S'more about the team:
The Product Innovation team is looking for a Manager, Ingredient Strategy to own the commercial and operational side of bringing new ingredients to HelloFresh. Supporting the Canadian Product team, you are accountable for the full journey of an innovation ingredient - from finding the perfect supplier, negotiation and onboarding, to a live SKU in our boxes. Where the broader product team identifies what ingredients we should pursue, you are responsible for making them happen. You engage suppliers, negotiate the terms, and own the end-to-end process that takes a new ingredient from opportunity to operational reality - fast. You will work closely with FSQA, Procurement, Operations, Planning, and Marketing, and you are measured by your ability to move innovation ingredients through that system without losing speed or quality.
Lettuce share what this role will be responsible for:
- Vendor Reachout: Identify and initiate contact with potential new suppliers for ingredients in the innovation pipeline. Communicate ingredient specifications clearly, coordinate sample submissions, and manage supplier relationships through the evaluation process. You set the tone for new supplier relationships from day one and remain the primary point of contact through onboarding.
- Commercial Relationships: Own the full scope of commercial terms with innovation ingredient suppliers, including pricing, volume commitments, supply agreements, payment terms, exclusivity arrangements, and brand partnership structures such as co-marketing programs or product-for-placement deals. You understand what a sound commercial arrangement looks like across all of these dimensions and you negotiate terms that work for HelloFresh while building durable supplier relationships. You partner with Strategic Sourcing to ensure alignment with broader procurement strategy.
- End-to-End New Ingredient Onboarding: Own the full onboarding process for all new ingredients brought in through the Product Innovation pipeline. This means running the NID Fast Track from Ingredient Brief through Vendor Reachout, Price Negotiation, and Sensory Testing, to SKU Onboarding and Post-Launch Review - coordinating every team involved and holding the timeline. For RFP and standard SKU processes, you provide support through approvals navigation and sensory inputs. Nothing launches without your sign-off on the supplier and commercial side.
- SKU Approvals: Steward new new ingredient SKUs through the HelloFresh approval processes. Coordinate across Procurement, Operations, and FSQA to ensure all approvals, specifications, and data requirements are complete before launch. You sequence the work across teams to prevent bottlenecks and keep innovation ingredients on track.
- Post-Launch Review: Track how new ingredients perform after launch across quality, customer feedback, and operational metrics. Flag underperforming ingredients early, lead corrective action where needed, and close the loop on every ingredient you brought in. Performance data informs what the team pursues next.
- All other duties, as assigned.
Sound a-peeling? Here's what we're looking for:
- 5+ years of experience in ingredient sourcing, procurement, or food innovation within CPG, food service, or a related industry - with a demonstrated track record of managing supplier relationships and commercial negotiations.
- Commercial Acumen: You are comfortable across the full range of supplier commercial terms - pricing, contracts, volume structures, exclusivity, and partnership arrangements. You know what good looks like and you can negotiate to get there.
- End-to-End Process Ownership: You have owned complex, multi-stakeholder processes before and you know how to keep them moving. New ingredient onboarding touches FSQA, Procurement, Operations, Planning, and Marketing - you coordinate across all of them without losing momentum.
- FSQA Familiarity: A working understanding of food safety and quality assurance frameworks - SQF, HACCP, supplier audits, or equivalent. You know what needs sign-off and you do not skip steps.
- Cross-Functional Fluency: You work effectively across Sourcing, Marketing, FSQA, Operations, and Planning. You get alignment without needing to own every decision, and you know when to escalate versus when to just solve it.
- 4-year degree in Business, Supply Chain, Food Science, or a related field.
You are:
- A Deal-Maker: The commercial side of supplier relationships is where you thrive. You understand the full scope of a supplier agreement, know what terms matter, and negotiate with confidence.
- An Owner: You take a new ingredient from first supplier contact to live SKU and you do not let it drift. You track the dependencies, manage the handoffs, and close things out.
- A Connector: You build strong relationships - with suppliers and with the internal teams you need to get a new ingredient over the line. People want to work with you because you make their jobs easier.
- A Navigator: You know how to move fast inside a complex organization. You do not bypass process - you learn it well enough to find the fastest legitimate path through it.
Let’s cut to the cheese, this is why you'll love it here
- Box Discount - Amazing discounts on 1 box per week! 75% discount on weekly HelloFresh and Chefs Plate meal kits AND 50% off weekly Factor meal box.
- Health & Wellness - Health & Dental benefits from day 1, a Health Spending Account, unlimited access to the Headspace app to meet your self-care needs, and 25% discount on GoodLife fitness memberships!
- RRSP Matching - Competitive RRSP matching program offered
- Vacation & PTO - Time off is also an important part of self-care! We offer generous vacation and PTO to help you create a good work-life balance.
- Family Benefits - A parental leave top-up program for expectant parents.
- Growth & Development - We support your career progression, provide development opportunities, and invest in your continued learning through our organization wide L&D fund.
- Work Hard & Have Fun - From team socials to engaging company days, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to experience the fun!
- Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives - With impactful ERG’s like FreshPride, Women Empowered and LIMES, we are committed to our diversity, equity & inclusion efforts.
- Food Puns - this one is kind of a big dill if you haven’t already noticed. We even have some punny meeting room names!
Flexible Hybrid Approach
At HelloFresh, we know that flexible work arrangements are essential in enabling you to do your best work, while balancing your personal and life needs. Offering remote work flexibility, along with the opportunity to interact and collaborate in the office are all a part of creating a great employee experience.
To meet these needs, we are pleased to provide Flexible Hybrid work. Flexible Hybrid is a people-first approach that is based on choice, trust, personalization, and empowers teams to choose when and how often they work from the office and work from home, in addition to team days and company days. This means a minimum of 2 days in office per week, with most teams in office between 2-3 days a week.
Working Conditions
It’s no surprise that as a food company, we use many ingredients that may be considered common allergens (i.e. peanuts, tree nuts, milk, etc.). Whether this role is based out of our headquarters or one of our distribution centers, it is possible that you may be exposed to such allergens in this role. If you have any concerns with being exposed to any particular food ingredients, including meat, please disclose this during the hiring process.
HelloFresh Canada uses AI-integrated technology to help us process and evaluate applications more efficiently. This includes tools that screen and assess candidate qualifications based on the requirements for this role. While these tools assist our workflow, all final selection decisions are made by our hiring team.
This is a posting for an existing vacancy. We are actively seeking to fill this position.
On top of base salary and amazing benefits, this role is also eligible for the HelloFresh equity program
Interested in joining the HelloFresh team? Don’t be chai, apply! Submit your application in PDF format today.
Toronto, ON Pay Range
$88,000 - $98,000 CAD
