Hybrid Executive Chef – Sr. Director, Culinary Innovation bei PepsiCo

At PepsiCo, we do it all—from the crunch of Lay’s, Doritos, and Cheetos, to the fizz of Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, and Bubly.​

With one of the world’s largest food and beverage portfolios, we’re constantly innovating, creating, and growing—faster, stronger, and better.​

Ready to make your mark?​
Dare for Better. Join PepsiCo.​

The Executive Chef leads the global culinary vision and gold standard creation across all RTE, RTC, and AFH platforms within the newly formed Culinary Innovation team. This role brings chef-led inspiration into the heart of innovation sprints, shaping product experiences that are both emotionally resonant and operationally scalable.

• Lead Culinary Vision: Define and drive the overarching culinary direction across platforms, ensuring ideas reflect global trends, regional nuances, and brand alignment.
• Gold Standard Development: Oversee the creation of inspirational, best-in-class food concepts that serve as the foundation for MVP development by Product & Food Tech teams.
• Chef Collaboration: Manage internal culinary team (Sous-Chefs) and lead partnerships with external chefs, culinary schools, and creators across markets.
• Cross-Functional Integration: Partner with Product Development, Food Tech, Design, and Marketing to translate gold standards into scalable food experiences that maintain culinary integrity.
• Taste & Prep Experience Leadership: Act as the lead sensory and prep systems authority, ensuring food delivers on taste, texture, emotional pull, and simplicity of use.
• Trend Scouting & External Influence: Stay ahead of macro and micro culinary trends, and translate them into relevant and forward-thinking product narratives.

• 12+ years of progressive culinary leadership, ideally across consumer-facing food innovation or branded food service.
• Proven experience leading gold standard creation and culinary R&D translation.
• Experience managing culinary teams and engaging with global external chefs.
• Deep understanding of food cultures, ingredient functionality, and regional food systems.
• Comfortable working in fast-paced, matrixed, and innovation-driven environments.