CULINARY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
STUDIO DEPARTMENT
💷 Competitive Salary + Bonus + Share Options

WHO ARE WE?
#14 - Fastest Growing UK Tech Company (Sunday Times)
#31 - Fastest Growing UK Company (Sunday Times)
#77 - Fastest Growing Europe Company (Sifted)

Sessions is building the operating model for the future of restaurants, giving consumers instant access to the brands they love, wherever they live.

The Sessions distribution engine runs through 400+ delivery kitchens and 16 high street restaurants across the UK.

Founded in 2020 and led by ex-Deliveroo MD Dan Warne, Sessions has grown 7x in three years. Our platform has processed over 5 million orders and reaches 60% of the UK population. Our team brings experience from Deliveroo, Amazon, BrewDog, and Gousto.

We scale brands at a pace that redefines what's possible in food. Examples include Miko's Gyros, which went from launch to 100+ live sites in under two months and SoBe Burger, which is live in over 200 delivery locations and has opened 15 physical high street stores.

🏃‍♀️ We are Agile - Thrive in fast-pace. We sprint, adapt, and learn.
🌍 We are Ambitious - Contribute to something big. Watch your career grow bigger.
🤪 We are Fun - High performance, high fives. Join a team you'll love.
🤖We are Data-Driven - Turn insights into action. We lead with evidence.
💡We have Initiative - Anticipate problems. Drive the solution.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

This role sits at the heart of Studio - our creative and culinary hub. The Culinary Development Manager will oversee the development process - ensuring the successful launch of Sessions brands into our network.

This role will be responsible for the end to end launch of new brands into our portfolio - ensuring the projects meet key timelines and working closely with all parties (both internal and external) to provide clear, concise updates.

The key area of focus for this role will be:

New Brand Development:

• Developing culinary products & processes (working closely with a brand founder where appropriate) to deliver best in class recipes using the most suitable ingredients

• Being the voice of reason within the room - with our operational constraints in mind (equipment, COGS, feasibility of the menu).

• Working with suppliers alongside the supply chain team to get accurate costings as early as possible to aid menu development

• Getting the brands ready to launch into host kitchens (all materials and documentation are delivered on time and fully accurate).

• Spending time in host kitchens pre and post launch, ensuring we fully understand how the brand is operating in service and gaining insightful feedback from the hosts.

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

• New Product Development: Manage the development of innovative food products that align with market trends, consumer preferences, and company objectives.

• Trends: Conduct thorough market research and trend analysis to identify opportunities for new product innovation and differentiation. Monitor market dynamics, consumer feedback, and competitive landscape to continuously refine brand strategies and enhance market positioning of our brands.

• Culinary Excellence: Uphold rigorous quality standards throughout the product development process, ensuring that all Sessions products meet or exceed industry benchmarks.

• Training Materials / Brand Guidelines: Develop and update all required materials - SOPs (menu, recipes, suppliers, packaging, COGS, allergens) including management of Apicbase) working closely with the Culinary Learning & Development Manager

• Relationship Management: Collaborate closely with both internal teams including procurement, brand, and supply chain to bring new products from concept to live efficiently.

• Data Obsessed: Owning the performance of brands once live to continuously monitor menu views, conversion, review data and key performance indicators and tweak accordingly.
  

REQUIREMENTS:

• Professional culinary expertise

• Menu/product development experience

• Stakeholder management experience

• Charismatic and energetic with a passion for food

• Expert level of English language

• Right to work in the UK
  

 BENEFITS & PERKS

💷Financial
Share Options - Receive an amount of share options for Sessions Market Ltd.
Pay day on demand - Access to pay whenever needed
Expense card - Company Card
Finance Platform - Access to 'Mintago', Financial Wellbeing Platform

🌴Social, Mental & Physical Wellbeing:
Hybrid Working - up to 2 days working remotely per week
Holidays - 25 days + bank holidays + Birthday Off
Healthcare - Healthcare Cash Plan scheme
Employee Assistance Programme - Support for mental health and legal services
Socials - Monthly socials
Dog Friendly - We love our fluffy pals, they're welcome in the office!
Wear what you like - No suits and ties please, that's so 18th century....

💻Technology Perks:
Laptop - Apple Mac
Phone - Apple iPhone and company sim provided

📈 Progression & Development:
High Growth Start Up- This is a great chance to be part of a growing company with plenty of progression opportunities, responsibility from day 1
Be Inspired - Learn from a team that's scaled some of the UK's biggest consumer companies
Membership & Qualifications - Sessions have helped support a number of our employees by providing funds for work-based qualifications and memberships

Sessions are a living wage and equal opportunity employer.
all applicants are reviewed 'anonymously' where only work experience and education will be available for the hiring manager to view - all applicants will be considered for employment without attention to ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, family or parental status, national origin, veteran, neurodiversity status or disability status.

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