Kinder's Premium Quality Seasonings & Sauces · 2 days ago
Culinary Operations Manager
Walnut Creek, CA
Full-time
Hybrid
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$113K/yr - $133K/yr
8+ years expKinder's is a flavor-obsessed company that is expanding globally and seeking a Culinary Operations Manager to enhance collaboration and efficiency within their culinary team. This role involves managing ingredient inventories, coordinating procurement, and supporting innovation cycles to ensure culinary excellence.
Food and BeverageFood ProcessingManufacturingRestaurants
Responsibilities
Manage all ingredient inventories, including receiving, tracking, replenishment, and documentation
Partner with culinary team members to identify needs for new ingredients or raw materials
Collaborate with Sourcing and R&D/PD on identification, vetting, and onboarding of new raw materials
Ensure smooth coordination of ingredient availability for bench-top development, testing, and tastings
Partner with technical resources to communicate flavor targets required for new culinary concept development and coordinate feedback loops on flavor samples including clear documentation of sensory notes, gaps, and needed refinements / adjustments
Coordinate with Sourcing and R&D/PD on documentation and tracking protocols to support food safety compliance and operational accuracy
Lead procurement of culinary supplies, including utensils, cookware, small appliances, disposable goods, and kitchen tools on an as-needed basis
Partner with Culinary leadership to identify and procure food and ingredients for kitchen testing, tastings, and customer events
Manage all kitchen-related vendors including cleaning services, equipment maintenance partners, and suppliers of kitchen consumables
Maintain relationships with vendors, negotiate pricing, and assess performance to ensure strong service and value
Coordinate with Finance to ensure accurate budget tracking and compliance with procurement policies
Serve as the central point of contact for all cross-functional requests for culinary support
Coordinate culinary engagement in customer meetings, field marketing activations, internal events, media opportunities, and product demos
Identify potential resourcing issues and coordinate with cross-functional partners to prioritize high-priority business needs while maintaining development workflow stability
Communicate expectations, schedules, and deliverables clearly to internal partners
Work with cross-functional partners to identify key innovation meetings and maintain master planning calendar for innovation and culinary
Track progress across the full culinary development pipeline, ensuring visibility into timelines, resource needs, risks, and dependencies
Assign clear project ownership to relevant culinary team members and maintain accountability for on-time delivery of key milestones
Schedule, prepare, and manage product tastings, ensuring samples are presented accurately and documented for decision-making and approvals
Keep leadership informed on development status and any risk factors impacting timing or quality
Act as a key partner to R&D and product development teams to transfer bench-top culinary formulas into plant environments
Ensure all formula documentation, ingredient specifications, ingredient vendor detail, and culinary intent are communicated clearly to R&D / PD teams
Support troubleshooting during scale-up by being a clear source of information and follow up
Maintain a highly organized and efficient culinary development environment (kitchen operations, scheduling, documentation, sample storage, equipment needs)
Partner with Culinary team and leadership to identify and implement improvements in Culinary team processes, tools, and workflow systems
Support the development and implementation of operational standards to drive consistency and speed across culinary projects
Champion Kinder's values and culinary excellence across the organization
Qualification
Required
8+ years of experience in culinary operations, restaurant management, food product development, food manufacturing, or related areas
Experience in CPG culinary development, R&D, or commercialization is highly desirable
Strong project-management skills with proven ability to manage numerous tasks simultaneously in a fast-paced environment
Experience coordinating cross-functional teams and translating between technical, culinary, and business stakeholders
Familiarity with ingredient sourcing, inventory management, and vendor coordination
Experience with product development tools, project management platforms, and documentation systems (Wrike and / or TraceGains experience is a plus)
Growth mindset with an excitement to learn (and teach)
Passionate people-lover excited by the opportunity to build strong relationships with teammates and consumers
Low ego with a strong sense of humility
Thrive in a dynamic, lean, and agile environment
Collaborative mindset with an ability to find creative solutions
Self-starter who takes initiative and is willing to speak their mind
Excited to be part of a fast-moving team with the ability to be a leader and a follower where required
Enjoy making decisions and finding ways to say ‘yes' as often as possible to impactful and important priorities
Benefits
Paid time off
401k
Bonus / incentive eligibility
Equity grants
Competitive health benefits
Other family-friendly benefits, including parental leave
Company
Kinder's Premium Quality Seasonings & Sauces
Kinder's Premium Quality Seasonings & Sauces produces sauces, seasoning, rub, and marinates.
51-200 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageLeadership Team
Jim H.
Co-CEO & Chief Brand Officer, Director
Joe Rainero
CEO
Company data provided by crunchbase