Home Chef is building new ways to provide meal solutions that meet a wide variety of customer needs, and shipping locations both online and in store. Our team is a unique mix of creators, chefs, entrepreneurs, and trailblazers and we’re growing quickly. Our customer-first mentality, combined with a zest for supporting our peers, helped us bring home Built in Chicago’sStartup of the Year Moxie award in 2017. If you’re ready to be part of the action, we’re ready to connect with you. There are no limits to where we can go together.

As the COVID-19 situation continues to escalate in the US and around the world, we are committed to keeping our teams and their families as our greatest priority. To that end, we are making some adjustments to the way we will be doing business in the upcoming weeks.

We are taking all the necessary precautions to keep our employees and customers safe, and would love to have you on our team as we can continue to serve our communities.

Summary of Responsibilities: 

The Manager of New Product Development plays a critical role in the success of Home Chef’s business by owning a key vertical of the New Product Development process. The candidate will be responsible for ideating, vetting and developing product ideas within their vertical and collaborating with stakeholders across the organization and with Kroger to make these products a reality. The position is part of the New Product Development team within Product and reports to the Sr. Director of New Product Development. The role is based in Chicago, IL with some travel.

Detailed Responsibilities:

• Channel Leadership:
• Own their respective vertical (e.g. e-comm, retail, deli) and serve as a thought partner to Home Chef and to Kroger in creating the next generation of products
• Oversee the product roadmap for 2020 and beyond and do everything necessary to ensure successful completion of the related projects
• Communicate and build alignment with internal and external stakeholders to remove roadblocks and prioritize projects
• Serve as a critical liaison between Kroger, New Product Development and the broader Home Chef team
• Innovation & New Product Development:
• Work with all available internal and external stakeholders to innovate, ideate and develop new products, processes and customer experiences
• Source and stress test new product ideas in collaboration with Consumer Insights, Retail, Marketing and Kroger
• Interpret data, research and trends that impact the prepared foods and deli space and develop actionable insights for execution
• Integrate voice of customer into all aspects of the deli transformation and work with Consumer Insights and 84.51 to transform these learnings into tangible actions
• Cross-Departmental Collaboration and Execution:
• Collaborate internally with Retail, Culinary, Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, Ops and others to ensure smooth and successful delivery of projects
• Lead working teams with multiple dotted-line reports to bring new projects from idea generation to full execution and rolloutCommunicate ongoing project updates and priorities across the organization and to Kroger leadership as necessary
• Develop and source all inputs to shepherd projects through the Home Chef stage gate process
• Omni-channel Product Strategy:
• Serve as a critical member of the New Product Development strategy team representing the respective vertical
• Collaborate on best practices and share learnings with peers working on other verticals
• Set the mid- to long-term product vision for the respective vertical and ensure alignment across Product, other departments and with Kroger

Qualifications: The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, ability and/or other characteristics needed for this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities.

• Bachelor’s Degree. An advanced degree is a plus
• 3-6 years of experience in a rigorous fast-paced work environment – CPG/FMCG, product development, innovation, consulting, startups
• Ability to work within a scrappy ambiguous start-up environment
• Extremely detail-oriented and organized with the ability to develop and make progress against multiple concurrent project plans
• Data-driven decision maker who can use data to drive validate and make progress against potential courses of action
• Ideal candidate will have experience working in the fresh and packaged food space 
• Self-starter inclined towards finding solutions and who is comfortable working independently and with a team
• Strong communicator and relationship builder
• Intellectually curious and excited to grow a new retail business from ground zero
• Must have a sense of urgency and be capable of dealing with fast-changing priorities and ambiguity

Perks/Benefits:

- Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance – benefits start the 1st day of the month following your start date 

- Company paid Life Insurance, Short Term Disability and Long Term Disability

- 401k Employer match - 50% on the $1, up to 6% of the employee's earnings 

- We offer flexible spending accounts (FSA) for qualified Medical, Dependent Care, Parking, or Transit expenses

- Flexible paid time off (PTO) policy, plus sick days 

- Generous Parental Leave 

- Great Work/Life Balance – We value and support each individual team member

- Quarterly company-wide “Town Hall” meetings 

- Ongoing professional development opportunities by level and function

- Your choice of Windows or Mac laptop, plus an extra screen 

- Onsite gym 

- Weekly Fooda credit

- Newly renovated office in the historic Old Main Post Office which is located close to multiple Metra and CTA options

- Employee discounts through Perkspot

- Discounts on Home Chef meal kits and at Kroger stores

- Casual dress in a fun, friendly and collaborative work environment

Candidates can experience Home Chef as a customer - enter promo code PEOPLE30 for $30 off your first order!

Home Chef is an equal opportunity employer.

To view the California Applicant Notice click here