Sr Chef, R&D

campbellsoup; New Jersey; Hybrid; USD 88,000 - 121,000; Full time

Job summary

Campbell Soup Company seeks an experienced Senior Chef of NAFS to guide culinary strategy and execution for our North American Food Service portfolio. You will lead culinary thought leadership, translate trends into opportunities, and build client relationships to win new business.

You will collaborate with R&D, customers and cross-functional teams to elevate recipes and scale up production while maintaining food safety and quality standards. Travel 30–35% is required.

Qualifications

• Must have 6+ years in CPG or culinary industry.
• Experience leading kitchens, teams, and high-profile culinary events/catering.

Responsibilities

• Demonstrate culinary thought leadership and business strategy.
• Collaborate with R&D and customers to showcase recipes in the NAFS portfolio.
• Lead cross-functional planning, project management and education for culinary products.

Skills

Culinary leadership

Foodservice operations

Client relationship

Presentation skills

Communication skills

Strategic thinking

Leadership

Education

Culinary degree (AOS)

HS diploma or equivalent

Job description

Since 1869, we've connected people through food they love. We're proud to be stewards of amazing brands that people trust. Our portfolio includes the iconic Campbell's brand, as well as Cape Cod, Chunky, Goldfish, Kettle Brand, Lance, Late July, Pacific Foods, Pepperidge Farm, Prego, Pace, Rao's Homemade, Snack Factory, Snyder's of Hanover. Swanson, and V8.

Why Campbell's...

• Benefits begin on day one and include medical, dental, short and long-term disability, AD&D, and life insurance (for individual, families, and domestic partners).
• Employees are eligible for our matching 401(k) plan and can enroll on the first day of employment with immediate vesting.
• Campbell's offers unlimited sick time along with paid time off and holiday pay.
• If in WHQ - free access to the fitness center.
• Access to on-site day care (operated by Bright Horizons) and company store.
• Giving back to the communities where our employees work and live is very important to Campbell's.
• Our "Campbell's Cares" program matches employee donations and/or volunteer activity up to $1,500 annually.
• Campbell's has a variety of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to support employees.

Here, you will make a difference every day. You will be supported to build a rewarding career with opportunities to grow, innovate and inspire. Make history with us.

How you will make history here...

The Senior Chef of NAFS (North American Food Service) is responsible for assisting the Executive Chef of NAFS to help lead and build culinary strategy and execution for the business. This role will drive culinary excellence and increase culinary credibility to achieve new business development through 1) translation of culinary trends and operator insights to win new costumers. 2) leverage current portfolio to drive new opportunities that increase sales. 3) Provide culinary inspiration to raise the bar on the quality of our existing culinary capabilities/showcases. 4) Influence and collaborate with cross functional partners (internal and external) for the best possible product outcome (training and education on culinary / Real Food) 5) Build, foster, and leverage client relationships to make NAFS the undisputed partner of choice.

What you will do:

• Demonstrate culinary thought leadership, business strategy & creative problem solving.
• Knowledgeable of culinary trends and ability to apply towards business objectives.
• Expert in restaurant operations and can to navigate and simplify complex BOH (back of house) systems by providing/selling CSC solutions and brands.
• Partnership with R&D and customers to make recipes showcasing the NAFS portfolio of products
• Cross-functional collaboration and understanding and willingness to learn more deeply the manufacturing capabilities and constraints to enable successful translation and scale up of culinary gold standards.
• Attend product inspections to provide culinary perspectives and expertise.
• Project management & prioritization of projects with staff.
• Collaborate, plan and execute product ideations and presentations with cross functional partners.
• Build strong and sustainable relationship with sales/marketing team members.
• Build strong and sustainable relationship with key customers.
• Strong understanding of competitive landscape and ability to win new business through duplication projects and menu gap analysis.
• Knowledge of restaurant financials and business acumen (P&L's, menu engineering, food cost)
• To attend and be the culinary lead at Industry Conferences that are targeted to chains.

Who you will work with:

• Highly proficient culinary expertise & collaborative working style
• Sales minded professional / business acumen
• Proficient decision making
• Ability to influence and effectively communicate with functional partners and clients to foster collaboration
• Effective presentation skills & ability to influence
• Excellent communication skills- verbal, written and presentational
• Basic understanding of scale up/manufacturing challenges
• Effective & collaborative leadership skills
• Strategic thinking / ability to translate complex business challenges into tangible solutions
• Recipe / menu development

What you bring to the table (must haves):

• HS diploma or equivalent
• Minimum of 6 CPG or culinary industry related experience required
• It would be great to have (nice to haves)...
• Education: Culinary Degree (AOS) from an Accredited Culinary School,
• Must have experience successfully leading kitchens, teams, projects, and high profile culinary events/catering. Must have "real life" restaurant/food service operation experience.
• Travel (30-35%)
• Serve Safe Certified

Compensation and Benefits:

The target base salary range for this full-time, salaried position is between $88,100-$121,100

Individual base pay depends on work location and additional factors such as experience, job-related skills, and relevant education or training. Total pay may include other forms of compensation. In additi