Head of Culinary

sweetgreen is on a mission to build healthier communities by connecting people to real food. We passionately believe that real food should be convenient and accessible to everyone. Every day in each sweetgreen, our 5,000 team members make food from scratch, using fresh ingredients and produce delivered that morning. And in our local communities, we’re committed to leaving people better than we found them. We’re in the business of feeding people, and we’re out to change what that means. Our teams are our most valuable ingredient – the heart of our company, the face of our brand, and what truly makes the sweetgreen experience special and unique.

As the Head of Culinary at sweetgreen, you will be a key member of the Commercial Leadership Team, responsible for leading the culinary team and developing the organization’s overall culinary strategy. You will be responsible for ensuring that sweetgreen’s menu items are consistently high-quality and aligned with our brand values. 

You will:

• Drive Menu Innovation to fuel and enable growth and profitability – This role will be the key leader to oversee the development and testing of new menu items and ensure that they meet the highest standards of quality, consistency, and taste.  
• Develop new menu items that help drive the brand distinctiveness of sweetgreen – highlighting our point of difference in seasonal, high-quality, chef-crafted menus consistent with our food ethos. 
• Stay up to date with industry trends and best practices in culinary innovation and technology to inform ingredient choices and in-restaurant preparation methods. 

• Lead Commercialization to scale culinary concepts to fleet-wide execution –  Effectively commercialize food for all business channels. Develop paths to upstream and/or outsourced formulations with vendor partners.  Develop creative solutions to solve for ingredients that may not currently be commercialized for the food service industry (e.g. extra virgin olive oil tortilla with only four ingredients). Collaborate with cross-functional partners to ensure that commercialization efforts result in products that can be executed in-restaurant at scale.  Be able to problem-solve as learnings emerge from operational and market testing that may result in retooling/reformulation. Lead and manage a team of culinary professionals to ensure the successful execution of culinary initiatives. This leader will create an environment where creativity and innovation are at the heart of the team dynamic.  
• Create a culture of innovation and problem-solving across the culinary team to increase our speed to market. 
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment of culinary initiatives with marketing, operations, and procurement. 
• Support training programs and materials for all levels of culinary staff, including hourly employees, managers, and corporate teams. 
• Nurture our Core Menu Offerings – This role will lead the initiatives to continuously improve our core menu offerings, ensuring that our food standards remain consistent and that the end product delivered to our customers is the highest quality in the industry. 
• Leverage data, customer behavior, and consumer insights to drive improvements to our offering.  
• Develop and execute culinary strategies that align with sweetgreen’s Food Ethos, brand values, goals, and objectives. 
• Inform and articulate our food journey from the point of entry in the sweetgreen ecosystem to our end customer. 

Be the Face of our Food – This role will be the primary face of our culinary credentials to our customers and other stakeholders.  

• Provide regular reports and updates on culinary initiatives to senior leadership, the sweetgreen board and other stakeholders. 
• Work with Brand/Marketing on content creation and events that support the brand messaging and connect sweetgreen with our local communities. 

Desired traits:

• Obsessed with Food & Food Culture – You are leading from the front to help us identify the next ingredient and menu item for us to pursue.  You know the latest trends in the culinary industry, and you thrive in creating new solutions that haven’t been figured out at scale. 
• Detail-Oriented – You obsess over the details because you know that’s what it takes to execute a high-quality menu across 280+ restaurants and thousands of team members.
• Strong Influence and Leadership Skills – You can operate in a matrixed environment to advance the culinary agenda in a way that brings people along. You thrive on creating an environment for your team to succeed. 
• Candidates must be willing to relocate to the Greater Los Angeles area

Desired experience:

• 10+ years of experience in multi-unit restaurant companies, developing and executing menus
• 5+ years of experience leading teams across culinary, food science, and commercialization
• Deep understanding of restaurant operations and management of hourly employees in a fast-casual or full-service restaurant setting
• Strong communication, collaboration, and leadership skills
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects and initiatives simultaneously
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts, Food Science, or a related field (Master’s degree preferred)

What you’ll get:

• Highly competitive pay + bonus plan
• Three different medical plans to suit your and your family’s needs
• Dental and Vision insurance
• Flexible PTO plan
• 401k program
• Employee HSA and FSA
• Complimentary greens
• An opportunity to make a real impact on the people around you, both by growing them and by connecting them to real food
• To live the sweetlife and celebrate your passion + purpose
• A collaborative team of people who live our core values and have your back
• A clear career path with opportunities for development, both personally and professionally
• Free sweetgreen swag

Come join the sweetlife!

About sweetgreen

Sweetgreen is a national restaurant brand dedicated to building healthier communities by connecting people to real food. Since 2007, Sweetgreen has reimagined fast food to be fresh, flavorful, and rooted in relationships with farmers and communities. As we grow, we are committed to developing our people in our restaurants and at our support center, so that everyone can be part of the movement. When you join Sweetgreen, you not only invest in your own future but help create spaces where food, people, and purpose come together