Culinary Product Developer, Bakery, and Catering, Culinary Development

Description

Reporting to the Manager of Bakery Development, the Bakery & Holiday Product Developer leads end-to-end product development for Whole Foods Market's Bakery categories—Hearth Bread, Bakery Tables, Cakes, Cookies & Pies—as well as Holiday and Catering programs for Fresh Food. This role drives product innovation from ideation through store-level launch, executing category strategies in alignment with Enterprise development priorities while upholding the highest standards of quality, food safety, cost, and labor efficiency.

• Serve as R&D lead on cross-functional teams, owning product development within defined scope for select Bakery categories and Holiday/Catering programs.
• Drive full product lifecycle—from trend research and concept ideation through benchtop development, supplier trials, and company wide commercialization.
• Develop and design new and improved products in strict compliance with World Wide Grocery ingredient standards and Leadership Principles.
• Apply expert knowledge of baking science, scratch bread, patisserie, decorating techniques, and bakery equipment to deliver technically sound, market-ready products.
• Develop and validate cooking instructions, preparation methods, and operational procedures to ensure consistent, replicable in-store execution.

• Lead Holiday and Catering product development projects for Fresh Food (PFDS & Bakery) from concept through commercialization, including recipe development, testing, and optimization.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date product data, specifications, preparation instructions, and in-house recipes for all Holiday and Catering programs.
• Support all related Holiday/Catering product needs, including marketing assets and team member support tools.
• Partner with Category Management, Sourcing, Marketing, and Quality Assurance to align product strategy, timelines, and launch execution.
• Provide technical leadership to third‑party suppliers during formulation development, first production runs, and ongoing commercialization support.
• Lead product cuttings, benchmarking sessions, and sensory evaluations; communicate findings clearly to leadership and stakeholders.
• Build and sustain strong business relationships with internal teams and external supplier partners.
• Develop all supporting program documents and tools—specs, recipes, packaging notes, and launch guides—to ensure successful, replicable store rollout.
• Ensure all products meet WFM quality standards, ingredient requirements, allergen labeling, and food safety regulations.
• Conduct competitive analysis and market research to identify emerging consumer trends and category opportunities.

• Conduct all tasks associated with product development
• Participate in all team meetings
• Participate in all product category team calls
• Work with stakeholders to support tasks in marketing, execution, category, and insights.

Our team leads product development for Bakery, Holiday and Catering for World Wide Grocery, encompassing Whole Foods stores and Amazon and Whole Foods online. We work in a test kitchen near the Whole Foods Market global headquarters in Austin.

• 5+ years of experience in a professional bakery setting, with a minimum of 3 years in R&D or culinary product development.
• Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts, Food Science, or a related field (or equivalent professional experience).
• Expert-level knowledge of baking science, including scratch bread (hearth/artisan), patisserie, decorated cakes, cookies, and pies.
• Strong understanding of bakery manufacturing capabilities, limitations, and food safety requirements.

• Can work proactively and independently, meet deadlines, and deliver on projects and tasks.
• Experience communicating clearly and concisely with leadership, stakeholders, and cross‑functional teams.
• Experience managing multiple projects, prioritizing, planning, and managing time.
• Experience leading creative development of innovative creative from concept to delivery.
• Experience prioritizing and handling multiple assignments at any given time while…