JOB SUMMARY: : Participate in the development and implementation of Northgate Market’s initiative as an active leader in the product development team. Responsible for leading culinary innovations for our prepared foods business to deliver quality, delectable foods; create and test new recipes, preparation, and maintenance of quality standards, develop culinary talent within organization, and supervise standards.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES :

The essential duties and responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to, the following:

· Support in development of menus, recipes, processes, solutions, standards, training and merchandising for fresh prepared foods and perishable departments

· Develop and maintain milestone calendar for all R&D relate items/projects/events and launches to ensure timelines are met.

· Provide support and leadership to R&D and merchandising teams to ensure successful implementation and merchandising of fresh food programs

· Work collaboratively with all fresh food departments and vendors to develop and implement programs

· Implement programs across company retail sites working in close collaboration with store operations in both developing operationally sound programs and rollouts

· Support consumer insights and brand marketing teams to translate their learning’s into actionable fresh food programs through effective development and implementation

· Assist in establishing labor structure and accountability of culinary and support positions at store level

· Train/cross train and develop fresh food store staff in all aspects of production, inventory controls, food safety, merchandising and interactive customer service

· Trains Operators on existing or new recipes or procedures. Conducts presentation on product/food preparation.

• Responsible for product evaluation, including whole-time and yield studies, as input to product costing and portion control. Develops training materials for Operators on how to correctly handle new products and recipes .

· Assist in developing training materials and curriculums to standardize processes, recipes and practices

· Proven leadership in complex environment, leading teams with both direct and indirect reports

· Ensure close coordination and collaboration with all fresh department directors, merchandisers and departments leads, as well as the operation team during all stages of development

• Maintain strong knowledge of industry trends and work with sourcing to incorporate into business as appropriate .

· Optimize sales and profits in all programs, menus, recipes and operations standards to ensure company financial goals are met

· Ensure all company, state and federal regulations are met in all aspects of performance and products

· Perform hands on direct cooking and food production as needed

REQUIREMENTS AND CONDITIONS:

Education/Experience

· Culinary degree or equivalent of five years in a professional culinary role or executive retail fresh food experience with advanced work in culinary focused positions.

• Experience with menu and recipe development, food presentation and creative skills that result in the achievement of business objectives.
• English and Spanish speaking

· Thorough knowledge of culinary trends, Hispanic menus and recipes, regional foods of Mexico, food preparation and presentation

· Experience in ordering, inventory controls, shrink controls and business management

· Ability to lead and run a project as well as develop and deliver presentations to internal Company groups such as R&D and marketing as well as external customers

· Teamwork, communication, organization, and leadership skills

· Chain restaurant R&D experiences and retail fresh food a plus

· Catering experience is a plus

Certificates/Licenses/Registrations

• Food Safety certificate

Skills Required

· Must have excellent math skills to understand measurements, yields, margins, shrink, production planning and program analysis

· Must have excellent math skills to understand the measurements and prices for each product

• Ability to speak, read, write, analyze, interpret and understand the English and Spanish language with sufficient proficiency in order to read and understand:
• Prepare training materials, recipes, presentations and other documents as required
• instructions for operating electronic equipment and tools
• company handbooks, policies and procedures and other job-related documents
• Computer skills including Microsoft Office, Food Production Management systems, recipe database, and presentation software; the ability to compose and write reports, business correspondence, and effective departmental memos including "menus", and customer signs or sales suggestions
• Requires strong interpersonal and motivational skills
• Requires strong attention to detail and ability to envision the implementation tools needed to successfully execute concepts
• Has the perseverance and the ability to drive complicated projects to a successful conclusion
• Ability to deal with ambiguity and effectively cope with change

• Be able to pass a standard drug test and qualify as being drug‑free under the legal and medical guidelines permitted by the Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988.

Salary Range: $68,000 USD - $89,000 USD

Physical Demands and Work Conditions

The physical demands and work conditions described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Some requirements may be modified to accommodate individuals with disabilities:

• The employee must occasionally exert or lift up to 70 pounds carrying bulk containers of food and beverage products and frequently exert or lift negligible amounts of weight.

· Successful performance requires specific vision abilities that include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

• The work environment includes occasional exposure to low temperatures in refrigerated and frozen food storage areas and frequent exposure to or near heated ovens and high temperatures.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER NOTICE

The job duties, elements, responsibilities, skills, functions, experience, educational factors, and the requirements and conditions listed in this job description are representative only and not exhaustive of the tasks that an employee may be required to perform. The Employer reserves the right to revise this job description at any time and to require employees to perform other tasks as circumstances or conditions of its business or the work environment change.