Director Bakery Operations

Bimbo Bakeries USA; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 151,000 - 212,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary Range: $151,300 - $211,800

Annual Bonus Eligibility

Comprehensive Benefits Package

Paid Time Off

401k & Company Match

Job summary

The Director of Bakery Operations at Bimbo Bakeries USA leads bakery teams to produce world‑class products on schedule and within budget. You will set strategic priorities, drive the Operations Excellence playbook, and coach Department Leaders to achieve continuous improvement and strong performance in safety, quality, service, and cost.

Ideal candidates bring a Bachelor’s degree in a technical field with 8–10 years of manufacturing leadership experience, a proven track record in safety

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Engineering, Food Science, or a technical field; Masters preferred.
• 8–10 years of manufacturing experience with progressive leadership responsibilities.
• Proven track record leading safety initiatives and improving operations.
• Strong organizational and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Operations Excellence program across all bakeries to drive KPIs.
• Coach and develop Department Leaders for continuous improvement.
• Set strategic priorities, budgets, and resource plans for the bakeries.
• Ensure safety, quality, service, and cost targets are met.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to implement improvements.

Skills

Operations leadership

Strategic thinking

Team coaching

Budget & cost management

Education

Bachelor's degree in business, Engineering, Food Science, or a technical field; Masters preferred

Job description

Have you ever enjoyed Arnold®, Brownberry® or Oroweat® bread? A Thomas’® English muffin or bagel? Or perhaps snacked on a Sara Lee®, Entenmann’s® or Marinela® cake or donut? If the answer is yes, then you know Bimbo Bakeries USA! More than 20,000 associates in bakeries, sales centers, offices and on sales routes work to ensure our consumers have the freshest products at every meal. In addition to competitive pay and benefits, we provide a safe and inclusive work environment that appreciates diversity, promotes development, and allows our associates to be their authentic selves.

Top Reasons to Work at Bimbo Bakeries USA:

• Salary Range: $151,300 - $211,800
• Annual Bonus Eligibility
• Comprehensive Benefits Package
• Paid Time Off
• 401k & Company Match

Position Summary:

The Director of Bakery Operations plays an important role in helping BBU win as one team, bake with world-class practices, grow our people, and serve our customers. They embrace the consumer and serve our customers by leading the bakery teams to produce world-class products on time, and in full.They ensure operational capabilities by leading all aspects of the bakeries in setting strategic priorities, achieving goals, coaching other leaders, and support the training that is required for executing the Operations Excellence Playbook. The Director of Bakery Operations empowers and involves their direct team members in helping bakeries achieve key performance metrics, and coaches each Department Leader individually towards continuous improvement and professional growth. They create a compelling bakery culture by engaging and developing their teams through effective leadership and coaching strategies and expect ownership and accountability in their teams to achieve results across people, safety, quality, service, and cost.

Key Job Responsibilities:

Lead as an Operations Excellence Vision Carrier, serves the frontline through pursuit of excellence, and drives accountability for running the playbook across all bakeries. Engage and develop core competencies of direct and indirect team members through onboarding, training, coaching and consistent performance feedback, and coach Department Leaders towards an empowered, problem‑solving mentality to consistently achieve world‑class standards. Build a culture of mutual respect, teamwork, and professionalism, demonstrating active pursuit for the company’s culture. Uphold and promote our E5 Leadership Behaviors: Embrace the Consumer, Ensure Operational Capabilities, Empower and Involve, Engage and Develop, and Expect Ownership and Accountability. Operate with a One Team mentality by supporting Department Leaders in Production, Maintenance, Sanitation and Shipping across all bakeries in their scope to win the shift and ensure production is to schedule and shipment to order. Partner with Business Unit leadership, other leaders in the bakeries, and cross‑functional teams to identify and implement profit‑driving, quality‑of‑life‑improving strategies and programs. Leverage deep technical competence and partners with others to accelerate problem‑solving and solution implementation. Demonstrate full commitment to Quality and Food Safety principles by leading by example, actively participating in, and providing adequate resources to support the development, implementation, maintenance and ongoing improvement of the Quality and Food Safety Systems. Deliver on Key Performance Indicators for People, Asset Reliability, Quality, Safety, Service, and Cost. Lead the Safety Integrated Management System for the bakeries and ensure every leader and associate is engaged in achieving world class safety performance. Utilize quantitative performance data to set strategic bakery priorities that drive results across all needs areas. Oversee the financial and health of the bakery, creating and maintaining annual budgets.

Key Behavioral Competencies:

Operational Execution: This role requires the ability to think strategically about business needs, set data‑based priorities, and build plans with Department Leaders to achieve improved business KPIs. Set the standard: This role has overall responsibility for universal achievement of Operations Excellence standards and practices, manufacturing safety, culture, quality, environmental compliance, and productivity for the bakery locations. This role requires a knowledge of safety and environmental‑related concepts including compliance with State, Federal and Local regulations. This candidate must be able to travel for meetings, Factory Acceptance Testing (FATs), Benchmarking, etc. Average travel is 10‑15%. Drive our culture: Our GB values and culture are what make our company different. It is critical that the Bakery Leader builds a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence, providing consistent leadership in working with and managing bakery leadership and associates while emphasizing teamwork and collaboration that leads to high quality products, high associate engagement, and successful financial results. Be a change leader: Drive the realization of Operations Excellence efforts across our manufacturing facilities and processes. Utilize strong decision‑making skills and flexibility in order to drive sustainable operational initiatives and process improvement activities. Provide the necessary leadership to promote change throughout the organization and continue to develop and lead a world‑class continuous improvement organization. Establish a culture of accountability throughout the organization by facilitating an effective goal/metrics deployment that aligns with business unit and corporate goals. Develop our talent: Drive purposeful people planning to ensure a pipeline of qualified associates are recruited and developed to meet the current and future needs of the organization. While driving accountability for results, be supportive and effective at developing individuals to assume greater levels of responsibility and personal contribution. As a member of the Operations leadership team, this role will also be responsible for providing sound advice to executive leadership on all related topics.

Education and Work History:

Bachelor’s degree in business, Engineering, Food Science, or a technical field required, Masters preferred. 8-10 years of increasingly responsible manufacturing experience, at least 5 years which must be in the food industry. Demonstrated leadership of safety initiatives that drive a zero‑injury culture. Participative management style and excellent organizational and communication skills. Demonstrated track record leading the improvement of operations while delivering day to day performance. In‑depth knowledge of baking science and technology, process control and improvement tools. Experience with programs that drive statistical processes and program systems in plant operations. The physical and mental demands described in each job posting are representative of those that must be met by an associate to successfully perform the essential functions of each job. Reasonable accommodation may be requested to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of each job.

Bimbo Bakeries USA is an equal opportunity employer with a policy that provides equal employment opportunity for applicants and employees regardless of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, any other classification protected by law. It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.