Bakery Manager

The Opportunity
We are seeking a dynamic, energetic and results-driven Bakery Manager to take ownership of a growing bakery operation.
This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who can raise standards, bring professionalism and structure to the team, and make a genuine impact on business performance. You will lead from the front, combining strong people leadership with hands-on involvement on the production floor.
The successful candidate will be ambitious, engaging and commercially minded, with the energy and resilience to challenge the status quo, drive improvements and help build a high-performing operation.
Key Responsibilities
- Take ownership of the safe, efficient and effective day-to-day running of the bakery.
- Lead, motivate, coach and develop the bakery team, setting clear expectations and high standards.
- Plan labour, rotas and resources to deliver production targets on time and to specification.
- Maintain excellent standards of food safety, hygiene, quality and Health & Safety.
- Monitor KPIs including output, efficiency, downtime, waste, yield and labour utilisation.
- Identify operational issues, conduct root cause analysis and implement practical improvements.
- Work closely with Production, Engineering and Technical/Quality to improve reliability, efficiency and processes.
- Develop and maintain effective SOPs, work instructions and standard ways of working.
- Recruit, train and develop operators as the team grows.
- Take ownership of problems and drive them through to resolution.
Experience & Skills
Essential:
- Food manufacturing experience, ideally within a bakery or dough-based environment.
- Proven experience leading or supervising production teams.
- Strong knowledge of food safety, hygiene and Health & Safety.
- Experience working to production plans, KPIs and operational standards.
- Strong practical problem-solving and continuous improvement skills.
- Excellent leadership, communication and interpersonal skills.
- Confident challenging ineffective processes and driving change.
- A genuinely hands-on approach to production.
Desirable: Experience with automated production lines, Lean/continuous improvement, SOP development, Engineering/Maintenance collaboration and production scale-up.
The Person
We are looking for someone who:
- Leads from the front and sets high standards.
- Is dynamic, energetic, resilient and results-oriented.
- Is engaging and confident, with the ability to inspire and develop people.
- Takes ownership and turns problems into solutions.
- Is practical, commercially aware and focused on continuous improvement.
- Wants to make a real mark on the business and drive growth, rather than simply maintain the status quo.
The role requires someone to cover 4 days per week on a 12 hour shift (5am to 5pm), and whilst the operation runs from Saturday to Thursday (core days being Sunday to Thursday) flexibility will be required to work additional hours when required, however any additional hours in excess of the standard 48, will be paid at time and a half.
Success in the Role
Success will be demonstrated through safe and reliable production, consistently high quality and hygiene standards, improved efficiency and productivity, reduced waste and downtime, and a capable, engaged and increasingly self-sufficient bakery team.
This is an opportunity to take genuine ownership of a growing operation, raise the bar and play a key role in its future success.

Barker Ross Group values diversity and promotes equality. No terminology in this advert is intended to discriminate against any of the protected characteristics that fall under the Equality Act 2010. We encourage and welcome applications from all sections of society and are more than happy to discuss reasonable adjustments and/or additional arrangements as required to support your application.

For the purposes of the Conduct Regulations 2003, when advertising permanent vacancies we are acting as an Employment Agency, and when advertising temporary/contract vacancies we are acting as an Employment Business.