LTO Commercialisation and Innovation Lead
Yum! · Hybrid, Woking (with European market, restaurant and supplier travel)
Our estimate of how close this job is to decisions about what protein a business sources, specifies, buys and serves. How we score
Why this role matters
How close this job is to real sourcing and menu decisions.
This role sits inside the supply chain machinery that turns KFC and Taco Bell's new menu ideas into what's actually served across European restaurants, working with category teams to secure sourcing routes and supplier briefs for ingredients and packaging. As written, the scope described is about speed, cost and launch reliability rather than the content of specifications, so it doesn't currently hold a lever over sourcing standards in KFC's chicken supply chains. What it does build is a genuine foothold inside a major protein-heavy QSR business: supplier ecosystem knowledge, category management exposure, and cross-functional credibility with sourcing, quality and category teams. That is the kind of experience that can carry into a role where supplier standards or sourcing criteria are actually being written, criteria that shape what a business buys, from whom, and to what standard. If you take this seat with that longer game in mind, the network and vocabulary you build here are the real asset, not this role's own immediate influence.
Where this role can take you
What this job teaches you, and the jobs it can lead to.
What you'd build
- Supplier ecosystem management in QSR
- Cross-functional launch coordination
- Category sourcing and costing exposure
- Launch readiness and risk-tracking process design
- Commercial case-making for supply chain decisions
Where it can lead
- Category Manager
- Supply Chain Manager
- Responsible Sourcing Manager
Category and supply chain management roles at scale hold real standing over supplier specifications and sourcing criteria, including for meat and other animal-derived ingredients.
About the role
Yum! Europe's One Yum! Supply Chain Centre of Excellence supports KFC and Taco Bell with unified supply chain operations across brands, markets and franchisees. This role is the procurement and supply chain link between brand ambition and restaurant execution, bringing Limited Time Offer (LTO) and innovation platforms to life at speed and scale across European markets. The postholder acts as the supply chain and procurement link across innovation calendars, LTO plans and brand commercialisation priorities, coordinating Marketing, Food Innovation, FSQA, Operations, Finance, category teams, markets and suppliers to define supply requirements early. Responsibilities include launching supplier briefs for ingredients, packaging and product components with clear quality, food safety, sustainability, cost and capacity guardrails; running supplier engagement forums; building launch readiness plans, risk trackers, decision logs and escalation routes; working with category leads on sourcing routes, pricing, MOQs, lead times, alternative suppliers and continuity plans; tracking commercial and operational performance of launches; and making supply chain complexity, cost and risk visible in portfolio prioritisation decisions. Success is measured by improved restaurant economics (validated savings, cost avoidance, payback improvement, total cost optimisation), reliable execution with stronger supplier performance and fewer disruptions, LTO plans well understood across brands, functions, franchisees and suppliers, and a supplier ecosystem delivering innovation, resilience, quality, food safety and sustainability. Candidates should bring 6+ years' experience in procurement, supply chain, food commercialisation, NPD, innovation, category management or project delivery, ideally supporting food, packaging or product launches in QSR, foodservice, FMCG, retail or manufacturing environments. Strong project management skills, understanding of supplier briefing, costing, capacity, food safety, quality and launch readiness requirements, and excellent stakeholder management across brand, market, supplier, operations, finance and technical teams are required, along with the ability to balance creativity, speed, cost, operational simplicity and risk, and confidence escalating blockers in fast-moving, ambiguous projects. The role is hybrid, based from Woking, with European market, restaurant and supplier travel as required.
We added this one ourselves, from the employer's own advert.
Key terms to include in your CV and cover letter
What this employer is asking for, in their words. Applications are often screened by software looking for exact phrases, so if these describe your experience, use their wording.
- procurement enablement
- supply chain coordination
- supplier briefing
- cost guardrails
- launch readiness planning
- risk tracking
- category management
- stakeholder management
- cross-functional coordination
- project management
- food safety awareness
- supplier engagement
- commercial negotiation
- portfolio prioritisation
- NPD
How to position yourself
The language that works with hiring managers for this kind of job.
Position this as delivering commercial reliability and cost discipline in fast-moving innovation launches, the language the advert itself uses (validated savings, cost avoidance, payback improvement, launch readiness). Build supplier engagement and category management credibility here, and if you want to steer toward more sourcing-proximate work later, look for opportunities to get involved in supplier briefing criteria around food safety, quality and sustainability guardrails, which the role already touches.
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