Head Baker

Sanderson King; Greater London; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

Sanderson King is seeking a dedicated Head Baker to oversee daily bakery operations in London. This hands-on leadership role requires guiding a team to deliver high-quality artisan breads and pastries, while maintaining exceptional standards and supporting growth of the business.

You will manage production planning, schedules, and training, ensuring safety and consistency across products. The ideal candidate combines baking excellence with team leadership and a passion for craftsmanship.

Qualifications

• Strong professional baking experience, especially in artisan bread and pastries.
• Experience leading or supervising a bakery team.
• Excellent technical knowledge of baking processes, fermentation, and production.
• Passion for ingredients, quality, and craftsmanship.
• Experience in fast-paced, high-volume bakery environments.
• Solid organisational and production-planning skills.
• Ability to coach and develop junior team members.
• Calm, positive, hands-on leadership style.
• Strong knowledge of food safety, hygiene, and operational standards.
• Desire to continuously improve products and processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead and motivate the bakery team across daily production.
• Produce high-quality artisan breads and pastries.
• Assist Head of Bakery with production planning and operations.
• Manage production schedules, workflow and rotas.
• Maintain standards for quality, presentation, and consistency.
• Train and develop bakers at different experience levels.
• Ensure recipes and specifications are followed precisely.
• Monitor ingredients, stock, wastage and efficiency.
• Uphold food safety, hygiene and safety standards.
• Support new product development and seasonal ranges.
• Identify process improvements without compromising craft.

Skills

Baking expertise

Leadership experience

Fermentation knowledge

Quality craftsmanship

High-volume bakery

Production planning

Coaching juniors

Hands-on leadership

Food safety

Continuous improvement

Job description

Head Baker – Artisan Bakery

Location: London

Reporting to: Head of Bakery

Salary: c£45-£50k + benefits

Hours: Full-time

We’re working with a growing artisan bakery business to appoint an experienced and passionate Head Baker to join its bakery team.

Reporting directly to the Head of Bakery, this is a hands-on leadership role for someone who combines exceptional baking skills with the ability to lead a team, maintain consistently high standards and support the continued growth of the business.

The bakery has built its reputation around quality, craftsmanship and genuinely great products, and we’re looking for someone who shares that passion.

The Role

As Head Baker, you’ll take responsibility for the day-to-day running of bakery production, working closely with the Head of Bakery to ensure the team delivers exceptional products consistently and efficiently.

You’ll be a visible, hands-on leader within the bakery – someone who enjoys being part of production while also developing people, improving processes and maintaining the highest standards.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Leading and motivating the bakery team across daily production
• Producing consistently high-quality artisan breads, pastries and bakery products
• Supporting the Head of Bakery with production planning and day-to-day operations
• Managing production schedules, workflow and team rotas
• Maintaining excellent standards across quality, presentation and consistency
• Training, coaching and developing bakers at different levels of experience
• Ensuring recipes, processes and specifications are followed accurately
• Monitoring ingredients, stock levels, wastage and production efficiency
• Maintaining exceptional food safety, hygiene and health & safety standards
• Supporting new product development and seasonal ranges
• Identifying opportunities to improve processes without compromising craftsmanship or quality
• Stepping up to support the wider bakery operation when required

About You

We’re looking for someone who has developed their career within a high-quality artisan bakery, premium bakery operation or similar food production environment.

You’ll ideally bring:

• Strong professional baking experience, particularly within artisan bread and/or pastry
• Previous experience leading or supervising a bakery team
• Excellent technical knowledge of baking processes, fermentation and production
• A genuine passion for ingredients, quality and craftsmanship
• Experience working within a busy, high-volume bakery environment
• Strong organisational and production-planning skills
• The ability to coach and develop junior members of the team
• A calm, positive and hands-on leadership style
• Good knowledge of food safety, hygiene and operational standards
• A desire to continually improve products, processes and standards

Most importantly, you’ll care deeply about the product. This is a business where quality matters, and we’re looking for someone who takes real pride in what leaves the bakery each day.

The Opportunity

This is an excellent opportunity to join an ambitious artisan bakery business at an exciting stage of its development.

You’ll work closely with an experienced Head of Bakery, have genuine responsibility for the day-to-day bakery operation and play an important role in developing both the team and the product as the business continues to grow.