Manager Culinary Development

Job Purpose

• Join our Catering team, where you will be part of an exciting business area that plays a vital role in delivering the Emirates ‘Fly Better’ experience.
• This team is responsible for a wide range of food and non-food functions, including catering, equipment, and amenities for inflight dining and special events.
• If you are passionate about culinary excellence, logistics, and delivering world-class service, we invite you to apply and contribute to the success of Emirates Group.
• As a key part of our Service Delivery operations, our catering team makes crucial decisions that enhance the customer experience and elevate our growing global brand.
• As a **M** **anager for Culinary Development** , you will manage the recipe, dish and menu design process to ensure that Emirates remains at the forefront of trending/innovative global cuisine.
• Manage a centralised culinary development Centre of Excellence that creates and owns the Emirates recipe bank.
• In collaboration with key stakeholders and through the effective use of data and customer insights, plan network wide menus that consistently delight our guests.
• Plan and execute Dubai based, centralised culinary workshops that focuses on the education of dish/menu preparation for the EK network wide inflight & premium class lounge catering partners.
• Additionally, this role also involves managing EK-owned food and beverage items and developing and managing EK nominated food suppliers.
• In this role you will be:
• Accountable for the planning and day to day management of the EK Culinary Centre of Excellence ensuring that annual targets of blue-sky cuisine innovations and individual dish creations are exceeded.
• In collaboration with the Service design team, responsible for supporting the decision making for flight/cabin level meal service standards.
• Accountable for the creation and development of detailed recipes that are conducive to performing optimally in the EK, network wide catering partner facilities.
• Responsible for documenting and version controlling all EK recipes and production methods in the EK owned, catering management system.
• In collaboration with the Regional Catering Management and Business Insights teams, accountable for station level menu planning ensuring customers’ expectations are exceeded.
• Accountable for planning and executing regular Dubai based, global inflight supplier culinary workshops to ensure that the education of individual dish and menu creations are understood and consistently translated around the EK network.
• Accountable for the product development life cycle management of EK owned, category specific, food and beverage items.
• Accountable for developing the EK centralised, nominated food and beverage suppliers to ensure that we can constantly improve our speed to market and efficiency gains.
• Responsible for identifying and developing food and beverage promotional and celebratory initiatives to effectively promote and market EKs award winning offering.
• Responsible for carrying out regular industry benchmarking across all hospitality sectors to ensure that EK remains at the forefront of food and beverage innovation.

Qualification

• To be considered for the role, you must meet the below requirements:
• Hold a Bachelor’s Degree or Honours (12+3 or equivalent), or possess equivalent relevant work experience; a culinary apprenticeship is preferred.
• Have 10+ years of experience in culinary development within fine‑dining, hospitality R&D, or large-scale production; airline catering experience is preferred.
• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of global cuisines, culinary trends, and recipe development, including upscaling for large-scale operations.
• Possess strong knowledge of airline catering processes, including cook‑chill systems, production challenges, and operational considerations.
• Have the ability to train, coach, and guide both internal teams and external vendors in dish creation and culinary standards.
• Be a confident presenter with the ability to communicate clearly and with conviction across all levels of the organisation.
• Be highly organised with strong planning skills and a detail-oriented approach to workflow and project management.
• Demonstrate the ability to perform effectively under pressure, manage time constraints, and meet tight deadlines.
• Show strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate across departments and contribute to cross-functional culinary development initiatives.
• At Emirates, we're committed to helping our people grow and thrive. If you're ready for a rewarding and challenging career, apply today and be a part of our world class team!

Salary & Benefits