New Product Development Innovation Chef

At KFC, we pride ourselves on being original. We even named our recipe after it. But for us, the answer to the question is simple. Be You. Everyone at KFC is different. Unique. It’s what makes us special - Our people, The Originals. And we welcome you to join us. Bring your individuality to the table. Bring your grit and energy. Bring your spirit. Your story. Your drive and your passion. Bring it. Every piece of you. Even the parts you don’t like. Because we value our people no matter what. We’ll feed your potential and we’ll support you; to be your best self, to make a difference, and have fun. Together, we can be part of something truly extraordinary. All you have to do, is Bring it.

To create, develop and commercialize distinctive, consumer-led food and beverage products across the KFC Africa menu, translating innovation strategy into scalable, safe, compliant and operationally executable products. The role leads end-to-end product development and renovation, from ideation and bench development through consumer validation, supplier scale-up, restaurant testing and launch readiness, while optimizing quality, cost, yield and back-of-house simplicity

Responsibilities:

Lead consumer-led product innovation
•Translate brand, consumer and commercial briefs into compelling food and beverage concepts across priority menu categories.
•Build and maintain a robust innovation and renovation pipeline aligned to strategic growth priorities.
•Develop prototypes, recipes, specifications and product builds, balancing taste, brand distinctiveness, nutrition, affordability and operational simplicity.
•Prepare and present products for tastings, leadership reviews, menu shoots and consumer research.

Validate products and restaurant execution
•Complete ingredient, yield, portioning, build, hold-time and shelf-life validations using disciplined test protocols.
•Partner with the NPD Operations Consultant to complete interim and full operational validations.
•Design practical back-of-house procedures that enable consistent, safe and high-quality restaurant execution.
•Attend consumer research and restaurant trials to ensure products are prepared correctly, insights are captured and required improvements are actioned.

Commercialize and govern product launches
•Develop indicative bills of materials once ingredients and quantities are confirmed, and support cost, yield and margin assessments.
•Create and maintain product procedures and CSLs, securing Operations sign-off on all back-of-house processes.
•Review and approve new product and packaging specifications within delegated technical authority.
•Conduct supplier trials and production-line sign-offs to confirm product consistency, specification compliance and market-test readiness.
•Ensure compliance with the KFC restricted ingredients list, allergen requirements, nutritional standards, food-safety requirements and relevant legislation.

Optimize the existing portfolio
•Renovate existing products and packaging to improve quality, availability, ease of execution and consumer relevance.
•Identify raw-material, portioning, yield and process opportunities that reduce waste and cost without compromising the consumer experience.
•Develop contingency solutions and technically sound ingredient replacements where supply or performance risks arise.

Lead cross-functional delivery
•Coordinate samples, specifications, ingredients and test-kitchen builds with suppliers, the NPD Assistant and the Test Kitchen Supervisor.
•Partner with Marketing, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Training, Finance and suppliers to resolve development constraints and deliver launches on time.
•Provide clear project updates, risks, decisions and recommendations in cross-functional forums and FIT team reviews.

Education:
•Minimum Food Technology, Food Science or Culinary Arts diploma.
•Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Culinary Innovation or a related discipline is preferred.

Experience:
•Six to eight years’ product development experience in the food sector, preferably within QSR, FMCG, food retail or food service.
•Demonstrated experience leading products from concept and bench development through validation, scale-up, market test and launch.
•Experience working in cross-functional teams and with ingredient, product and packaging suppliers.
•Practical exposure to restaurant, test-kitchen and manufacturing environments.

Knowledge and Skills:
•Strong culinary craftsmanship supported by sound food-science, food-safety and manufacturing knowledge.
•Ability to calculate yield, portioning, waste, shelf life and indicative bills of materials.
•Working knowledge of allergens, nutrition, ingredient restrictions, product and packaging specifications, and relevant food legislation.
•Strong sensory judgement, structured experimentation, critical thinking and root-cause problem solving.
•Excellent planning, project management, stakeholder influence, communication and presentation skills.
•Hands-on, detail-oriented and resilient, with the ability to manage competing priorities and deliver to deadlines.
•Willingness to travel to restaurants, research venues and supplier facilities, and to follow all required PPE and safety procedures.