Overview
Why PepsiCo Design Innovation:
PepsiCo Design & Innovation is a creatively driven team that leverages the power of Design Thinking to solve brand and business problems that drive meaningful value and growth. Our team’s mission is to lead the innovation agendas to accelerate PepsiCo’s Food transformation agenda. We innovate with intent; to solve real problems, for real people, in the real world. We innovate to incite positive change - for people, brands, business and the world around us
Our Opportunity:
In this role, you’ll report to the VP of Design Innovation, working closely with internal design leaders and collaborating with cross-functional teams, including R&D, insights and marketing. The role emphasizes leading the culinary ideation process through a design-driven approach, ensuring that external perspectives and fresh ideas are continuously brought into the organization by engaging with external chefs and culinary experts
This position is not about replicating the work of R&D chefs but focuses on guiding, collaborating, and leading ideation and test & learn approaches. You will ensure a design-forward, test-and-learn approach that sparks innovation and aligns with business goals, while constantly pushing for creative exploration by leveraging external culinary partnerships
Responsibilities
Culinary Design Leadership:
- This role revolves around culinary innovation through a design lens. You’ll act as a bridge between internal teams and the broader culinary world, engaging external chefs and culinary innovators to introduce fresh ideas and perspectives into the process. This collaboration will infuse new energy and diverse viewpoints, ensuring our culinary innovations stay ahead of trends and tap into global insights
- You will guide the ideation process, from early-stage concepting to the creation of design-led culinary experiences, working closely with R&D without overlapping with their technical development efforts. Your leadership will ensure that collaboration between internal and external experts results in compelling food innovations that reflect both creativity and commercial potential
Key Responsibilities:
- Collaborate with External Chefs: Actively build and foster partnerships with external chefs, culinary innovators, and food experts to inject fresh perspectives and broaden the scope of culinary innovation
- Lead the internal culinary innovation team, ensuring a clear design angle, and guiding the ideation process from concept development through testing
- Facilitate external chef collaborations, using these engagements as creative inspiration to influence internal ideation and elevate food design
- Ensure culinary innovations align with broader design strategies and are tested through a rigorous, design-driven test-and-learn approach
- Drive test kitchen activities and cross-functional workshops, engaging both internal and external chefs, to identify and prototype new food experiences
- Lead multidisciplinary ideation sessions, integrating insights from external partnerships into internal design processes
Bringing the Outside In:
- You will champion an “outside-in” approach to culinary innovation by continually sourcing and engaging external culinary talent. These collaborations will ensure that the culinary innovation pipeline remains vibrant, experimental, and consumer-driven, while also fostering a culture of open innovation
- Partner with renowned chefs, culinary entrepreneurs, and innovators to introduce novel ingredients, techniques, and global trends into the product development process
- Stay connected to the broader culinary ecosystem to ensure our innovations reflect cutting-edge trends and consumer desires
- Incorporate external insights and ideas into the internal design process, aligning with strategic design and business goals while maintaining a unique, consumer-driven focus
Culinary & Design Innovation Expert:
- As the design director of culinary innovation, you will drive the early-stage exploration and design of new food experiences. You’ll use design thinking principles to frame culinary opportunities, working with both internal and external partners to generate prototypes that reflect the latest in culinary creativity and consumer demands. While R&D focuses on technical scaling and product commercialization, your role will emphasize the creative front-end and design-led ideation, but also the landing of effective solutions in market
- Lead the integration of external culinary trends and insights into the design strategy, ensuring a continual influx of new ideas
- Guide the development of design-driven culinary solutions, prototyping and refining concepts that can later be scaled by R&D
- Collaborate with both internal design teams and external chefs to create culinary prototypes that embody both creative vision and design rigor
Collaboration & Leadership:
- Inspire and lead cross-functional teams through culinary innovation, encouraging a culture of collaboration both internally and with external chefs
- Facilitate open dialogue between internal teams and external culinary partners to drive new thinking and foster creative solutions
- Guide external partnerships, ensuring that insights from external chefs are effectively integrated into internal design processes to create innovative and scalable solutions
- Mentor and coach culinary professionals, emphasizing collaboration, iterative testing, and the value of external insights in driving culinary innovation
Compensation & Benefits:
- The expected compensation range for this position is between $122,300 - $242,700
- Location, confirmed job-related skills, experience, and education will be considered in setting actual starting salary.Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range during the hiring process
- Bonus based on performance and eligibility target payout is 25% of annual salary paid out annually
- and an additional target payout of 10% of annual salary is paid out over 3 years following the end of the performance period
- Long term incentive equity may be awarded based on eligibility and performance
- Paid time off subject to eligibility, including paid parental leave, vacation, sick, and bereavement
- In addition to salary, PepsiCo offers a comprehensive benefits package to support our employees and their families, subject to elections and eligibility: Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Health, and Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Insurance (Accident, Group Legal, Life), Defined Contribution Retirement Plan
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
- 12+ years of experience, with at least 5 years in a culinary innovation/design leadership role
- Degree in Design Strategy, Culinary Arts, or a related field, with strong experience in culinary innovation and external partnerships
- Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage external collaborations, focusing on design-led culinary ideation
- Experience integrating external culinary perspectives and trends into the innovation process
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience in consumer-packaged goods (CPG) or foodservice with a focus on culinary innovation and external chef collaborations
- Strong project management and leadership skills, with a focus on fostering creative partnerships with external chefs
- Expertise in design thinking applied to culinary innovation, guiding both internal and external teams through a collaborative process
EEO Statement
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status
PepsiCo is an Equal Opportunity Employer: Female / Minority / Disability / Protected Veteran / Sexual Orientation / Gender Identity
If you'd like more information about your EEO rights as an applicant under the law, please download the available EEO is the Law & EEO is the Law Supplement documents
View PepsiCo EEO Policy
Please view our Pay Transparency Statement
