Menu Planner

Role Overview: As a Culinary Director at Air India, your primary responsibility is to translate the Air India brand characteristics into a world-leading airline on inflight cuisine. You will be crafting innovative, high-quality menus for in-flight and lounge dining experiences, ensuring a world-class gastronomic journey for passengers. Your role involves collaborating extensively with F&B service partners, internal stakeholders, and global supplier teams to maintain consistency in quality, implement menu innovations, and continuously improve customer inflight experience. Key Responsibilities: - Design and develop innovative, culturally diversified menus for in-flight dining across classes and routes. - Curate signature offerings and themed menus for special occasions, seasonal events, and new route launches. - Monitor product quality and performance worldwide regarding food and beverage delivery. - Create recipes adaptable to in-flight kitchen constraints, reheating methods, and altitude effects on taste. - Incorporate customer demographics, dietary restrictions, allergens, and regional preferences in menu planning. - Stay updated on global culinary trends and integrate innovative techniques suitable for in-flight dining. - Collaborate with the Service Design team to finalize crockery, plating designs, and F&B items. - Coordinate with global F&B service providers to ensure menu alignment and conduct training sessions. - Monitor feedback from passengers, crew, and internal channels to identify areas for improvement. - Analyze feedback trends, develop solutions for complaints, and enforce corrective measures with suppliers. - Collaborate with internal stakeholders to design and distribute menu cards aligned with Air India's brand strategy. - Lead culinary teams and F&B consultants across multiple locations, providing mentorship and fostering a culture of innovation. - Ensure compliance with quality and safety standards across all geographies and report on feedback trends and improvement plans. Qualifications Required: - Graduate or equivalent diploma in Hotel Management from a premier institute. - Preferred: Masters degree in Food science & Business administration. - Minimum 15 years of work experience, preferably with large airlines and flight kitchens/5-star hotels. - Strong understanding of airline F&B operations, global supply chain management, and food production logistics. - Excellent verbal and written communication skills, stakeholder management, and people leadership capabilities. - Proficiency in using analytics tools for data-driven decision-making and a commitment to culinary excellence. Additional Company Details: The culinary director role at Air India offers a dynamic work environment that requires flexibility to work across time zones and adapt to the ever-evolving aviation industry. As a key player in elevating customer experiences through culinary excellence, you will have the opportunity to lead cross-functional initiatives, introduce innovative menu concepts, and drive quality assurance measures to ensure a consistent and exceptional inflight dining experience for passengers.,