Manager, R&D - Culinary Innovation Lab

Kraft Heinz Company is a global food and beverage leader renowned for its commitment to quality, innovation, and delivering superior products that delight consumers worldwide. As one of the largest food companies, Kraft Heinz specializes in manufacturing, marketing, and selling a diverse portfolio of iconic brands across multiple food categories. With a focus on accelerating growth through innovative research and development (R&D), Kraft Heinz fosters a collaborative and creative work environment where culinary expertise and consumer insights converge to create market-leading products. The company values diversity, equity, and inclusion, actively encouraging applicants from underrepresented ethnic minorities, women, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The role of Culinary Innovation Lab Manager at Kraft Heinz represents a strategic and hands-on position within the R&D innovation sector. This role is central to transforming the future of culinary innovation by blending culinary creativity with technical proficiency to identify, develop, and validate new food products, ingredients, flavors, and consumer usage trends. Operating from the Kraft Heinz R&D Innovation Center in Glenview, IL, the Culinary Innovation Lab Manager is entrusted with leading culinary research initiatives, managing multiple innovation projects, and collaborating extensively with cross-functional teams including Marketing, Insights, and R&D Innovation professionals as well as external partners.

This position involves applying design thinking and agile methodologies to drive opportunity identification, product prototype development, and consumer product-fit learning, ensuring alignment with business priorities and market demands. The manager’s responsibilities encompass leveraging culinary fundamentals such as cooking techniques, ingredient functionality, food safety, and nutrition to convert consumer insights into actionable product development strategies. By leading end-to-end culinary workstreams, the manager will influence cross-functional decisions regarding innovation strategies, concept prioritization, and product direction, ultimately delivering scalable and commercially viable food products.

The role requires a high level of creativity, strategic thinking, communication skills, and project management abilities, with an emphasis on independent execution and collaborative partnership building. It also demands a strong foundation in food science and culinary arts, complemented by experience in structured sensory evaluations and consumer research methods. The Culinary Innovation Lab Manager will contribute significantly to the advancement of Kraft Heinz’s innovation pipeline, ensuring that consumer trends, competitive intelligence, and business objectives culminate in successful product launches.

Operated within a hybrid work model, this position offers the flexibility to work virtually up to two days per week, while maintaining a physical presence at the Glenview R&D Innovation Center for the majority of the workweek. The work environment is dynamic and physically active, requiring constant standing, food preparation, and occasional lifting. The position offers a competitive base salary ranging from $104,200 to $130,200 with eligibility for a performance-based bonus and comprehensive benefits tailored to support employee wellbeing and career growth.