Culinary Development Lead

Location: Central London (with travel across Meta UK & Ireland sites as required)
Hours: 40 hours per week
Working Pattern: Monday to Friday
Contract: Permanent

Bring your culinary expertise to something bigger.

At Sodexo, we're passionate about creating exceptional food experiences that bring people together. We're looking for an experienced and forward-thinking Culinary Development Lead to join our team, supporting our prestigious Meta account.

This is an exciting opportunity for a culinary professional who combines creativity with commercial awareness, technical expertise and a passion for driving standards. You'll play a key role in shaping culinary development across the contract, ensuring recipes, menus and food production processes are consistent, innovative and delivered to the highest standards.

Working closely with our Culinary Director, Head Chefs and Supply Chain teams, you'll take ownership of our culinary systems and recipe development processes, helping translate global culinary direction into outstanding local delivery.

What you'll do

• Take ownership of the development, maintenance and continuous improvement of our Drive (Fourth) culinary system.
• Lead recipe development, testing, standardisation and implementation across the Meta estate.
• Work with Head Chefs to develop menus, improve production planning and ensure accurate operational delivery.
• Maintain accurate recipe information, including ingredients, yields, portions, nutritional values, allergens and costings.
• Partner with Procurement and Supply Chain to ensure recipes reflect approved products, suppliers and commercial requirements.
• Champion food safety, HACCP and allergen management, ensuring culinary processes meet the highest standards.
• Carry out system audits, compliance reviews and governance activities to drive consistency and accountability.
• Coach and support culinary teams, building confidence, capability and effective system adoption.
• Work with the Culinary Director to deliver the wider global culinary strategy across Meta UK and Ireland.
• Identify opportunities to improve food quality, consistency, productivity, waste reduction and customer experience.

What you'll bring

We're looking for someone who is as comfortable working with chefs and developing recipes as they are managing systems, processes and performance.

You'll ideally have:

• A strong culinary background, with experience in a senior chef, culinary development or food development position.
• Proven experience in recipe development, menu engineering and food standardisation.
• Experience using culinary management systems, ideally Drive (Fourth).
• A strong understanding of HACCP, food safety, allergen management and nutritional requirements.
• Commercial awareness, including recipe costing, portion control and waste management.
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple projects and priorities.
• The confidence to influence, coach and support teams across multiple locations.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to build relationships at all levels.
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach with a passion for continuous improvement.

What we offer

At Sodexo, we believe that our people are our greatest strength. We offer an environment where you can develop your career, make an impact and be part of something meaningful.

• A Monday to Friday working pattern, 40 hours per week.
• The opportunity to work with a prestigious global client.
• A senior role with genuine influence over culinary strategy and development.
• The opportunity to shape food standards and experiences across a multi-site operation.
• Career development and progression opportunities within a global organisation.
• Access to Sodexo employee benefits and rewards.

Ready to make an impact?

If you're a passionate culinary professional who enjoys developing people, improving standards and bringing great fo