Responsibilities

• Lead the ideation of big food ideas and ways-in to stand out in the marketplace. Create, define and refine short and long-term menu strategies via innovation, renovation and deletions in order to meet and exceed brand and business objectives.
• Partner with the Culinary team to create, develop, optimize and qualify new core menu and limited time products. Partner with cross-functional teams such as Operations, Analytics, Supply Chain, Training, Insights, and Marketing in the development, qualification and launch process.
• Evaluate, test, and launch products – evaluating results and developing recommendations on path forward for brand and franchisee alignment
• Partner with the Consumer Insights and Brand Analytics teams to gather information to understand current customer and growth target needs, market trends, competitive landscape, product screener results, positioning and product testing to develop recommendations based on prioritized areas of focus
• Partner with cross-functional teams, including Brand Experience and Commercial Group, on pricing, promotion, calendar needs, and positioning recommendations across channels
• Analyze ongoing performance of the core menu across channels (at the restaurant and in digital channels) to identify opportunities to optimize

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Marketing, Management or another related field.
• 10 years working in menu strategy for multi-unit foodservice chain(s)
• Ability to think strategically to inform and inspire big ideas
• Innate curiosity to derive consumer and business insights
• Possess strong business acumen and leadership skills.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, especially the ability to explain difficult concepts and insights in applicable business terms. Strong ability to summarize insights into PowerPoint presentations in clear and understandable calls to action.
• Ability to collaborate and motivate across the operations, supply chain, field, and marketing teams.
• Self-starter with the ability to project manage and handle multiple assignments simultaneously and meet all desired deadlines.
• Strong leadership, sales support, project management and training skills.
• Understanding of how to take products or programs through a development and testing process.