Bread Quality & Innovation Manager [Salaried]

Job Description

Job DescriptionDescription:

Position Overview

The Bread Quality and Innovation (BQI) Manager is a hands-on leader who uses their baking expertise to drive quality, innovation, and R&D at our Certified Organic production bakery. This dynamic role is essential to the production team, where you’ll lead the development and refinement of our baking practices and bread quality standards. As a passionate advocate for excellence, you'll spearhead bread innovation projects, with a special focus on perfecting 100% sourdough techniques. This is an exciting, newly created position at Bread Alone, offering a unique opportunity for an experienced baker who shares our dedication to crafting simple, honest, and outstanding sourdough breads that nourish the world.

Hours: This is a full-time position, and schedule includes working holidays & weekends. $72,000–$92,000 annually, based on experience

Requirements:

Duties and Responsibilities

As the Bread Quality and Innovation Manager, you are the driving force behind our commitment to excellence. Your primary responsibility is to develop, implement, and maintain comprehensive bread quality programming across our production facility. To achieve this, your duties will include:

• Provide mentorship and training programs for the production team to develop strong baking fundamentals and enhance their operational equipment knowledge, fostering continuous skill growth and ensuring product quality excellence
• Actively support Production Managers and Supervisors, building trust and using effective communication to ensure engagement in quality programming
• Monitor key ingredient and dough characteristics (including incoming flour lots, sourdough pH and performance, and seasonal changes in dough performance) and make adjustments as needed to account for new ingredients, processes, or ongoing quality improvements
• Proactively pursue recipe, fermentation, and bread process opportunities that will further improve product quality, and reduce waste
• Manage innovation and research and development projects, developing and testing recipes from concept to full-scale production
• Grow and develop expertise of all equipment used in Bread Alone production (e.g. mixers, sourdough tanks, dough chunkers, dough dividers and molders, retarder/proofers, ovens)
• Identify equipment necessary to support bread quality programming, including laboratory equipment
• Partner with the Food Safety and Quality Department to develop and implement new quality initiatives to monitor daily quality standards, leveraging their support to ensure compliance with new practices
• Collaborate with the Commercial team (Marketing & Sales) to monitor market trends, staying ahead of consumer needs and preferences
• Test and assess potential new production equipment to support innovation and quality improvement
• Maintain current knowledge of bakery science and innovation through ongoing professional development and participation in industry events
• 5+ years' experience with sourdough baking fundamentals
• 5+ years' experience working with bakery equipment such as spiral mixers, continuous dough dividers and proofers, and semi-automatic or automatic oven systems
• Proven ability to train and mentor individuals with diverse backgrounds and skill levels, fostering a positive and collaborative learning environment
• Prior experience managing food quality programming
• Represent Bread Alone at trade shows and baking conferences

Job Type: Full-time, Exempt

Compensation Details: $72,000–$92,000 annually, based on experience

Bread Alone is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.