Senior Director of Culinary Innovation

Job Description:

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Senior Director of Culinary Innovation (Executive Chef) at Portillo’s plays a critical role in helping to shape the future menu strategy of our iconic, Chicago-based brand by defining and leading the enterprise-wide culinary strategy. This role balances our strong heritage and craveable food that have made Portillo’s iconic with forward-thinking innovation that continues to deliver an unrivaled guest experience across a rapidly growing, multi-state footprint.

We’re looking for a food- and guest-obsessed culinary leader to thoughtfully and methodically build and lead a multi‑year innovation pipeline rooted in consumer insights, emerging food trends, and operational scalability. This role serves as a strategic thought partner to executive leadership, influencing menu strategy, innovation priorities, and long-term brand positioning through food.

This is a hands-on role that owns the culinary strategy and end‑to‑end stage‑gate process, from concept ideation through test, validation, and system‑wide launch, ensuring all new menu items deliver on quality, taste, brand differentiation, speed of service, financial targets, and operational simplicity. Portillo’s Executive Chef will also be a champion of culinary excellence, setting and protecting quality standards for all menu items, both current and future.

Operating at the intersection of culinary creativity, consumer understanding, and operational discipline, this role partners closely with Marketing, Operations, Supply Chain, and Finance to bring winning ideas to market at scale. This leader will help define what Portillo’s culinary innovation looks like today and in the future, ensuring it remains distinctive, relevant, and executable across the system.

This is a hybrid position requiring four days per week on-site, primarily at the test kitchen in Aurora, Illinois (3–4 days), with occasional on-site presence at the Portillo’s Restaurant Support Center in Oakbrook, Illinois (approximately 1 day). One day per week may be remote.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES:

Enable our Purpose to create lifelong memories by igniting the senses with unrivaled food and experiences:

Family: Work together to make everyone feel at home, and we step up when someone needs help

Greatness: We’re obsessed with being the best and work hard to continuously improve. Our greatness is rooted in Quality, Service, Attitude and Cleanliness

Energy: We move with urgency and passion, while maintaining attention to detail

Fun: We entertain our guests, we connect authentically, and we make each other smile

Multi‑Year Innovation Strategy & Pipeline Ownership

• Lead the development and stewardship of a rolling 3-year culinary innovation roadmap, aligned to brand strategy, growth objectives, and consumer demand
• Translate consumer insights, menu performance data, and macro food trends into actionable innovation platforms (e.g., flavors, formats, proteins, dayparts, functional benefits)
• Balance breakthrough innovation, line extensions, and core menu optimization to ensure a healthy and sustainable pipeline
• Establish clear innovation priorities across:
• Core menu evolution
• Limited time offers (LTOs)
• Seasonal promotions
• Platform innovation and future concepts

Consumer‑Led & Trend‑Informed Product Development

• Drive focus and rigor on menu innovation as a platform for business growth, exploring new menu innovation and renovation ideas in Portillo’s test kitchen daily
• Leverage multiple inputs including guest feedback, customer segments, sales data, trend research, competitive benchmarking, and cultural insights to inform product ideation
• Identify and interpret emerging culinary, ingredient, and dietary trends and translate them into scalable, on‑brand menu concepts grounded in consumer relevance, while building on the menu items and flavors that have made Portillo’s iconic
• Partner with Marketing and Insights teams to validate concepts through qualitative and quantitative research where appropriate
• Collaborate with leadership on menu rollouts, seasonal LTOs, recipe updates, and new equipment/process implementation
• Co-create with supplier partners across food and beverage to identify and develop ownable innovation and platforms unique to the brand
• Serve as a champion of quality for all menu items offered today and in the future pipeline

Stage‑Gate Process Leadership & Governance

• Own and continuously improve the stage‑gate process for culinary innovation, ensuring rigor, clarity, and cross‑functional alignment
• Define success criteria, deliverables, and decision points for each stage, including:
• Concept & business case
• Culinary feasibility
• Operational readiness
• Costing and margin modeling
• Supply chain viability
• Test & learn execution
• Launch readiness
• Lead gate review meetings; present recommendations and clear go/no‑go decisions to executive and cross‑functional stakeholders
• Ensure risks are identified early and mitigated before scale

Test, Learn & Commercialization Excellence

• Partner with the cross-functional teams to design and oversee test‑and‑learn frameworks, including kitchen pilots, market tests, and operational trials
• Partner with Operations to ensure products meet speed of service, training, and kitchen complexity requirements
• Collaborate with Supply Chain and QA to ensure ingredient integrity, vendor readiness, and food safety compliance
• Refine products based on test results, ensuring scalability without sacrificing taste or brand equity
• Own culinary readiness for launch, including recipes, build standards, prep procedures, and training materials

Financial & Operational Acumen

• Ensure all menu innovation meets margin targets, food cost parameters, and labor efficiency goals
• Partner with Marketing and Finance to model cost scenarios and post‑launch performance
• Design menu items that balance culinary impact with operational simplicity, recognizing the realities of high‑volume, fast‑paced kitchens
• Maintain exceptional standards for taste, freshness, temperature, and presentation
• Implement and coach quality checks (line checks, tasting protocols, holding time verification, and corrective actions)
• Drive waste reduction and yield optimization through thoughtful product design

Cross‑Functional Leadership & Influence

• Serve as the culinary thought leader and key collaborator across:
• Marketing (positioning, storytelling, calendar planning)
• Operations (execution, training, SOPs)
• Supply Chain & QA (ingredients, sourcing, scale‑up and partnerships)
• Finance & Strategy (business cases, ROI)
• Align teams around a shared innovation vision, timeline, and success metrics
• Act as a brand ambassador for culinary vision both internally and externally as needed
• Other duties as assigned

Travel Requirement

This position will be expected to travel up to 30% to support market tests, new product launches, supplier collaboration, and ongoing immersion in restaurant operations.

ORGANIZATION RELATIONSHIPS:

This role reports to the Chief Marketing Officer and works cross-functionally to support menu strategy and innovation. This role partners closely with senior leaders across Marketing, Operations, Supply Chain, and Finance, as well as external supplier partners to deliver and scale culinary innovation across the system.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Minimum Educational Level/Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree or related experience preferred

Minimum Work Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• 10+ years in culinary leadership roles with significant exposure to menu innovation, product development, or R&D with Fast Casual, QSR, or multi‑unit restaurants
• Passionate culinary leader with proven restaurant experience driving structured innovation or stage‑gate processes
• Strong understanding of consumer‑driven menu development in high‑volume environments
• Ability to balance creativity with operational, financial, and supply chain realities
• Demonstrated success influencing cross‑functional partners without direct authority

Preferred Work Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Formal culinary training combined with business or strategy experience
• Experience supporting multi‑state or national restaurant brands
• Background in culinary R&D, test kitchens, or innovation hubs
• Exposure to menu commercialization at scale (co‑manufacturers, centralized production, or commissary models)

DISCLAIMER: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by incumbents assigned to this job. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all the responsibilities, duties and skills required. The incumbent may be expected to perform other duties as assigned. This job may be reviewed as duties and responsibilities change with business necessity.