Executive Chef ANZ

Who we are?

On any given day, 2.5 billion people globally use Unilever products to feel good, look good and get more out of life. Many of our brands are well-known, household staples and old-time favourites including Dove, Rexona, Lynx, Vaseline, OMO/Persil, Surf, TRESemmé, Continental, Ben & Jerry’s and Streets. 

We have a long tradition of being a progressive, responsible business. It goes back to the days of our founder William Lever, who launched the world’s first purposeful brand, Sunlight Soap more than 100 years ago, and it’s at the heart of how we run our company today. In 2022 Unilever Australia & New Zealand became a Certified B Corporation™ (B Corp), joining a growing network of organisations committed to galvanising a stronger, more inclusive, equitable and regenerative economy for all.  

A job at Unilever is a career made by you, with development opportunities, benefits and a working culture that embraces diversity and is pioneering flexibility. There’s no better time to join our team! 

About us

Unilever is one of the world’s leading fast-moving consumer goods companies, with strong local roots in more than 100 countries. Locally, Unilever employs more than 1,800 people, and has offices and manufacturing facilities throughout Australia and New Zealand. Unilever Food Solutions is a dynamic and rapidly growing dedicated Foodservice division of Unilever seeking the best talent in the industry.

At Unilever Food Solutions, we help chefs all over the world serve tasty, wholesome meals that keep guests coming back for more.

We create ingredients that save precious prep time in the kitchen, without compromising on flavour or flair.  And constantly provide ideas and inspiration that keep your menu fresh and exciting. Our ingredients are some of the staples of professional kitchens in 74 countries around the world: Knorr, Hellmann’s and more.

We’ve been in food since the 1880s. We’re chefs ourselves. So we understand that critical balance between impressing your guests and making a profit. And how to keep your menus and recipes fresh and exciting, as times and tastes change.

Job Purpose

This is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of food and foodservice in ANZ by leading the culinary agenda for UFS, a market-leading professional ingredient and solution provider with strong brand presence and equity. Our strongest differentiator lies in our Chefmanship, and the way we bring Chefmanship to life.

Responsible for culinary leadership and innovation for UFS within the Australia and New Zealand market, the Executive Chef ANZ will work alongside the country leadership to design, implement and manage the ANZ Chefmanship strategy and plan that is integrated to our overall Business Plan, developing culinary strategies, providing training, and collaborating with various teams, internal and external, to meet business objectives.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead culinary innovation and development for ANZ to deliver innovative culinary strategies, concepts and products that align with market trends, customer needs and business objectives.

• Provide strong culinary insights and thought leadership to business strategies and plans by identifying, developing and validating business opportunities arising from emerging data and industry trends.

• Monitor and analyse industry developments, consumer preferences and competitive landscape to propose actionable recommendations for product development, marketing strategies and customer engagement initiatives.

• Provide full portfolio expertise, culinary insights and knowledge to ensure impactful product ideations with innovative applications that deliver to project briefs and business plans.

• Lead the culinary training agenda with a structured program that delivers regular, impactful product training and upskilling across the ANZ business, including quarterly chefmanship cascades, culinary immersions and new joiners' inductions.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Marketing, R&D and CD) to develop and execute business plans that deliver to sales and profitability targets, including creating and improving products, recipes and menu solutions in line with trends and strategies.

• Provide expert culinary support and advice to key customers strategically aligned and tracked in annual culinary plan, delivering high quality demos, culinary workshops and training sessions through hybrid platforms to improve their operations and achieve their objectives.

• Culinary ownership for key national campaigns and activations by providing high quality culinary insights, recipes, content and chefmanship execution to ensure OTIF and delivery to key project metrics.

• Culinary ownership of key innovation, renovation, resilience and operational projects in collaboration with R&D and Portfolio Marketing to ensure OTIF and delivery to project key metrics.

• Conduct sensory evaluations, recipe testing, and ensure product quality, taste, and consistency for innovations, renovations, Top 10 and core product basket.

• Own chef social content calendar to drive always-on, on-trend content, recipes and demos focusing on Top 10 and key activation basket to grow engagement and followers on key platforms LinkedIn and Meta.

• Be a key influencer in the global UFS and local chef communities, ensuring strong alliances with key external chef KOLs, influencers and partners to drive culinary thought leadership.

• Proactively seek industry insights, best practices and learnings from global UFS and local chef communities to share with and adopt for the business.

• Accountable for the management of North Rocks Sydney Chefmanship Centre including maintaining Food Safety, Health and Safety standards, as well as managing the kitchen budget.

What you will need to succeed?

Experiences & Qualifications

• Cert III – Commercial Cookery.

• Cert IV – Commercial Cookery.

• 8 -10 years of working experience in professional kitchen including 3 years in leadership role.Full member of local Culinary Association.

Skills

• Passion for growth – demonstrates vision to reach outstanding growth levels, results driven and take decisive action to create business improvements.

• Break -through thinking – Apply insight and trends for business development.

• Leadership and team commitment – demonstrates high effectiveness in team leadership with strong interpersonal skills to develop self and others.

• Data-driven decision making – Analyse and interpret data, using data to direct thinking and action.

• Strong written and oral communication skills with moderate to advanced Microsoft Office skills.

• Culinary expertise and creativity, passion for growth.

• Good command of spoken and written English.

• Good presentation, planning and organizing skills.

• Pro-activeness, business -orientated, focus, problem solver.

• Ability to work in a diverse, multi-cultural environment.

• Knowledge and experience with R&D, Marketing, and sales.

• Foodservice industry knowledge and experience preferred.

What awaits you at Unilever?

The core of Unilever’s culture is captured as Human, Purposeful, Accountable. You will be joining a dynamic, flexible, and inspiring work environment that truly cares about your wellbeing, values what you do and celebrates your success.

This is your opportunity to be part of a purpose-led business and a global community where you can progress your career both locally and internationally. You will also benefit from amazing discounts on external company products, attractive employee referral reward program amongst other benefits.

This is a great opportunity to work within an iconic and global organization. We have gained our reputation as one of the world's most admired employers by providing an environment where individuals can achieve their goals, both professionally and personally.

Make no mistake we expect a lot from our people as they do of us. So, if you can rise to the challenge, don't waste any time - apply now!

Unilever is an organization committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities.

This means we encourage people with all backgrounds to apply, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Māori and Pacific Peoples, and people with disabilities. Interested in learning more, check out our Reconciliation Action Plan and Workplace Adjustment Policy on the Unilever webpage.

At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! We encourage you to advise us at the time of your application if you require any reasonable adjustment so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.