Production Operations Manager

About us: Sourdough Sophia began in a dining room during lockdown, when queues formed down the road for our micro bakery. With the help of a Kickstarter and nearly 600 local backers, we opened our doors in 2020. Today we're a scaling independent bakery, and our priority is still people. Working in hospitality is hard, but it shouldn't be unfair. We're looking for a Production Operations Manager to build the systems and the team that let us scale, and to keep our production calm, safe and brilliant while we do. We're a seven-day operation with night bakes, so you'll need to be happy working across the week, including nights. Main responsibilities:

• Leading the shift from the line, coaching our senior bakers and pastry chefs as you go
• Building the SOPs, routines and team that make us ready to scale
• Create the systems that turn new products into everyday production and get them to the stores
• Run the production schedule, write the rotas and cover logistics, from packing to delivery
• Own food safety and compliance to the highest standards
• Track yield, waste and cost per unit, and lead improvement projects
• Keep standards consistent across sites and wholesale, working with our Product Development and Standards Lead Requirements:
• 5+ years in food manufacturing, CPU or artisan bakery production, with real people leadership
• Hands-on experience producing sourdough and laminated pastry
• Experience building systems from scratch
• Strong HACCP, hygiene and allergen knowledge
• Confidence using KPIs and data to drive improvement
• A calm, visible, decisive style, and a love of teaching others What's in it for you:
• £42-48k depending on experience
• 28 days holiday
• Pension
• Paid sick leave
• Free lunch, coffee and bread
• Wellbeing support, including massages and therapy
• Real progression