Duties and Responsibilities

* Builds cooperative relationships with national and local market prepared food vendors.

* Develop strategic alliances based on innovation and product development.

* Negotiate pricing, vendor programs, delivery, and payment terms for prepared food products.

* Facilitate mutually beneficial agreements around promotional opportunities and support.

* Be first to market in new products, innovation, and points of difference.

* Conduct regular Quality Assurance tastings and evaluations to ensure recipe adherence, food quality, and consistency.

* Launch/expand successful prepared food product lines and implement successful exit strategies for unproductive merchandise.

* Completes all required reports, logs, and culinary audits/reviews in a timely manner.

* Lead, contribute to and execute parts of the culinary strategic plan for the division.

* Launch line reviews in support of customer and seasonal expectations.

* Leverage fact-based decision making to drive growth and profitability.

* Assists in kitchen schematics design and recommends adjacencies that support the efficiency of the space.

* Orientates new cooks within their respective area, core culinary standards and established food programs.

* Provides support for new restaurant openings and/or renovations.

* Provides leadership to culinary team members and kitchen managers.

* Assists with training, coaching and development of culinary team members.