Senior Bakery Production Lead – High-Volume & Quality

Bauer Consulting Group, Inc.; Elmhurst (IL); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Bauer Consulting Group, Inc. in the Chicago area is seeking a Bakery Production Manager to lead day-to-day operations from mixing through packaging, ensuring formulas and quality meet specifications.

You will oversee a high-volume, from-scratch bakery, maintain SQF/HACCP compliance, optimize line efficiency, and coordinate with QA, Maintenance, Sanitation and Shipping.

Ideal candidates have bakery production management experience and bilingual English/Spanish is a plus.

Qualifications

• High School diploma with 7 years of Bakery Production Management experience or a Degree in Food Science with 3 years of Bakery Production experience.
• Bakery Management experience in a high-volume, from-scratch, commercial Bakery: formula ownership, batch scaling, dough temperature, hydration, proofing, baking, cooling.
• Hands-on experience with Commercial sheeting lines, industrial mixers, tunnel ovens, cooling/freezing systems, metal detection, and packaging operations.
• Strong working knowledge of AIB, SQF, BRC, HACCP, FDA, FSMA, GMP, Allergen controls, Traceability, and Food Safety Audit requirements.
• Bilingual (English / Spanish) is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day Bakery production from mixing through packaging, ensuring products consistently meet formula, quality, yield, and customer specifications.
• Lead production crews across mixing, forming, proofing, baking, cooling/freezing, packaging, and the Tzatziki production lane.
• Maintain strict compliance with SQF, HACCP, FDA/FSMA, Halal, GMP, allergen, traceability, metal-detection, and customer food-safety programs.
• Monitor and adjust formulas, dough conditions, equipment parameters, proofing, and oven profiles within approved specifications; troubleshoot production issues and coordinate corrective actions.
• Control production scheduling, material readiness, batch sizes, staffing, waste, rework, downtime, and overall line efficiency, coordinating with QA, Maintenance, Sanitation, Warehouse, and Shipping.
• Ensure accurate and timely completion of batch sheets, waste logs, changeover records, training records, deviation reports, metal-detection verification, and daily production reports.
• Build a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, training, audit readiness, and knowledge transfer, ensuring the department can consistently operate to standard.

Skills

Bakery Production Management

Formula ownership

Batch scaling

Dough temperature

Hydration

Proofing

Baking

Cooling

QA coordination

Education

High School diploma

Degree in Food Science

Tools

Sheeting lines

Industrial mixers

Tunnel ovens

Cooling/freezing systems

Metal detection

Packaging operations

Job description

Bauer Consulting Group, Inc. in the Chicago area is seeking a Bakery Production Manager to lead day-to-day operations from mixing through packaging, ensuring formulas and quality meet specifications.

You will oversee a high-volume, from-scratch bakery, maintain SQF/HACCP compliance, optimize line efficiency, and coordinate with QA, Maintenance, Sanitation and Shipping.

Ideal candidates have bakery production management experience and bilingual English/Spanish is a plus.