Find your place in the field of good food

Our goal is to connect good people with good food. We advertise sustainable food jobs and training opportunities to help jobseekers and employers find each other.

Job description

Are you excited about localised food systems and the potential of regenerative agriculture to bring about systemic change? Would you relish the opportunity to work with freshly milled stoneground flour every single day and develop partnerships with the farmers who grow our grain?

We are looking for an excellent Head Baker who is excited to join us on a journey to get as much, nutritious, delicious and sustainably produced bread into the world as possible. We work directly with farmers and millers who prioritise soil health to build a better future for us all. You will be responsible for the daily operation of producing all Hylsten Bakery products and managing our small team of bakers to ensure we are a nurturing and exciting place to work.

We are a friendly and nurturing team – we are looking for someone who is committed and excited by what we are bringing to the world. We strongly encourage people from underrepresented groups to apply. 

About Hylsten Bakery

Hylsten was founded in September 2020 with the sole purpose of getting as much nutritious, delicious and sustainably produced bread into the world as possible. We work directly with our miller, Andrew from Fresh Flour to get as much freshly milled heritage and population wheats into our bread as possible. We are active members of the South West Grain Network whose purpose is to take active steps into an alternative grain economy, one that is human scale, non-commodity and grounded in friendship and collaboration. As head baker you’ll become part of this community, taking part in Network meetings and staying up to date with the state of our localised food system.

The bakery is fully equipped with a 5 deck 3 tray Mono Oven, we have a high spec walk in fridge, a 120 kg Diosna mixer, and a 80kg twin arm mixer. The maintenance and upkeep of our equipment is a priority for us to ensure bakers are able to produce the best products possible. 

What it's like to work here

Staff welfare and a holistic approach to work and life are extremely important at Hylsten. The business was founded on many of the principles taken from the Feminist Business School and  with a strong intention to challenge the status quo when it comes to what has been expected in my hospitality / kitchen environments. As such we have for now decided not to bake on Saturdays. This means for the majority of weeks every staff member works a Monday - Friday schedule. The exceptions are for our Bread Classes which are held every 6-8 weeks, our pop up Pizza Nights and the weekly Sunday leaven build. The Sunday shift is only 1-2 hours long and is rotated between the team. We share the bake shifts meaning everyone only does one early morning shift per week, these start between 2am - 4am. The rest of the week is a sociable 8am start.

Kate is the founder and Managing Director, she works closely with Benji who is also a shareholder and Head of Accounts. Kate’s time is split between Devon and London and Benji lives full time in London. You will work closely with Kate and Benji in your day to day role this may be via zoom and daily phone calls if both parties are working remotely.

Salary Offer: £32,000 up to £35,000 performance related bonus 

Job Purpose: to manage the high standard production and processes of existing Hylsten products and support with development of new products. To ensure high staff welfare and development training of junior bakers.

Requirements:

• Minimum of 3 years experience working with sourdough breads

• Ideally 1  years experience working with sourdough breads made using stoneground UK heritage and population wheats 

• Desirable - experience with pastry / viennoiserie

• Desirable - experience making sourdough pizza

• Experience of managing individuals and teams to achieve specific outcomes

• Competent with Google Sheets / Excel and other IT applications.

• Basic understanding of business management and product costings 

• Enjoys the challenge of  working at higher production schedules - we currently produce 1800 loaves a week across 4 days with aims to grow.

• Full UK driving licence.

Qualities & Attitude

• Keen to be part of a purpose-led business (with purpose over profit); committed to producing the highest quality bread out there

• Pragmatic & self-starting; you are able to identify what’s needed and make it happen with support from the Managing Director

• High attention to detail

• Excellent listening and communication skills with good English language, both written and verbal

• Brilliant interpersonal skills

Production and Customer Management

• Manage bakers and trainee bakers in all aspects of production 

• Create and maintain production schedules and processes

• Clearly communicate processes, schedules and checklists to the team

• Responsible for leavens and back-up starters

• Responsible for communicating production and delivery issues straight to customers or back to management

Delivery

• Overall responsibility for ensuring the bread and other products are delivered as required to the customers

• Working with the delivery manager to ensure most efficient and accurate packing of customer orders

• Working with the delivery manager to ensure sufficient drivers are available to cover holidays and sickness

Staff and Training

• Being on call for bakers on the night shift and organising cover for sick leave.

• Identify and oversee training, and, welfare of baking team

Cleaning

• Maintaining physical standards of the bakery -  a spotless work environment.

• Maintain and supervise weekly and longer term cleaning schedules

• Stock-check and order cleaning materials 

Personal

• Ensure confidentiality regarding business of Hylsten bakery at all times

• Attend weekly check in with Kate and morning phone calls if Kate is working remotely

• Attend 3 monthly appraisals with Kate

• Attend monthly staff meetings and present updates and issues to the whole team

Admin

• Responsible for the use of Mountain Stream software that produces customer ordering information fed into recipe and production sheets. Liaising with Benji to resolve any issues that arise.

Bread Classes

• Support in teaching of bread classes with Kate and Benji

Product Development

• Identify new products in collaboration with Kate

• Develop and present samples with costings to specified deadlines

 

Application information

send a CV and cover letter to kate@hylstenbakery.co.uk

Please mention Roots to Work when applying for these jobs