Head Baker in Manchester

Gooey started in 2020 from humble beginnings in our Ducie Street Warehouse kiosk – with queues around the block week in, week out.

We first made our name with Manchester’s first NYC-inspired cookies and donuts, baked fresh every day.

Since then, things have grown.

Our Northern Quarter neighbourhood bakery and café brought brunch, lunch and our famous French toast to the mix, and today we serve thousands of customers across our Manchester cafés every week.

We’re proudly Manchester-born, independent in spirit and we like to do things our way.

Food is at the heart of everything we do.

We care about great ingredients, bold flavours, generous portions and getting the details right.

Whether it’s our cookies, donuts, bread or egg sandos, we’ve built our reputation on quality and consistency.

As a bakery, we make things properly. We bake our breads in-house, make the ketchup for our bacon sandwiches ourselves, and that same approach runs throughout our menu.

Our people are just as important as the food we serve.

Our kitchens and bakery are places where people can learn, develop, bring ideas to the table and be proud of what they produce.

Some of the team who joined us in the early days are still with us today, having helped develop our products and build the teams around them.

And we’re still growing.

That makes this a great time to join Gooey.

As the business develops, there will be opportunities for the right people to grow with us, take on more responsibility and play a genuine part in shaping what comes next.

The Role

We’re looking for an experienced Head Baker to lead our Bakery and Central Production Unit in Manchester.

This is a hands-on leadership role at the heart of Gooey’s production operation.

You’ll be responsible for making sure we have the right products, in the right quantities, produced to the right standard and ready to go when our cafés, customers and wider business need them.

Production planning is a big part of this role.

You’ll take orders, forecasts and expected demand and turn them into clear, achievable daily and weekly production plans – making sure the team, ingredients, equipment and capacity are all in the right place.

Our bakery operates across night and day shifts, so you’ll also make sure there is a really strong handover between teams.

Everyone should know what’s been completed, what still needs doing and what the priorities are for the next shift.

You’ll need a strong practical understanding of bakery production, including a working knowledge of bread, donuts and cookies, and be comfortable getting involved on the bakery floor when needed.

• What you’ll be doing
• Leading the day-to-day Bakery and Central Production Unit operation.
• Planning and coordinating daily and weekly production based on orders, forecasts and expected demand.
• Making sure production is properly planned across night and day shifts.
• Setting clear production priorities and targets for the team.
• Running an effective handover between night and day teams so nothing gets missed.
• Overseeing the production of our breads, donuts, cookies and wider bakery range.
• Keeping a close eye on quality and consistency and troubleshooting production issues when they arise.
• Making sure products are finished, packed and ready for dispatch on time.
• Leading, supporting and developing the Bakery and CPU teams.
• Planning rotas and making sure staffing and skills match production requirements.
• Managing stock levels, ordering, yields and waste.
• Supporting GP, labour and cost targets without compromising on quality.
• Working with the wider Gooey team on new products, seasonal changes, events and future growth.
• Maintaining excellent standards of food safety, HACCP, allergens, hygiene and health & safety.
• Looking for smarter ways to organise production and improve efficiency, capacity and consistency as we grow.
• What we’re looking for

You’ll already have experience working within a bakery, pastry or high-volume food production environment, ideally with experience leading or supervising a production team.

You’ll also need

• A good knowledge of bakery production techniques.
• Strong production planning and organisational skills.
• Experience coordinating production across different shifts or teams.
• The ability to turn orders and forecasts into practical production plans.
• A hands‑on approach – you’ll be comfortable leading from the bakery floor.
• Strong people management and communication skills.
• A good understanding of food safety, HACCP, allergens and hygiene.
• A practical approach to problem solving when plans change or production issues arise.
• Good commercial awareness, particularly around stock, waste, labour and production efficiency.
• Good computer skills and confidence using digital systems and platforms.

You’ll regularly use our systems for production planning, stock management, ordering, rotas, labour, food safety, training and other operational tasks.

Most importantly, we’re looking for someone who takes pride in what leaves the bakery, enjoys building a strong team and can bring structure and organisation to a busy production environment.

What we offer

• Competitive salary
• Excellent training and development opportunities
• Genuine opportunities to progress as Gooey continues to grow
• 24/7 employee assistance and wellbeing programme
• Staff social events
• Staff referral scheme
• 50% off food at our venues

If you know your way around a bakery, love a well‑run production plan and want to play a big part in the next stage of Gooey, we’d love to hear from you.

• Salary Range: £40,000 - £45,000 Dependent On Experience
• + share of service charge / tips
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