Senior Culinary Innovation Lead for Customer Solutions

Dessert Holdings Inc.; Aurora (CO); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Dessert Holdings is seeking a Sr. Manager, Customer Innovation & Culinary to partner with Sales, Marketing and Product Development, driving culinary innovation and new product concepts across retail and foodservice channels.

Based in a US location near Denver, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas or Minneapolis/St. Paul, this role requires 5+ years in culinary roles within food manufacturing or CPG, and up to 70% travel.

Qualifications

• Professional culinary training from an accredited program is required.
• Bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts, Food Science, Hospitality Management, or related field preferred.
• 5+ years of culinary experience within food manufacturing, ingredient solutions, foodservices, or CPG environments.
• Strong culinary techniques and food application expertise.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with executive leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Experience working cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing, and Product Development teams.
• Established knowledge of restaurant, foodservice, and retail trends.
• Ability to manage multiple customer projects simultaneously.
• Ability to travel to and navigate customers and manufacturing facilities within North America up to 70%.
• Ability to work in typical kitchens and food manufacturing facilities; lift up to 50 pounds and stand/walk for >4 hours.

Responsibilities

• Develop innovative food concepts, applications, and recipes that align with customer needs and market trends.
• Partner closely with the Sales team to support customer meetings, presentations, innovation sessions, and business reviews, serving as the culinary subject matter expert.
• Evaluate and monitor emerging food, flavor, ingredient, and menu trends to identify innovation and growth opportunities.
• Conduct culinary presentations, product demonstrations, and ideation workshops for current and prospective customers.
• Provide application expertise and recommendations to help customers enhance their product portfolios.
• Serve as a culinary ambassador for the company, promoting innovation capabilities and product excellence at strategic customer visits, trade shows, and industry events.
• Translate marketplace insights into new product concepts that deliver customer value.
• Analyze competitive products and emerging food categories to support innovation strategies.
• Support product optimization efforts related to flavor, texture, functionality, cost, and manufacturability.
• Champion efficiency and consistency in product development process, recipe management, and documentation.

Skills

Culinary expertise

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive communication

Travel up to 70%

Education

Culinary training from accredited program

Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts / Food Science / Hospitality Management

Job description

Dessert Holdings is seeking a Sr. Manager, Customer Innovation & Culinary to partner with Sales, Marketing and Product Development, driving culinary innovation and new product concepts across retail and foodservice channels.

Based in a US location near Denver, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas or Minneapolis/St. Paul, this role requires 5+ years in culinary roles within food manufacturing or CPG, and up to 70% travel.