Head Baker

Location: Central London
Salary: £50,000–£55,000 per year, plus tronc
Working pattern: Full-time, 45 hours per week, predominantly early-morning shifts on a variable rota including weekends and bank holidays

An established premium artisan bakery is looking for an accomplished Head Baker to lead its Central London production operation.

This is a senior, hands-on opportunity for a strong bakery leader with excellent pastry and viennoiserie skills, sound operational judgement and the creativity to develop new products. You will lead an experienced team producing premium bakery products for multiple locations and wholesale customers across London.

The successful candidate may currently be a Senior Pastry Chef, Sous Chef or Head Baker, but must have a proven track record of successfully managing, training and developing a team within a busy, high-quality bakery or pastry production environment.

The Role

You will:

• Lead and develop a bakery team of approximately 10 bakers
• Lead production with a strong focus on pastry, while overseeing viennoiserie, bread and preparation.
• Take a particularly active role in pastry and viennoiserie quality and development
• Plan daily production, staffing and resource allocation
• Maintain consistency in taste, texture, appearance and presentation
• Create new recipes and improve existing products
• Train, coach and support bakers at different levels of experience
• Organise rotas and ensure appropriate production cover
• Monitor ingredient usage, stock rotation, yields, waste and labour efficiency
• Maintain accurate recipes, specifications and production records
• Uphold high standards of food safety, hygiene, allergen management, traceability and HACCP compliance
• Work closely with the wider operational team to improve products, processes and performance

Strong Requirements

• Significant experience in a high-quality artisan bakery or premium production environment
• Strong pastry and viennoiserie expertise, including lamination and dough development
• Good knowledge of bread production, fermentation, shaping and baking
• Previous experience leading, supervising or managing a bakery team
• Ability to create recipes and develop commercially viable products
• Proven production-planning and organisational skills
• Experience training and developing other bakers
• Strong understanding of HACCP, allergens and food-safety controls
• Availability for early starts, with the usual Head Baker shift beginning at approximately 3:30 a.m.
• A reliable way to reach Central London before public transport services may be fully operational

What Is Offered

• £50,000–£55,000 base salary
• Additional tronc payments
• Staff meals
• Pension scheme
• Healthcare support, including dental and optical benefits
• Employee referral scheme
• Length-of-service rewards
• The opportunity to shape products, develop an established team and influence a growing bakery operation

This position would suit an experienced bakery leader or senior baker who combines technical craftsmanship with confident people management, creativity and commercial awareness.

Interested?

If you are an experienced Head Baker or senior bakery professional with strong pastry and viennoiserie skills, proven team leadership and a passion for developing exceptional products, we would like to hear from you.

Click Apply below and submit your CV for a confidential discussion.