Home Chef’s IT team is responsible for maintaining technology and enterprise systems that support our company goals and continued growth. The team supports our Chicago-based corporate office in addition to 4 national production facilities. Ideal candidates embody our tech team values: serving as proactive thought-partners to business stakeholders, encouraging their team to think bigger, taking full ownership of outcomes, and maintaining a fun, collaborative environment.
Detailed Responsibilities
Strategy & Planning:
Establish and execute the multi-year IT strategy and enterprise roadmap aligned with Home Chef’s growth objectives
Lead enterprise AI, automation, and data governance strategies, establishing guidelines that encourage practical AI adoption while protecting corporate data
Continually evaluate technical infrastructure, decommission redundant tools, and drive modern efficiency across systems
Maintain clear communication channels to provide leadership visibility into project roadmaps, resource allocation, and initiative progress
Operations & Support:
Maintain resilient networking infrastructure, targeting high uptime and proactively eliminating single points of failure across corporate and manufacturing locations
Oversee plant-floor technology systems across 4 facilities, including custom pick-to-light platforms, WMS, timekeeping systems, and access controls
Manage end-to-end hardware lifecycles for corporate laptops, plant-floor kiosks, scanning equipment, and network hardware from procurement through retirement
Implement robust Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions for both corporate staff and plant-floor teams
Oversee responsive helpdesk services, including structured on-call and off-hours support
Partner with operational teams to plan, install, and validate technology for facility expansions and new site launches
Enterprise System Management:
Maintain, integrate, and optimize key enterprise platforms (e.g., NetSuite, Google Workspace, Kronos, ADP, Concur, Greenhouse)
Act as a technical advisor to cross-functional leaders during the evaluation, selection, and rollout of new software applications
Oversee IT-specific spend within the enterprise software budget and negotiate vendor contracts
Drive SaaS governance to eliminate license sprawl and optimize software spend
Expand cross-platform automations and workflow optimizations (experience with Workato is a plus)
Security & Privacy:
Develop, maintain, and enforce cybersecurity policies, Zero Trust controls, Incident Response (IR) protocols, and Disaster Recovery (DR) plans
Collaborate with Kroger’s corporate IT security team to ensure Home Chef systems adhere to enterprise security and compliance standards
Conduct periodic vulnerability assessments, system audits, and penetration testing across corporate and plant environments
Monitor changing data privacy regulations and partner with legal to maintain operational compliance
Team Management:
Mentor, coach, and support professional growth for a team of IT administrators and support staff
Establish clear performance metrics, operational SLAs, and professional standards for the IT department
Build strong collaborative relationships across all departments, positioning IT as a consultative problem-solver
Continuously evaluate organizational structure to ensure proper coverage across corporate offices and distributed production facilities
Key Traits and Behaviors
Taking Ownership : We do whatever is necessary to get the job done - no job is too big or too small. We are willing to do any task at any level - and get our hands dirty (at a meal solutions company, sometimes we all have to do the dishes!). We work with speed, setting realistic but aggressive timelines. We do not allow lack of perfect to get in the way of progress.
Pragmatic, Next-level Thinker : We explore new methodologies and strategies and are not constrained by conventional thinking or ‘the way we have always done…