FandB Product Development Chef

JOB PURPOSE:

Strategic and senior culinary leader responsible for ADNOC C-Store’s end-to-end food innovation, private label product development. Accountable for portfolio governance of the culinary pipeline, R&D capability building, and scale-up excellence to deliver sustainable, profitable growth while ensuring UAE regulatory, food-safety, and Halal compliance. Private label product & culinary strategy and portfolio leadership are owned by the Category Manager; the Development Chef leads product development in line with the approved strategy.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:

Job Specific Accountabilities

Culinary Innovation & Product Development

• Lead end-to-end development of new food products through a structured Stage-Gate methodology, ensuring alignment with category briefs and operational feasibility across multiple store formats.
• Develop recipes, formulations, and product specifications that are scalable, cost-efficient, and suitable for both commissary and in-store execution environments.
• Conduct product testing, trials, and sensory validation to ensure consistency in taste, quality, and customer acceptance prior to launch.
• Define preparation standards, process flows, and product handling requirements to ensure consistent execution and ease of operations across stores.
• Identify and drive innovation opportunities based on market trends, customer preferences, and evolving retail food concepts.
  
  

• Execute private label product development in line with Category Manager-approved strategy, ensuring adherence to portfolio direction and commercial objectives.
• Translate business briefs into detailed product specifications including formulation, bill of materials, packaging, and technical requirements.
• Manage supplier collaboration for product trials, technical validation, and production readiness to ensure scalability and quality assurance.
• Oversee packaging design and labelling requirements, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards including allergens, nutrition, and local labelling requirements.
• Drive value engineering initiatives to optimise cost structures while maintaining product quality, consistency, and brand positioning.
  
  

• Manage the culinary innovation pipeline, including project prioritisation, stage progression, and tracking of development milestones.
• Translate category strategies into structured development roadmaps with clearly defined timelines and deliverables.
• Monitor project risks, dependencies, and resource allocation to ensure timely and effective delivery of product initiatives.
• Establish governance frameworks including stage-gate reviews, reporting structures, and performance tracking mechanisms.
• Maintain structured documentation and reporting to ensure visibility, accountability, and alignment across stakeholders.
  
  

• Support Category Managers in menu engineering activities, including product positioning, performance analysis, and mix optimization.
• Contribute to product costing, portion sizing, and cost optimization to support overall commercial objectives and margin considerations.
• Conduct pilot testing and market validation to assess customer acceptance, operational feasibility, and commercial viability.
• Analyze trial performance and customer feedback to recommend product improvements and refinements prior to full launch.
• Align product development outcomes with category performance targets while balancing quality, cost, and customer expectations.
  
  

• Establish and manage the R&D Kitchen as a centre of excellence for culinary innovation, testing, and capability development.
• Develop and implement standard operating procedures, frameworks, and best practices for food innovation and product testing.
• Build organisational capability through structured training programmes, skill development initiatives, and knowledge sharing.
• Maintain repositories of formulations, product specifications, and development documentation to support consistency and scalability.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency, speed of innovation, and overall development quality.
  
  

• Lead the transition of products from development to full-scale rollout, ensuring operational readiness across all store formats.
• Define processes, equipment requirements, and training standards to ensure smooth and consistent product execution.
• Coordinate with supply chain and procurement teams to ensure availability of ingredients, packaging, and logistics readiness.
• Monitor post-launch performance, identify operational gaps, and drive corrective actions to stabilise performance.
• Ensure consistency in product quality and customer experience across all locations during and after rollout.
  
  

• Ensure all products comply with UAE food regulations, labelling standards, and food safety requirements.
• Implement and maintain food safety systems such as HACCP and ISO-based frameworks across product development processes.
• Ensure adherence to Halal standards across sourcing, production, packaging, and distribution activities.
• Conduct audits and quality assessments to ensure compliance with internal standards and external regulatory requirements.
• Collaborate with quality teams to manage risks, ensure product integrity, and drive continuous improvement in food safety practices.
  
  

• Plan, supervise and coordinate all activities in the assigned area to meet functional objectives.
• Train and develop the assigned staff on relevant skills to enable them to become proficient on the job and deliver the respective section objectives.
  
  

• Provide input for preparation of the functional budgets and assist in the implementation of the approved Budget and work plans to deliver objectives.
• Investigate and highlight any significant variances to support effective performance and cost control.
  
  

• Implement approved Unit / Divisional policies, processes, systems, standards and procedures in order to support execution of the work programs in line with Company and International standards.
  
  

• Contribute to the achievement of the approved Performance Objectives for the function in line with the Company Performance framework.
  
  

• Design and implement new tools and techniques to improve the quality and efficiency of operational processes.
• Identify improvements in internal processes against best practices in pursuit of greater efficiency in line with best Industry standards in order to define intelligent solutions for issues confronting the function.
  
  

• Comply with relevant HSE policies, procedures & controls and applicable legislation and sustainability guidelines in line with international standards, best practices and ADNOC Code of Practices.
  
  

• Provide inputs to prepare Section MIS and progress reports for Company Management.
• COMMUNICATIONS & WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:
  
  

• Category Managers (F&B)
• Retail Operations
• Supply Chain & Procurement
• Quality Assurance / QA Teams
• Marketing & Commercial Teams
  
  

• Food suppliers and manufacturers
• Packaging and labelling vendors
• Regulatory authorities
• Halal certification bodies
• Equipment and systems providers
  
  

• Degree in Culinary Arts, Food Technology, or related discipline
  
  

• 8 years of experience in culinary R&D, product development, or menu engineering
• Experience in convenience retail, QSR, or multi-site food service environments
• Proven experience in private label product development and product lifecycle management
• Experience in scaling food concepts across multiple locations
• Strong knowledge of UAE food regulations and compliance frameworks
• Culinary innovation and product development expertise
• Commercial understanding including costing, yields, and optimisation
  
  

• Professional certifications in food safety standards such as HACCP or equivalent