Senior Manager, Customer Innovation & Culinary

Dessert Holdings Inc.; Saint Paul, Northern (MN, KY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Dessert Holdings is seeking a Sr. Manager, Customer Innovation & Culinary to partner with Sales, Marketing, and Product Development across retail and foodservice channels. Lead culinary strategy, develop concepts, and translate trends into viable products.

located in or near cities in North America; role involves extensive travel, customer demonstrations, and collaboration with senior leadership to grow the business.

Qualifications

• Professional culinary training from an accredited program.
• 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 ability to interact with executive leadership, customers, 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, and lift up to 50 pounds and stand/walk for >4 hours

Responsibilities

• Develop innovative food concepts, applications, and recipes aligned with customer needs and trends.
• Support Sales with meetings, presentations, innovation sessions, and business reviews as culinary SME.
• Evaluate emerging food trends to identify opportunities for growth.
• Conduct culinary presentations, product demonstrations, and ideation workshops for customers.
• Provide application expertise to enhance customers' product portfolios.
• Promote innovation capabilities at customer visits, trade shows, and events.
• Translate marketplace insights into new product concepts delivering customer value.
• Analyze competitive products and trends to inform innovation strategies.
• Support product optimization regarding flavor, texture, cost, and manufacturability.
• Champion efficiency and consistency in product development processes and documentation.

Skills

Culinary expertise

Communication & presentation

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Travel readiness

Education

Professional culinary training

Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts or related field

Job description

Sr. Manager, Customer Innovation & Culinary

Dessert Holdings is the leading premium dessert company in the world. We craft artisanal, scratch-made desserts at scale, combining culinary innovation with the finest real ingredients. With a rich heritage spanning seven distinctive brands, we bring unmatched expertise and tailored solutions to our Retail and Foodservice partners.

We are looking for a Sr. Manager, Customer Innovation & Culinary to be a key partner to the Sales, Marketing, and Product Development teams by providing culinary expertise that helps drive innovation and business growth across retail and foodservice channels. This role is responsible for developing customer-focused culinary solutions, creating new product concepts, conducting product demonstrations, and translating consumer and industry trends into commercially viable food products. The Culinary Chef works directly with customers to identify opportunities, solve product challenges, and support strategic growth initiatives.

Ideally, this individual will be located in or near Denver, CO; Boston, MA; Atlanta, GA; Dallas, TX; or Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN.

KEY 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.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Professional culinary training from an accredited culinary program required
• Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts, Food Science, Hospitality Management, or related field preferred.
• 5+ years of culinary experiencewithin food manufacturing, ingredient solutions, foodservices, or CPG environments
• Strong culinary techniques and food application expertise
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to interact with executive leadership, key customers, 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, and the ability to lift up to 50 pounds and stand/walk for greater than 4 hours

About Dessert Holdings

Dessert Holdings is a collection of premium dessert companies and brands: The Original Cakerie, Lawler's Desserts, Atlanta Cheesecake Company, Steven Charles, Dianne's Fine Desserts, Kenny's Great Pies, and Willamette Valley Pie Company. Dessert Holdings is owned by Bain Capital, is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, employs more than 3,500 people across ten manufacturing facilities, and is continuing its journey of rapid growth.

EEO Statement

Dessert Holdings and its related entities provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or any other characteristics protected by law.