovation team and establish governance for global initiatives.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Stakeholder management

Market insights

Menu strategy

Innovation management

Communication

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Strategy, Innovation or related

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Teams

PowerPoint

Job description

The Global Director, Menu Strategy & Innovation will define where KFC's menu goes next, setting the global Menu Vision, portfolio priorities and innovation roadmap that guide how KFC grows across consumer occasions and markets.

The role will turn that strategy into clear KFC points of view, consumer-facing concepts and innovation priorities, while connecting market learning and LTOs back into the future core menu.

Acting as strategist and system connector, the role will provide clarity on where to play, what winning looks like and how the system learns and scales faster, without replacing market ownership or Culinary Development.

Global Menu Strategy & Roadmap (30%)

• Own and continuously evolve KFC's global Menu Vision and long-term menu roadmap, connecting brand strategy, Category Use Occasions and business growth priorities.
• Define the KFC point of view and strategic approach across priority menu layers (ex. Burgers, Flavor, and Modern Sharing)
• Define portfolio and platform architecture, clarifying the role of core, value, premium, LTO and global menu platforms within the broader portfolio.
• Identify the biggest future growth opportunities and translate them into clear choices and priorities for the global system.
• Partner with the Kwench Platform Director to ensure beverage strategy and growth plans connect to the broader Menu Vision and occasion strategy.

Global Concept & Platform Development (25%)

• Lead the development of consumer-facing menu concepts for Global-led propositions that translate strategic opportunities into clear, distinctive and actionable propositions.
• Define the consumer need, strategic role, food proposition, distinctive KFC expression and intended business outcome behind priority global menu platforms.
• Create clear concept briefs that enable Culinary Development, Insights, Retail and markets to bring priority opportunities to life.
• Partner with Insights to validate concepts before significant development or market investment, using fit-for-purpose approaches that enable speed and learning.
• Partner with Culinary Development to translate concepts into tangible food and beverage prototypes while maintaining clear ownership between concept strategy and product / recipe development.

Market Partnership & System Learning (20%)

• Act as a senior strategic partner to BMUs and markets as they translate the Menu Vision into local priorities, roadmaps and specific business use cases.
• Identify strong market innovation, understand why it works and assess its potential beyond the originating market.
• Synthesize market best practice and consumer learning into clear global points of view, frameworks and guidance rather than simply sharing examples.
• Define efficient approaches for concept validation across markets and determine what should scale globally, adapt regionally, be further validated or remain local.
• Establish stronger feedback loops between Global, lead markets and the wider FIT community so market learning continuously informs future menu choices.

LTO & Innovation Pipeline Leadership (15%)

• Own the strategic direction of the global food innovation and LTO pipeline, ensuring activity connects to Menu Vision priorities and future growth platforms.
• Ensure the upstream food innovation decisions behind LTOs - concept, consumer proposition, strategic role and connection to future platforms - are clearly defined before commercialization.
• Use LTOs deliberately as a source of learning for future core menu development, creating a pathway from LTO today to core tomorrow.
• Partner closely with Retail on offer architecture, pricing, calendar integration, promotional mechanics and commercial performance while Food Innovation leads the food proposition and learning agenda.
• Establish clear pipeline governance, prioritization and decision‑making across global initiatives and market opportunities.

Strategic Partnerships & Team Leadership (10%)

• Build strategic relationships with insight partners, agencies and external innovators to strengthen KFC's access to emerging consumer, category and innovation thinking.
• Create focused strategic briefs for partners and, with Culinary Development, suppliers against clearly defined KFC opportunities and Menu Vision priorities.
• Connect Menu Strategy closely with Culinary Development, Core Food Excellence, Kwench, Retail, Brand, Insights, Operations and Supply Chain to ensure strategic ideas can become viable solutions.
• Lead and develop the Menu Strategy & Innovation team, creating clear accountability across strategy, market engagement, concept development and innovation pipeline management.
• Influence senior global and market stakeholders through clear points of view, strong strategic storytelling and fact-based recommendations.

Education / Certification

• Bachelor's degree required, preferably in Business, Marketing, Strategy, Innovation or a related discipline.

Experience

• 10+ years of experience across strategy, innovation, category management, menu innovation or adjacent consumer‑led growth roles within QSR, foodservice, FMCG or scaled consumer brands.
• Demonstrated ability to turn ambiguous consumer, market and commercial inputs into clear business, portfolio and innovation choices.
• Strong experience translating consumer insight into compelling concepts, strategic platforms and actionable innovation briefs.
• Proven ability to manage an innovation portfolio across different time horizons, balancing near‑term commercial opportunities with longer‑term platform development.
• Strong understanding of the innovation cycle from strategy and concept through validation, product development, market testing and scale.
• Proven ability to identify strategic learning from market tests and determine whether ideas should scale, adapt or remain locally relevant.
• Strong experience working across global, regional and market organizations, with the judgment to balance global consistency and local relevance.
• Commercially astute, with a strong understanding of how menu choices drive transactions, frequency, mix, margin and brand relevance.
• Highly effective communicator with the presence to influence senior stakeholders, challenge constructively and simplify complex strategic questions into clear choices.
• Strong people leadership and collaboration skills, with demonstrated ability to mobilize cross‑functional teams in a matrixed environment.
• Curious, action‑oriented and deeply interested in consumers, food culture, category evolution and emerging growth opportunities.
• Must be able to handle confidential information with discretion and be highly proficient in Microsoft Word, Teams and PowerPoint.

Salary Range: $174,240 - $183,920 annually + bonus eligibility and stock-based compensation. This is the expected salary range for this position. Ultimately, in determining pay, we'll consider the successful candidate’s location, experience, and other job-related factors.