Head Pastry Chef

Job Details

Are you a pastry professional looking to make your mark at an award-winning, community-centered bakery?

At Hewn, we are more than just a bakery; we are a destination built on a deep commitment to tradition, quality, and sustainability. Recognized nationally for our artisan craftsmanship, we specialize in naturally leavened breads and pastries made from scratch daily. Our mission centers on reviving heritage grains and partnering directly with local farmers and millers to source the finest midwestern, sustainable ingredients. As our Head Pastry Chef, you will lead a dedicated, passionate team in a collaborative kitchen where heritage techniques meet modern culinary creativity. If you love working with high-integrity ingredients, value a deeply rooted community ethos, and want to shape an acclaimed pastry program, we want to hear from you!

Position Overview

The Head Pastry Chef contributes to and oversees all pastry baking and production, directly managing pastry team members and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the pastry department. As a key member of the Hewn Leadership Team, the Head Pastry Chef works collaboratively with the managers of other bakery teams to ensure seamless kitchen integration, balanced scheduling, and optimized overall production.  

Experience & Qualifications

•  Professional Culinary Experience: A minimum of 5 years of professional pastry production experience in a high-volume bakery, fine dining, or other culinary environment. Culinary Degree is preferred

•  Leadership & Management: A minimum of 3 to 4 years of experience in a management role with a proven track record of managing schedules, delegation, and team workflows. Previous experience as a Head Pastry Chef is preferred.

•  Technical Skillset: Advanced knowledge of artisan pastry techniques, including laminated doughs, seasonal baking, viennoiserie, and precise temperature-dependent production. Familiarity with managing heritage grains and flour sourcing is a strong plus.

•  Administrative Proficiency: Strong organizational skills with experience managing food costs, ordering raw inventory, and using kitchen/bakery management software.

•  Certifications & Compliance: Must hold a current ServSafe Manager Certification and possess a thorough understanding of local health department codes.

•  Physical Requirements: Ability to work early morning hours, weekends and holidays, stand for extended periods, and lift up to 50 pounds (bags of flour, heavy equipment components) as required in a fast-paced production kitchen.

Leadership & Team Management

•  Direct Supervision: Directly manages and oversees the Pastry Sous Chef and general pastry team members, serving as their primary point of leadership, accountability, and mentorship.

•  Delegation & Workflow: Effectively delegates daily production tasks, prep lists, and operational responsibilities to the Pastry Sous Chef and team members, ensuring that labor is optimized and production targets are met efficiently.

•  Professional Development: Mentors the Pastry Sous Chef to develop their leadership skills, culinary techniques, and administrative capabilities (such as ordering and inventory) to support their professional growth and build bench strength in the kitchen.

•  Culture & Communication: Holds the team accountable to Hewn’s operational and behavioral standards. Fosters a collaborative, respectful, and open work environment where feedback is given constructively and team issues are addressed immediately.

Core Responsibilities

1. Ordering & Recipe Management

•  Inventory Control: Responsible for all raw ingredient ordering to ensure sufficient stock for daily and weekly production. Collaborates with the Head Bread Baker (HBB), Front of House (FOH) Manager, and Savory Chef to ensure accurate, streamlined ordering.

•  Recipe & Formula Logs: Maintains and updates recipe/formula books. All pastry recipes must be typed, clear, and easily accessible for all pastry chefs to follow.

•  Nutritional Analysis: Informs GM/Owners of recipe changes and helps keep nutritional analysis up to date.

2. Staffing & Payroll

•  Scheduling: Schedules pastry staff according to production demands. Communicates weekly schedules to the staff at least two weeks in advance, though one month in advance is preferred.

•  Time Tracking & Payroll: Manages and approves staff timesheets for payroll every other week, strictly adhering to the Sunday, 8pm deadline. Coordinates with owners and GM to approve time-off requests and any required overtime.

•  Performance & Hiring: Makes recommendations for hiring needs, manages task lists for the team, and supervises all pastry stages at the bakery. Writes annual performance reviews for pastry staff and leads these review meetings alongside the General Manager and Owners.

•  Communication: Holds Bi-monthly pastry meetings with staff.

3. Equipment & Maintenance

•  Equipment Oversight: Responsibly maintains all pastry baking equipment (including convection ovens, mixers, refrigeration, sheeter, and burners). Promptly notifies GM and owners of any equipment issues requiring professional service or maintenance.

•  Food Safety Logs: Checks all refrigeration units daily to verify proper holding temperatures and ensure safe food practices. Updates refrigeration logs every single day.

•  Sanitation & Compliance: Assigns daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning lists to ensure the bakery remains clean, organized, and compliant with Evanston Health Department codes.

o  Daily Tasks: Cleaning the pastry production area, convection ovens, proofer, sinks, and dishwashing area. Trash and recycling must be emptied daily, utilizing composting practices as much as possible.

o  Weekly/Monthly Tasks: Deep cleaning larger elements, such as the top and sides of the convection ovens/proofer and scrubbing the interior and exterior of the walk-in. A schedule for these larger tasks must be clearly posted in the pastry production area.

4. Training & Quality Control

•  Onboarding: Responsible for training all new pastry staff using the standard training plan. The typed pastry training manual must be kept in a binder in the metal desk. The HPC guides new hires through every task in the manual until proficiency is fully achieved.

•  Quality Assurance: Ensures only top-tier products are sold to retail and wholesale customers. All pastries must be baked properly; items falling short of Hewn's standards must be discarded or clearly labeled and left for employee take-home. Communicates with GM and Owners regarding quality concerns.

•  Loss Logging: Documents all product loss in the loss log. Any issues regarding final product quality should be reviewed and corrected in consultation with the owners.

•  Certifications: Maintains personal ServSafe certifications and actively monitors the certification status of the pastry staff.

5. Menu Development & Sourcing

• Collaborative Design & R&D: Works closely with the owners to brainstorm, test, and develop innovative new pastry items and holiday specials throughout the year. Leads the Research & Development process for the pastry department, ensuring new creations fit Hewn’s brand identity.

• Costing & Scalability: Ensures all new menu items are structurally scalable for high-volume production, properly portioned, and yield target profit margins before being introduced to the menu.

• Ingredient Sourcing & Heritage Grains: Collaborates with owners regarding flour sourcing for all pastry-related menu items. Proactively researches and experiments with regional heritage grains, local seasonal produce, and sustainable ingredients to elevate product flavor profiles.

• Rollout & Execution: Creates clear training guidelines and production notes for any newly introduced items so the pastry team can execute them with consistency.

Compensation: This is a full-time, salaried position with a benefits package. Salary will be determined based on experience.