Assistant Bakery Manager

Position Summary
The Assistant Bakery Manager supports the Bakery Manager in overseeing daily bakery operations, maintaining product quality and freshness, providing excellent customer service, and ensuring food safety and sanitation standards are consistently followed. This position assists with leading bakery associates, coordinating production, maintaining inventory, controlling shrink, and ensuring the department is properly stocked and presented.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist with overseeing daily bakery operations and department workflow.
• Help coordinate production to ensure bakery products are prepared, packaged, stocked, and available based on customer demand.
• Prepare, bake, package, label, and merchandise bakery products according to established procedures and quality standards.
• Monitor product freshness, quality, appearance, and availability throughout the day.
• Ensure displays, cases, tables, and shelves are clean, organized, attractive, and properly stocked.
• Assist customers with product questions, special orders, and other bakery needs.
• Provide friendly, courteous, and professional customer service.
• Help coordinate associate assignments, breaks, production responsibilities, and department coverage.
• Assist with ordering ingredients, products, packaging, and supplies based on department needs.
• Receive, organize, rotate, and properly store bakery products and supplies.
• Monitor inventory levels and communicate product or supply needs to the Bakery Manager.
• Follow proper product rotation and date-control procedures to maintain freshness and minimize waste.
• Help control shrink through proper production planning, ordering, handling, rotation, and inventory practices.
• Ensure products are accurately priced, labeled, and signed.
• Maintain accurate records related to production, inventory, ordering, temperatures, and other department requirements.
• Ensure bakery equipment, preparation areas, storage areas, and sales areas remain clean and organized.
• Follow and reinforce food safety, sanitation, personal hygiene, and workplace safety procedures.
• Assist with opening and closing department procedures as assigned.
• Identify equipment or operational issues and communicate concerns to the Bakery Manager or store leadership.
• Perform additional responsibilities as assigned based on business needs.

Leadership Responsibilities

• Provide daily direction and support to bakery associates.
• Assist with training new associates on production procedures, equipment use, sanitation, food safety, and customer service.
• Coach associates on productivity, product quality, merchandising, and department standards.
• Help organize daily production priorities and assign responsibilities based on department needs.
• Monitor completed work to ensure quality and accuracy expectations are met.
• Lead by example by demonstrating excellent customer service, teamwork, urgency, and attention to detail.
• Help maintain a positive, respectful, and productive work environment.
• Communicate department priorities and expectations clearly to associates.
• Support the Bakery Manager with department planning and daily operational decisions.
• Take an active leadership role in department operations when the Bakery Manager is unavailable.

Production & Merchandising Responsibilities

• Review production needs and help establish priorities based on inventory, sales, promotions, and anticipated customer demand.
• Maintain consistent product quality, freshness, portioning, packaging, and presentation.
• Monitor displays throughout the day and replenish products as necessary.
• Ensure promotional and seasonal bakery items are properly produced and displayed.
• Maintain accurate pricing, signs, labels, and product identification.
• Reduce unnecessary waste by monitoring production quantities and product movement.
• Help maintain an appealing bakery presentation that encourages sales and provides customers with a positive shopping experience.

Food Safety & Sanitation

• Follow established food handling and sanitation procedures.
• Monitor proper storage and temperature requirements for applicable products.
• Ensure preparation surfaces, utensils, equipment, and work areas are cleaned and sanitized properly.
• Follow proper procedures for product rotation, dating, labeling, and disposal.
• Maintain personal hygiene and food-handling standards while working with bakery products.
• Help ensure associates consistently follow department safety and sanitation requirements.

Qualifications

• Strong customer service and leadership skills.
• Effective communication, coaching, and problem-solving abilities.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Ability to prioritize production and operational responsibilities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong attention to product quality, freshness, accuracy, and presentation.
• Ability to work independently while providing direction and support to others.
• Ability to learn bakery production procedures, equipment operation, ordering, inventory, and merchandising practices.
• Ability to follow food safety and sanitation requirements.
• Dependable attendance and punctuality.
• Previous bakery, food service, retail, production, or leadership experience is preferred.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to stand and walk for extended periods.
• Ability to bend, stoop, kneel, reach, lift, carry, push, pull, and perform repetitive movements throughout the shift.
• Ability to safely lift and move ingredients, products, trays, boxes, and department supplies as required.
• Ability to safely operate bakery equipment after proper training.
• Ability to work around ovens, hot surfaces, refrigerated areas, freezers, and varying temperatures.
• Ability to perform repetitive food preparation, packaging, stocking, and cleaning tasks.

Work Environment

The Assistant Bakery Manager works primarily within the bakery department, including production, preparation, sales, storage, refrigerated, and freezer areas. The position requires balancing hands-on bakery production with customer service, associate leadership, inventory management, merchandising, sanitation, and daily department operations.

· Access to up to 50% of your earned wages before payday, via our partnership with Stream