Director, Menu Strategy & Innovation

The Global Director, Menu Strategy & Innovation will define where KFC's menu goes next, setting the global Menu Vision, portfolio priorities and innovation roadmap that guide how KFC grows across consumer occasions and markets.

The role will turn that strategy into clear KFC points of view, consumer-facing concepts and innovation priorities, while connecting market learning and LTOs back into the future core menu.

Acting as strategist and system connector, the role will provide clarity on where to play, what winning looks like and how the system learns and scales faster, without replacing market ownership or Culinary Development.

Education / Certification s

- Bachelor's degree required, preferably in Business, Marketing, Strategy, Innovation or a related discipline.

Experience

- 10+ years of experience across strategy, innovation, category management, menu innovation or adjacent consumer-led growth roles within QSR, foodservice, FMCG or scaled consumer brands.
- Demonstrated ability to turn ambiguous consumer, market and commercial inputs into clear business, portfolio and innovation choices.
- Strong experience translating consumer insight into compelling concepts, strategic platforms and actionable innovation briefs.
- Proven ability to manage an innovation portfolio across different time horizons, balancing near-term commercial opportunities with longer-term platform development.
- Strong understanding of the innovation cycle from strategy and concept through validation, product development, market testing and scale.
- Proven ability to identify strategic learning from market tests and determine whether ideas should scale, adapt or remain locally relevant.
- Strong experience working across global, regional and market organizations, with the judgment to balance global consistency and local relevance.
- Commercially astute, with a strong understanding of how menu choices drive transactions, frequency, mix, margin and brand relevance.
- Highly effective communicator with the presence to influence senior stakeholders, challenge constructively and simplify complex strategic questions into clear choices.
- Strong people leadership and collaboration skills, with demonstrated ability to mobilize cross-functional teams in a matrixed environment.
- Curious, action-oriented and deeply interested in consumers, food culture, category evolution and emerging growth opportunities.
- Must be able to handle confidential information with discretion and be highly proficient in Microsoft Word, Teams and PowerPoint.

Salary Range: $174,240 - $183,920 annually + bonus eligibility and stock-based compensation. This is the expected salary range for this position. Ultimately, in determining pay, we'll consider the successful candidate’s location, experience, and other job-related factors.