Lead Development Chef

Our Food Buying and Product Development Team are seeking a talented Lead Development Chef to drive innovation and excellence across our Harrods Own Label Food & Beverage range. 

About the Role 

In this role you will be responsible for leading the development and continuous enhancement of our Made In House hot and cold retail offerings, as well as our restaurant product ranges, ensuring we deliver exceptional quality and craftsmanship. By working closely with our NPD, Buying and Technical teams, you’ll create and develop products in line with Harrods’ brand quality attributes through creative development, scientific testing and sensory evaluation of innovative culinary concepts, recipes and production methods. 

Day to day duties will include:

• Overseeing end-to-end development process of new recipes and concepts for Food to Go, Sandwiches, Traiteur and Produce samples in line with strategic objectives, quality and category strategy and relevant product development briefs.
• Working in collaboration our Production Management Team to maintain a strong understanding of our in-house manufacturing techniques, constraints and possibilities to drive initiatives to maximise quality, cost savings and efficiency.
• Building and maintaining food safe cooking instructions for each recipe developed, and working with the relevant teams to  ensure these are at audit standard.
• Assisting our Packaging team in providing safe and accurate allergen and product labelling.
• Adherence to Food Hygiene, Health & Safety legislation and internal HACCP during all stages of development.
• Facilitate NPD and EPD tastings and benchmarking
• Stakeholder management of both internal and external parties

About You 

You are a passionate and experienced culinary professional with a strong background in food innovation and product development. Whether you have experience as a Head Chef or hold a degree in professional cookery, food product management, or a related field, you bring a deep understanding of the food and beverage sector.
Your expertise in new product development, menu compilation, and range architecture ensures you can create exceptional offerings that align with both consumer trends and sustainability goals. With an Intermediate Food Hygiene Certificate or Level 3 in Food Safety, you are well-versed in food safety standards and best practices.
In addition to your technical skills, you are an excellent communicator, both written and verbal, and are confident working cross-functionally with teams across the business. IT-literate and proficient in Microsoft packages, (and ideally QADEX and Nutricalc), you are comfortable using digital tools to support your work.

About Us

Harrods is one of the world’s leading luxury department stores and we’re becoming a destination for top designers, and the most sought-after brands from around the globe. Our combined mission is to make visiting our iconic Knightsbridge store one of the world’s most inspiring shopping experiences.

Our Promise to You

Help us make the impossible possible for our customers and we’ll do something remarkable for you. As well as offering a friendly environment to inspire your best work, we provide abundant opportunities and support to build an exceptional career across the varied specialisms of our business. 
We can offer a competitive annual salary plus an excellent benefits package, which includes annual KPI bonus, company pension, hybrid working, 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays), your birthday off, and up to 33% in-store discount

Uniquely You 

While our job adverts outline the ideal qualities, skills, and prior experience for the role, we believe in the potential for growth and value individual strengths. If you do not meet every desired criteria but feel you have the skills and experience to thrive in this role as well as a genuine interest in working for Harrods and you can demonstrate an alignment with our values, we would encourage you to apply.
At Harrods we believe the personality and authenticity of our people sets us apart. We celebrate and invite applications from all cultures, backgrounds, tastes, and experiences and are proud of our culture where people from all walks of life can grow and thrive. What makes you unique makes us exceptional.

If you want to know more about our people and our culture, search #TogetherHarrods on LinkedIn, Facebook or follow us on Instagram @togetherharrods