The Role
Lead chef-facing brand activations, product demonstrations, tastings, masterclasses, and culinary events across national gourmet markets. Serve as a technical and culinary expert for IRCA Group products, translate product features into practical applications, build chef relationships, support sales priorities and product launches, coordinate the Promoter Program, and provide market insights. The role is non-commercial, focused on brand visibility, demand creation, and product adoption, with approximately 50% national travel.
Summary Generated by Built In
The Irca Group is an International Leader in high quality finished and semi-finished ingredients for the bakery, pastry, and ice cream markets. With a solid history of over 100 years in the industry, the Group has its headquarters in Italy (Gallarate) and a strong global footprint with 23 production sites and over 2000 employees in Europe, the United States and Vietnam.
Our core product categories include chocolate, compounds, chocolate decorations, sprinkles, creams, pastry mixes, gelato ingredients, nuts and candied fruit. The most recent acquisition of Kerry Sweet complements our existing categories with the addition of sweet particulates, chocolate confections, inclusions, variegates and frozen fruit purees.
Through its 8 key brands (IRCA, Dobla®, in2food, Via Degli Orsini, JoyGelato, RaviFruit, Cesarin and Anastasi®) the IRCA Group offers an unparalleled "one-stop shop" approach for delivering quality solutions to all ingredients needs, through a broad range of innovative products. We offer every day and seasonal solutions to 3 macro channels: Gourmet, Food Manufacturing and Consumer Product (Retail). “Extraordinary made simple”.
We are looking for a Brand Specialist to drive chef-facing activation and demand creation across East coast & Midwest markets. This is a high-impact, non-commercial role designed to strengthen brand pull, elevate product adoption, and support sales effectiveness through technical expertise and field execution. This is a unique opportunity to play a transversal, high-visibility role within a growing gourmet platform, working closely with sales leadership while staying deeply connected to chefs and the market.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Lead chef-facing activations including product demonstrations, tastings, masterclasses, and culinary events.
- Act as a technical and culinary expert across the IRCA Group Gourmet portfolio (Domori, Cesarin, Ravifruit, Dobla, JoyGelato, IRCA, Graffiti Sprinkles).
- Translate product features into practical, solution-driven applications for chefs and end users.
- Build strong relationships with chefs, bakers, and culinary professionals, positioning IRCA Group as a trusted long-term partner.
- Collaborate closely with Sales Managers to support priority opportunities and strategic projects (no direct pricing or account ownership).
- Provide market feedback and qualitative insights to help guide portfolio focus and commercial strategy.
- Coordinate and support the Promoter Program, ensuring alignment with sales priorities and high execution standards.
- Support new product launches through pull initiatives and chef engagement.
- Drive brand visibility and activation across priority markets including NYC, Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, and Toronto.
- Travel approximately 50% nationally.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- 7+ years of relevant experience in pastry, culinary, foodservice, or gourmet brands.
- Pastry or culinary background strongly preferred; chef experience is a plus.
- Strong technical credibility and the ability to engage chefs at a high level.
- Excellent communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
- A high-energy, hands-on professional with an educator mindset.
- Ability to work independently in the field while remaining highly collaborative.
- Comfortable in a non-commercial role, focused on demand creation and brand activation.
Irca Group offers career growth opportunities as well as competitive compensation and benefits:
Medical, Dental, & Vision, 401(k) matching, Paid Vacation, and Holidays, Employee Education Tuition Reimbursement Program
Skills Required
- 7+ years of relevant experience in pastry, culinary, foodservice, or gourmet brands
- Pastry or culinary background
- Strong technical credibility and ability to engage chefs at a high level
- Excellent communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills
- High-energy, hands-on professional with an educator mindset
- Ability to work independently in the field while remaining highly collaborative
- Comfortable in a non-commercial role focused on demand creation and brand activation
- Chef experience
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The Company
What We Do
Founded in 1919, IRCA Group is a global leader in the production of high-quality ingredient solutions for the pastry, bakery, chocolate, and gelato markets. Serving both artisans and industrial food manufacturers in over 100 countries, the company combines Italian heritage with innovation to provide a comprehensive portfolio of products, including creams, fruit preparations, and inclusions, helping professionals create extraordinary culinary experiences with simple, reliable, and scalable solutions.
