Head Baker / Production Manager

Head Baker / Production Manager

Continental Cookies, Inc. – Hackensack, NJ
Full-Time | Hands-On Leadership Position

Continental Cookies, Inc. is a family-owned wholesale bakery manufacturing premium cookies and pastries since 1960. We are seeking an experienced, dependable, hands-on Head Baker / Production Manager to oversee and participate in our daily bakery production.

This is not a desk-management position. The right person will work directly with the production team while taking responsibility for organization, quality, efficiency, staffing, and completion of the day's production requirements.

Position Summary

The Head Baker / Production Manager is responsible for coordinating and supervising daily bakery production from ingredient preparation through baking, finishing, packaging, and cleanup.

This person must understand commercial bakery production and be capable of leading employees while also stepping into production whenever necessary.

The successful candidate will be organized, practical, mechanically inclined, quality-conscious, and able to anticipate problems before they interfere with production.

Primary Responsibilities

• Plan and organize daily and weekly production based on customer orders and required delivery dates.
• Direct bakery employees and assign work according to production priorities.
• Personally participate in mixing, baking, depositing, sheeting, cutting, filling, finishing, and other production operations as needed.
• Ensure recipes, formulas, batch sizes, weights, temperatures, baking times, and production procedures are followed consistently.
• Monitor product quality throughout production, including appearance, size, weight, texture, bake, filling, chocolate coating, and packaging.
• Maintain consistency between batches and identify problems before significant product or labor is wasted.
• Coordinate the flow of work between mixing, makeup, ovens, cooling, finishing, chocolate work, and packaging.
• Make sure employees have the ingredients, equipment, pans, racks, packaging, and instructions necessary to keep production moving efficiently.
• Monitor employee performance, productivity, attendance, workmanship, and adherence to procedures.
• Train employees in proper production methods, equipment operation, sanitation, food safety, and quality standards.
• Maintain a clean, organized, safe, and food-compliant production environment.
• Enforce sanitation, allergen-control, traceability, GMP, and food-safety procedures.
• Monitor ingredient and packaging inventories and communicate purchasing or production needs before shortages occur.
• Minimize waste, rework, downtime, and unnecessary labor.
• Troubleshoot production and equipment problems and determine when maintenance or outside service is required.
• Communicate clearly with ownership and other company leaders regarding production status, staffing issues, quality concerns, shortages, equipment problems, and anything that could affect customer orders.
• Help develop better production methods, employee procedures, scheduling, and efficiencies as the company grows.
• Take responsibility for completing production correctly and on schedule, particularly during high-volume holiday periods.

Leadership Expectations

We are looking for someone who takes ownership of the operation.

The Head Baker / Production Manager should not need to be told about every problem. If something is wrong, falling behind, running low, or needs attention, we expect this person to recognize it, communicate it, and take appropriate action.

This position requires someone who can work effectively with many different personalities. The manager must be able to correct employees when necessary while remaining professional and respectful.

Communication is extremely important. Instructions, production changes, problems, and decisions must be communicated to the appropriate managers and employees so that everyone who needs the information receives it.

The ideal candidate is willing to do whatever reasonable production task is necessary to get the job completed. There is no attitude of "that's not my job" in this position.

Qualifications

• Significant professional baking or commercial bakery production experience.
• Previous supervisory, lead baker, production-management, or similar leadership experience strongly preferred.
• Strong knowledge of bakery production methods and equipment.
• Ability to read, understand, follow, and scale bakery formulas and production specifications.
• Ability to organize multiple products and production processes simultaneously.
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
• Good judgment and common sense in a fast-moving production environment.
• Ability to train, direct, and hold employees accountable.
• Strong attention to product quality and consistency.
• Understanding of sanitation, food safety, allergens, and good manufacturing practices.
• Ability to communicate effectively in English with ownership, management, employees, vendors, and service personnel.
• Spanish-speaking ability is helpful but not required.
• Ability to work on one's feet and perform the lifting and physical activities normally required in commercial bakery production.
• Availability for additional hours and schedule flexibility during peak production periods, particularly before major holidays.

What We Are Looking For

More than anything, we are looking for a competent and dependable production leader.

Bakery knowledge can continue to develop, but this position requires good judgment, organization, work ethic, accountability, and leadership.

The right person notices what needs to be done and gets it done. They should be comfortable making decisions, asking questions when necessary, correcting problems, helping employees, and keeping ownership informed.

Our goal is to find someone who can become a trusted leader within the company and take genuine responsibility for the day-to-day operation of bakery production.