Head of Production - Hartley Farm
Full-Time | Permanent | 45 hours per week
£32,500 per year + TRONC service charge system
At Hartley Farm Shop & Kitchen, we believe good food brings people together. Everything we make, from our bakery shelves to our café counters reflects our commitment to quality, seasonality, provenance, and warm hospitality.
We’re looking for a skilled, hands-on and people-focused Head of Production to lead our bakery team and help shape the next chapter of our growing production kitchen. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who loves great baking, thrives in a fast-paced environment, and wants to play a key role in a purpose-led business rooted in community and craftsmanship.
You’ll oversee the day-to-day running of bakery production, lead and develop the team, maintain exceptional standards, and ensure our products consistently deliver the quality and experience our customers know and love.
The Role
As Head of Production, you’ll be responsible for overseeing all operations, from daily production planning and recipe management through to stock control, supplier coordination, allergen compliance, and team leadership.
You’ll work closely with the Head of Hospitality and wider departments to ensure smooth communication across retail, hospitality, events, and wholesale. Alongside leading the team, you’ll remain hands-on in production where needed, supporting service and maintaining standards across all outputs.
This role is ideal for someone who combines strong organisational skills with a calm, collaborative leadership style and a genuine passion for artisanal baking.
About Our Production Kitchen
Our kitchen produces a wide range of handcrafted baked goods and savoury products across multiple areas of the business. While we’re not a traditional artisan bakery, we are a high-volume, quality-led production kitchen with strong bakery foundations and a growing product range.
Production supports The Barn, The Shop, and The Cabin, each with slightly different offerings and customer needs.
Our current range includes:
The Barn
- Traybakes including almond Bakewell, flapjack, millionaire shortbread, brownies and shortbread
- Rock cakes
- Sweet and savoury bakes
- Pizza dough
- Cakes and seasonal loaves
The Shop
- Traybakes and individual flavoured brownies
- Fresh sandwiches
- A range of flavoured sausage rolls
- Seasonal quiches and savoury tarts
- Pasties
- Cakes and seasonal individual bakes including Bakewell tarts, treacle tarts, mince pies and hot cross buns
The Cabin
- Core traybake range including almond Bakewell, flapjack, rock cakes and millionaire shortbread
As you can see from our range, this role is best suited to someone with experience in a fast-paced production kitchen or bakery-production environment rather than a purely artisan bakery setting.
We’re looking for someone who can build on our strong existing foundations, champion our hero products, and help drive both output and product development as the business continues to grow. We value consistency, quality and efficiency, but we’re equally excited by fresh ideas, seasonal creativity and someone who wants to help evolve the range thoughtfully over time.
What You’ll Be Responsible ForBakery Production & Quality
- Overseeing daily bakery production to ensure consistency, efficiency and high standards
- Leading production & supporting team members where required
- Maintaining recipe accuracy, yields and production standards
- Adjusting production levels in response to sales demand and wholesale requirements
- Ensuring excellent presentation and consistency across all bakery products
Recipes, Costings & Allergen Management
- Maintaining recipe specifications, allergen data, yields and costings
- Keeping production systems accurate and up to date
- Ensuring allergen information and product labelling are clear, compliant and communicated effectively
- Supporting HACCP processes and food safety documentation
Ordering, Stock & Waste Control
- Managing ingredient and packaging orders in line with supplier agreements
- Monitoring stock levels and maintaining appropriate par levels
- Ensuring strong stock rotation and minimising waste
- Tracking and reporting wastage trends and investigating recurring issues
Team Leadership & Development
- Leading, supporting and motivating the bakery team day-to-day
- Managing rotas in line with production needs and labour budgets
- Supporting recruitment, onboarding and ongoing training
- Encouraging a positive, collaborative and accountable team culture
- Identifying development opportunities and supporting team wellbeing
Food Safety & Health & Safety
- Maintaining high standards of cleanliness, organisation and food safety
- Supporting compliance with HACCP, COSHH and Health & Safety procedures
- Ensuring machinery and equipment are operated safely
- Completing and maintaining all required records and checks
- Reporting incidents, maintenance concerns and near misses promptly
Communication & Coordination
- Acting as the operational link between the production team and Head of Hospitality
- Coordinating effectively with retail, hospitality and wholesale departments
- Managing communication around production changes, deliveries days and seasonal adjustments
- Maintaining professional relationships with suppliers and wholesale customers and the Hartley team.
About You
We’re looking for someone who leads by example, takes pride in their work, and enjoys being part of a supportive, hardworking team.
You’ll ideally have:
- At least 5 years’ baking experience within a bakery or similar production environment
- Strong knowledge of baking techniques, bakery operations and equipment
- Level 3 Food Hygiene certification (or equivalent knowledge)
- Confidence managing production, stock and team organisation
- A calm, reliable and adaptable approach under pressure
- Excellent communication and organisational skills
- A genuine passion for quality baking and seasonal produce
It Would Be Great If You Also Have
- An interest in local, sustainable and provenance-led food
- Experience supporting business growth and production scaling
- A desire to bring fresh ideas, energy and innovation to the bakery
- A collaborative mindset and willingness to support wider business needs
The Hartley Way
At Hartley, we’re guided by our RECAP values:
Resilience. Engaging. Customer-focused. Accountable. Purposeful.
We believe hospitality starts behind the scenes with supportive leadership, shared standards, and teams who genuinely care about what they do. We’re proud to offer a workplace where people are encouraged to contribute ideas, grow their skills, and be part of something meaningful.
What We Offer
- TRONC service charge system
- Company pension
- Sick pay
- Bereavement leave
- Discounted food
- 20% staff discount across all departments
- A friendly, supportive and ambitious team environment
- Opportunities to contribute ideas and help shape the future of the bakery
Pay: £32,500.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Discounted or free food
- Employee discount
- Free parking
- On-site parking
Experience:
- Production / Bakery: 5 years (required)
Work Location: In person
