Senior Product Development Chef

Want to help us bring happiness to the world? Want to join an ambitious and fast growing global biscuits and confectionery business investing heavily in iconic global brands, infrastructure and people? Then this is the place for you.

As proud bakers and chocolatiers and custodians of iconic global brands, we don’t compromise on the quality of ingredients in our products or on the people we hire. We are looking for entrepreneurial spirits who share our passion for bringing happiness to our consumers and who embody our Winning Traits.

To succeed at pladis you need to be purpose-led, resilient and positive because we expect pace and agility. We insist on collaboration and demand accountability. If that is your thing, then pladis offers global ambition, a clear Vision and roadmap for success, challenge, and unrivalled opportunities to learn and make an impact.

We have an exciting and unique opportunity within our R&D function for a Senior Product Development Chef! As the face of R&D, the Senior Development Chef will be the authoritative culinary voice within the team, bringing passion for food and insights of the latest food trends, from street food to high-end restaurants, into our products.

What will this role achieve?

The Senior Product Development Chef will bring creativity and food credentials to pladis. As the culinary leader for the business, the role will see you working closely with R&D, marketing, and customer functions to share knowledge on trends and competitor activity whilst inspiring the business with innovative ideas.

What will be your key deliverables?

• Be knowledgeable and constantly aware of current and future food and consumer trends and competitor developments. Build strong links with marketing to ensure that these trends are utilised to build concepts and products that encourage and support the building of our future innovation.

• Support product development by ensuring that culinary aspects are considered, and great taste is central to all developments.

• Work closely with the ingredients experts and product development teams to bring to life new ingredients and technologies that will keep the business ahead of the competition. Build showcases to demonstrate these to team members.

• Work closely with the Consumer Technical Insights team to ensure the consumer is at the forefront of all our developments and support rapid prototyping to gather consumer feedback and ensure right first-time development.

• Build networks externally within the food industry, including suppliers and chefs.

• Competitor expert, staying ahead of competitor activity and sharing insights with the wider team, ensuring our innovation is best in class and adaptable to market trends.

• Coordinate culinary days and food tours to inspire colleagues and ensure focus on the external world.

What do you need for this role?

The Product Development Chef will have significant proven experience in high-end restaurants, with demonstrable experience in new recipe development. The role is highly visible and will require the ability to work cross-functionally including the leadership team.

Essential

• Deep knowledge of food trends locally and globally.

• Ability to demonstrate a strong network of external chefs.

• Strong presentation skills, as this role may have public-facing duties e.g. news interviews, social media, events, business showcases.

• Proven knowledge of managing a culinary budget.

• Culinary Qualification (Culinary Diploma, NVQ etc).

Desirable

• Experience within an FMCG organisation as a development chef.

• Project management skills.

• Member of culinary associations.

• Detailed knowledge and highly skilled in patisserie and bakery.

Diversity and inclusion is central to everything we do and is reflected across our business. pladis brings together brands and people from around the globe – and this diversity is our great strength.

We’re an equal opportunities employer and believe in fostering an inclusive environment where we celebrate diversity of thinking and respect everyone’s distinctive qualities and perspectives.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform key job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

pladis is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to hiring a diverse workforce. All openings will be filled based on qualifications without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, age, religion or any other classification protected by law.

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