Interim Head of Menu Innovation

Position: Interim Head of Menu Innovation )
Location: City of Westminster

75B, Verde, 10 Bressenden Pl Westminster London SW1E 5DH
Hello, we’re Pret Proud makers of freshly made food, organic coffee and big ideas. Across 750+ shops and 20+ countries, our teams are shaping the future of Pret through innovation, inclusion, great customer service and a shared passion for doing the right thing. We’re growing fast on our mission to be the hospitality employer of choice everywhere we operate – so it’s an exciting time to hop on board.

Growing good things

Pret is where passionate, hardworking, wonderful people (like you!) find what they need to shine. Growth is at the heart of everything we do – from supporting our people to grow in confidence and skills to pursue their unique paths, to figuring out how to make our food and coffee even more delicious and accessible.

What we’re looking forWe’re looking for a creative and process-driven Head of Menu Innovation to lead the development team. You will create a market-leading range of Pret favourites and rotating seasonal innovations, to win market share and drive transaction growth. This role is responsible for identifying new and emerging food trends and working closely with insights, marketing and commercial teams to translate them from concept to launch, as well as continuously looking for ways to improve Pret’s core Food & Drink offer.

Key responsibilities

Team Leadership:
You will lead the development team through a customer focussed innovation development process, creating delicious and commercially viable recipes that can be made easily in shops. They will be responsible for identifying new ingredients, recipes or categories that fit within the Pret brand to support the constant stream of innovation required to retain our position as an innovation leader.

Stakeholder Management:
As a senior member of the team, you will work collaboratively with other key business areas such as Technical, Commercial, Marketing, ESG, Launch and Operations, coordinating cross-functional activities to launch products in line with agreed timelines. You will also be responsible for winning buy-in from Pret’s senior team ahead of ranges launching.

Innovation: You will be a true innovator, pushing boundaries by identifying emerging trends and new ideas, evolving them to become viable Pret products, with an absolute passion for food & drink and in particular a great enthusiasm for fantastic freshly made food

Food Quality & Continuous Improvement:
Act as a guardian of Pret’s product quality, protecting the integrity and consistency of our offer. Partner closely with Technical, Commercial and Operations teams to lead existing product development, ingredient improvements and commercially driven initiatives, ensuring any changes maintain Pret’s quality standards and customer experience. Oversee the development, approval and launch of these changes through the food development process, balancing quality, commercial objectives and operational feasibility.

Process Management:
Own the end-to-end menu delivery process from concept approval through to successful launch, including chairing of the weekly food and drink meeting. Work with Operations to minimise complexity and disruption during implementation

Menu Development:
Lead the planning and delivery of all seasonal and promotional menu launches. Ensure recipes, specifications, training materials, systems, and operational documentation are completed ahead of launch.

Experience and Skills Project Management:
Essential experience managing multiple critical pathways, multiple stakeholders and using multiple data sources to deliver complicated and large projects on time.

Sector

Experience:

Understanding of marketing communications within QSR, fast-casual dining, FMCG or high-street retailA True Innovator:
Be…