Strategic Food Innovation Leader

ISS Facility Services - North America; California; On-site; USD 115,000 - 119,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, life, and disability,

Comprehensive leave program

Job summary

ISS Facility Services - North America seeks a Food Strategy & Innovation Partner to lead strategic initiatives evolving the client’s food program, enhancing employee experience, and delivering long-term value. You’ll translate insights and data into actionable strategies, partnering with Culinary, Operations, Technology, Procurement, R&D, Marketing, Sustainability, and client stakeholders.

Role focuses on nutrition, wellness, sustainability, and program development, with pilots and scalable

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Nutrition, Dietetics, Food Science, Hospitality, Business, or related discipline.
• Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) credential.
• ServSafe Manager Certification.
• 5+ years of relevant experience in foodservice, nutrition, wellness, program management, food strategy, innovation, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional projects and strategic initiatives.
• Strong executive communication, presentation, relationship-building, and stakeholder-management capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and execution of strategic initiatives to enhance the food program, employee experience, and long-term program value.
• Identify opportunities for innovation across foodservice operations, technology, nutrition and wellness, sustainability, menu strategy, and customer engagement.
• Translate emerging food trends, consumer insights, program data, and business needs into actionable strategies and recommendations.
• Partner with culinary leadership and R&D to evolve menu strategy, food concepts, specialized offerings, and wellness-focused programming.
• Maintain awareness of emerging foodservice technologies, industry innovations, and changing consumer behaviors.
• Develop and oversee pilot programs to evaluate new concepts, technologies, tools, service models, and program enhancements.
• Establish objectives, success metrics, and measurement methodologies for innovation pilots.
• Analyze pilot performance and provide recommendations regarding refinement, implementation, or broader scalability.
• Develop scalable frameworks, standards, and best practices that enable successful initiatives to be replicated across locations and programs.
• Lead cross-functional food program initiatives from concept through implementation.
• Partner across Culinary, Operations, Technology, Procurement, R&D, Marketing, Sustainability, and other business functions.
• Establish project objectives, timelines, responsibilities, success measures, and implementation strategies.
• Identify barriers, dependencies, and opportunities while driving projects toward successful execution.
• Provide strategic leadership and subject-matter expertise in nutrition, wellness, menu development, and allergen safety.
• Lead continuous improvement of wellness programs and healthy onsite dining strategies.
• Oversee nutrition analysis and menu-management processes to ensure nutritional accuracy and program integrity.
• Collaborate with culinary and R&D teams to expand healthier and specialized food options.
• Develop nutrition and wellness strategies that respond to evolving employee needs and preferences.
• Analyze program performance, participation, customer feedback, menu data, nutritional information, and other relevant metrics.
• Translate quantitative and qualitative data into actionable insights and strategic recommendations.
• Develop and maintain appropriate dashboards and reporting tools.
• Establish KPIs for strategic initiatives and evaluate program effectiveness and long-term value.
• Conduct food and nutrition audits and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Support and advance food-related sustainability strategies, including waste reduction, responsible sourcing, recycling, and sustainable menu development.
• Utilize program data to identify opportunities to improve environmental performance.
• Partner with culinary, procurement, operations, and client stakeholders to translate sustainability objectives into practical food-program initiatives.
• Serve as a strategic advisor and food-program subject-matter expert to client and internal leadership.
• Identify opportunities to evolve the food program based on consumer feedback, operational performance, industry trends, innovation, and business needs.
• Develop and present strategic recommendations, innovation proposals, pilot results, program performance, and future opportunities to client and senior leadership.
• Maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders and provide clear visibility into strategic initiatives and program progress.
• Develop and implement SOPs, standards, frameworks, and governance processes supporting food-program excellence.
• Drive continuous improvement across menu development, food safety, allergen management, nutrition, technology, and program execution.
• Partner with corporate teams to improve processes, systems, and transparency.
• Support training and knowledge-sharing to ensure successful implementation and adoption of program standards.

Skills

Executive communication

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional leadership

Analytical skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Nutrition, Dietetics, Food Science, Hospitality, Business, or related discipline

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN)

ServSafe Manager Certification

Job description

ISS Facility Services - North America seeks a Food Strategy & Innovation Partner to lead strategic initiatives evolving the client’s food program, enhancing employee experience, and delivering long-term value. You’ll translate insights and data into actionable strategies, partnering with Culinary, Operations, Technology, Procurement, R&D, Marketing, Sustainability, and client stakeholders.

Role focuses on nutrition, wellness, sustainability, and program development, with pilots and scalable