Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end menu category management, including performance tracking, optimization, and long-term growth strategy.
• Define the role each category and item plays within the menu (core, innovation, traffic driver, margin builder).
• Identify whitespace opportunities and recommend actions based on guest insights, trends, and performance data.
• Ensure menu strategy aligns with brand positioning, guest expectations, and financial priorities.
• Partner closely with Culinary to help shape the innovation pipeline from early concepts through launch.
• Lead the development of clear, compelling product briefs that define, target guest & occasion, product promise & differentiation, pricing guardrails & success metrics
• Support test-and-learn initiatives, pilots, and limited-time offerings with clear hypotheses and measurement plans.
• Help balance creativity with feasibility, scalability, and operational excellence.
• Build thoughtful, data-driven business cases for new items and menu changes, including:
• Sales, mix, and margin assumptions

Requirements

• 58+ years of experience in product marketing, menu strategy, category management, or brand marketing.
• Proven experience partnering closely with Culinary / R&D teams.
• Experience operating in growth-stage or evolving brands where structure is still being built.
• Strategic thinker with strong analytical instincts and a bias toward action.
• Comfortable working with performance data, financial inputs, and pricing considerations.
• Clear, confident communicator, especially in writing briefs and presenting recommendations.
• Highly collaborative and comfortable influencing cross-functionally.
• Operator-minded, detail-oriented, and energized by building systems that scale.
• Curious, optimistic, and excited by food, flavor, and the guest experience.
• Must be able to lift 20-30 pounds

Preferred

• Experience within fast casual, QSR, food & beverage, or hospitality strongly preferred.
• Proven experience partnering closely with Culinary / R&D teams.