Dynamic Senior Innovation Activation Chef.
Job Description
About Us
Kraft Heinz is a global food company with a delicious heritage. With iconic and emerging food and beverage brands around the world, we deliver the best taste, fun and quality to every meal table we touch. We’re on a mission to disrupt not only our own business, but the global food industry. A consumer obsession and unexpected partnerships fuel our progress as we drive innovation across every part of our company.
What's on the Menu:
We have a fantastic opportunity available for a dynamic Senior Innovation Chef to lead culinary activation across the Kraft Heinz International Zone — turning insight, host-food trends and product USPs into recipes, prototypes and stories that grow our core, launch what's next, and give consumers (and our customers) a real reason to believe in the power of our Brands and products. Reporting to our R&D Culinary Innovation Senior Manager and sitting inside our Consumer & Culinary eXperience (CCX) International team, you'll be the culinary voice in the room — across R&D, Marketing (incl. The Kitchen), Sales, CX and CMI.
This role is pivotal: indeed, our products don't live alone on a shelf — they live in a meal, paired with a host food, in a moment that consumers remember. And it's where great food brands win.
Key Ingredients:
Core Responsibilities:
Own culinary activation for our core portfolio. Identify the host foods that are growing and build the recipes, pairings and prototypes that put Heinz Mayo, Condiments and Meals at the center of those moments.
Translate product value into experiences consumers and customers can taste, see and share. Make our products' USPs and RTBs tangible on a plate. From physical experiences (chef demos, foodservice, in-market sampling) to digital ones (social-first recipes, content for The Kitchen, trade storytelling) — you turn product truth into craveable proof.
Drive strategic, insight-led projects end-to-end. Translate IZ regional strategies into culinary projects with clear business outcomes — accelerating existing SKUs and nurturing new-in-market launches.
Champion a culinary ESG & nutrition mindset. Embed nutrition and sustainability into how we cook, pair and communicate — without losing one gram of deliciousness.
Run a tight kitchen. Own daily kitchen operations, HACCP compliance, culinary data management and safety / hygiene standards.
Strategy & Leadership:
Shape what's next. Bring trends, host-food intelligence and "The Menu" platform insights into category strategy. Spot the next pairing before competitors do.
Create platforms, not one-offs. Build new culinary platforms (strategic and technological). Bring proactive ideas. Protect culinary quality when we co-develop with external suppliers.
Be a culinary brand ambassador. Represent Kraft Heinz in the chef community, scout external partners, and stay plugged into the global KHC Culinary network — sharing trends, recipes and best practices. Coach our junior chefs.
Influence at the top. Present strategic culinary programs to senior leadership with the storytelling and reasons-to-believe that unlock budgets and conviction.
Recipe for Success: Apply if it sounds like you!
You hold a culinary degree (hospitality school, apprenticeship or bachelor's) and have 5+ years in food service — hotels, FSR, QSR, pubs, catering, industry or institutional — ideally with international or strong regional exposure.
You also have 5+ years inside a corporate R&D or innovation kitchen, so you know how a recipe becomes a product — and how a product earns its place back on a plate.
You have knowledge in culinary social media and digital content creation
You know innovation kitchen methodologies, testing approaches and how to turn complex briefs into simple, actionable culinary outcomes.
You're a confident communicator and influencer — comfortable presenting to senior leadership and simplifying complexity into a clear reason to believe.
You thrive in a matrixed, multicultural, multi-zone organization — collaborating across R&D, Marketing, CX, CMI and Sales without needing direct authority.
You bring curiosity, creativity, flair — and an obvious, contagious passion for food. Excellent English (spoken and written) is a must.
You connect with Kraft Heinz company culture
Teamwork. You lead, you follow, you ship — but always with the team. Results matter; results with the team matter more.
Communication. You're comfortable in the room with senior management at any level.
Ownership & results. You drive outcomes, report on them honestly, and always do what's best for the company.
Energy. Curious, positive, enthusiastic — the driver of the team. Culinary creativity is part of who you are.
Organization. Multiple projects, tight timelines, no missed deliveries.
What we offer you / You deserve
A fast career track few other companies can genuinely match.
A permanent contract — because we believe in making big bets on people.
A competitive package with real ownership and visibility.
A global culinary community of chefs — share trends, swap recipes, build capabilities together.
Iconic brands on millions of plates. Real budgets. Real impact. Always room for a great new idea — bring it, and we'll act on it.
Why Us?
We grow our people to grow our business. We champion ambition, curiosity and high performance — as the guardians of beloved, nostalgic brands and as the disruptors of what comes next. Good isn't good enough. We choose greatness every day by challenging the ordinary and making bold decisions — celebrating our wins and our failures as we lead the future of food.
We invest in your purpose and potential by developing skills and nurturing strengths that leave a legacy on our business and a lasting impact on your career. Because great people make great companies, and we’re growing something great here at Kraft Heinz.
If you've spent your career proving that sensory and consumer experience is a growth engine, not a cost center — we want to talk.
We hope you find a seat at our table!
Location(s)
Nijmegen
Kraft Heinz is an Equal Opportunity Employer – Underrepresented Ethnic Minority Groups/Women/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity and other protected classes.