Director Culinary Innovation Jobs in Chicago, IL

As a premier global food provider, the OSI Group partners with the world’s leading foodservice and retail food brands to provide concept-to-table solutions that delight consumers around the globe.  

Join us and discover a work experience where diverse ideas are met with enthusiasm, and where you can learn and grow to your full potential. We’re looking for individuals who thrive in an entrepreneurial environment and who enjoy working as a team to deliver unparalleled service and solutions to our customers.  

Position Summary:

The Culinary Development Director provides strategic culinary leadership for the organization, driving innovation, creativity, and excellence in product development specifically in retail/private label. This role oversees the retail culinary channel within the corporate R&D and Culinary team, ensuring that all new products and menu concepts align with company capabilities, operational efficiency, and customer needs.

This role as a key liaison between culinary, operations, R&D, marketing, and sales — transforming consumer insights and food trends into commercially viable, scalable solutions that strengthen the company’s position as a leader in food manufacturing innovation. 

Principal Duties & Responsibilities:

• Job supervises a team, has authority to hire and performance-manage a team.
• Job leads/supervises/manages 1-5 employees.

Strategic Culinary Leadership:

• Define and execute the company’s culinary vision in alignment with corporate strategy and business growth objectives.

Innovation & Product Development:

• Lead the ideation, creation, and commercialization of new food concepts, ensuring alignment with market trends, customer expectations, and manufacturing feasibility.

Customer Collaboration:

• Represent the company’s culinary capabilities in customer presentations, ideation sessions, and business reviews. Partner closely with Sales and Marketing to deliver compelling, insight-driven culinary solutions.

Cross-Functional Partnership:

• Collaborate with R&D, Operations, Quality Assurance, and Supply Chain to ensure smooth product transition from concept through commercialization.

Team Leadership & Development:

• Mentor and guide culinary professionals and product development chefs, fostering a high-performing, creative, and collaborative culture.

Market & Trend Analysis:

• Continuously monitor culinary, ingredient, and consumer trends to identify future innovation opportunities and support strategic planning.

Process Excellence:

• Champion efficiency and consistency in product development processes, recipe management, and documentation.

Brand Representation:

• Serve as a culinary ambassador for the organization, promoting its innovation capabilities and product excellence within the industry.

Budget & Resource Management:

• Oversee culinary budget, equipment, and resources to ensure optimal support for business objectives.
• Ensure adherence to company safety, sanitation, and regulatory standards in all culinary and product development activities.
• This role has the responsibility to understand and places in practice appropriate safety procedures.  This responsibility is achieved through education, training, use of protective equipment (as applicable) and by following safety policies, regulations, standards, and laws.

Perform other duties as assigned.

Experience & Skills:

• 10+ years progressive experience in culinary innovation and/or food R&D in retail consumer packaged goods, retail meals, or large-scale food manufacturing/foodservice organization preferred
• Proven track record of leading culinary teams and delivering concept-to-commercialization success across the retail product categories.
• Strong understanding of industrial food production processes, ingredient functionality, and cost optimization.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills; ability to interact with executive leadership, key customers, and cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex projects and drive innovation within structured manufacturing environments.

You will stand out if you have: 

• Strong culinary foundation: able to talk flavor profiles, balance, and finishing notes (e.g., Asian sauces, pesto/Italian, mac & cheese, proteins, sauces, vegetables, starches) with confidence.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence and build cross-functional alignment across Sales, Culinary, R&D, Operations, Packaging, and Supply Chain.
• Track record of building or mentoring teams, especially in emerging or “startup-like” business areas.

Skills:

• Culinary strategy and innovation leadership
• Strategic and analytical thinking
• Customer presence
• Collaborative cross-functional leadership
• Strong business acumen and operational understanding
• Executive-level communication and presentation skills

Preferred Education:

•BA/BS in Food Science, Meat Science, Dairy Science, Animal Science, or related field; culinary degree (e.g., AOS in Culinary Arts) strongly preferred.

Compensation & Benefits

The salary range posted represents the low and high end of OSI’s salary range for this position. The salary range for this role is $137,608.00 – $206,412,00, with a midpoint of $172,010.00 USD.  Offers are typically made between the minimum and midpoint of the range, based on skills, experience, and internal equity. In rare cases, highly qualified candidates may receive an offer above the midpoint; however, offers at the maximum of the range are not customary.  Salaries will vary based on various factors, including but not limited to, location, education, skills, experience and performance. Base salary is one component of OSI’s overall total rewards package. Other components may include bonuses, special pay programs, comprehensive time off, 401k with match and a full suite of benefit offerings for you and your family.

Work Environment:

• Work is generally performed within a business professional office environment, with standard office equipment available.
•  Work conditions are typical of a food manufacturing facility.
• This role requires 30% domestic travel.
• Position may require the physical agility of lifting up to 50 pounds
•  Position may require frequent and/or infrequent of bending, squatting, pushing, pulling, stretching/reaching, use hands or fingers, talk, hear, feel objects, tools, controls, and standing/walking on concrete flooring.
• Position may require the physical ability to stand/walk for greater than 4 hours.
• Work location is onsite in Warrenville, IL (as of September 2026)