Big Loaf is a family owned and run bakery specialising in making the very best, most delicious products for our retail shops and wholesale customers. We use all fresh, carefully sourced WA ingredients and take pride in making things by hand, the way they should be made.
We are looking for a dynamic and passionate person to lead our pasty section, where we make the whole range of sweet and savoury products – pies, sausage rolls, viennoiserie, cakes, pastries, donuts, slices, and more!
The Head of Pastry leads a team of around 6 - 10 cooks and assistants. We value direct, clear on-the-job leadership. We expect our leaders to set clear standards, continuously develop the skills of their team and improve the systems that make the whole business run smoothly. Equally, we opened our business to be the bosses we never had and expect our leaders to run their departments with love, care, empathy and grace.
We need someone who is equally happy to work on the bench as leading the room, with the confidence to take ownership of both the food, the systems and the people behind it.
We operate 7 days, with people on site between 2AM and 6PM. The role requires oversight across a range of these times so we need the leader to be flexible and willing to do what is required to support their team.
Key Responsibilities & Attributes
Production and on-the-job skills, what the job is and what we are looking for:
Lead the team to fulfil our daily and weekly pastry production
Operate and continuously improve the systems in the department so we keep getting a little bit better everyday
Ensure every product is the best possible version of itself: we make simple products that shine because we make them with amazing ingredients, good technique and the utmost care and love.
Create a culture of best practice cooking, with technical expertise, control and creativity as daily considerations
Champion the use of seasonal, local and feature ingredients to make amazing specials
Use strong organisational skills to plan production, analyse facts and data, manage stock and roster while holding the frame and balancing needs
Keep a clean, pleasant and compliant working environment that is fun to be in
Along with excellent skills and a deep personal passion for food, we require lateral thinking, an open mind and love for people.
You need to be really good at cooking
Leadership & Team Development
We lead in a hands-on, approachable, open, and supportive fashion.
We take excellence very seriously, but we don’t take ourselves seriously: we want to have fun while making great stuff and we leave our egos at the door
Our leaders work alongside their teams doing all the jobs in the section to understand the work and the people deeply.
We use tools like skills matrixes, checklists and systems to manage and support training, growth, and progression within the team
We keep a clean, calm and respectful kitchen culture with no yelling or nastiness of any kind
Our leaders find, hire and train their own people using the systems we have developed over the years
Culture & Mindset
We are all deeply passionate about food — we read cookbooks, experiment at home, thoughtfully analyse our products and performance and we are always learning.
We love sharing our knowledge, passion and experience with others, and love open-minded learning from all sources
We value transparency, honesty and fairness and we approach both life and work with perspective and critical thinking.
Our leaders are all people, who naturally care for others and go out of their way to create a cohesive and pleasant workplace dynamic where everybody enjoys equal love and attention, and everybody has the opportunity to contribute.
Our environment is quality and production-focused with a strong emphasis on standardised work and visual management. We have a culture of continuous, relentless and ongoing improvement and we are not afraid of anything.
We pay utmost attention to the tiny details that make the difference and think creatively to use what we have in front of us to make this afternoon and tomorrow better.
