A family-owned bakery and café in downtown Antioch, Illinois, with roots in a multi-generational baking tradition dating back to 1930 (founded in 1989).
The company specializes in gourmet baked goods, especially award-winning custom cakes for weddings and special occasions, and offer private consultations. Their menu includes over 800 items like cookies, pastries, donuts, breads, and tortes, along with a full-service café serving breakfast, lunch, coffee, sandwiches, and soups. They also provide catering for events, wholesale, and Co-Packing Expertise.
The business operates out of a large 43,000-square-foot flagship location, which serves as both a bakery production hub and a café space seating up to 100 people, known for its warm, community-focused atmosphere.
Production Manager
Location: Antioch, IL (1 production facility; 2 retail locations)
Job Type: Full-Time
Role Summary
We are seeking a hands-on Production Manager to lead and scale our production operations across our retail, wholesale, and co-packing channels.
This role is responsible for building efficient, repeatable systems that support growth while maintaining exceptional product quality. As we expand our wholesale distribution and co-packing partnerships, this position will play a critical role in ensuring our operation can scale efficiently, profitably, and consistently.
The ideal candidate brings strong baking knowledge and operational leadership experience, with a track record of improving throughput, reducing waste, and leading high-performing teams. This role will sit on the leadership team.
Key ResponsibilitiesProduction & Operations Leadership
- Oversee daily production across all channels including retail, wholesale, and co-packing (baking, decorating, packaging, and distribution)
- Develop and manage production schedules based on demand, seasonality, wholesale growth, and co-packing commitments
- Ensure on-time, accurate fulfillment of all retail, wholesale, and co-packing orders
- Build scalable production systems to support increasing volume and complexity across multiple revenue streams
- Standardize processes across facilities to ensure consistency, efficiency, and scalability
- Collaborate with leadership team on cross-functional growth initiatives, particularly wholesale and co-packing expansion
Wholesale & Co-Packing Expansion
- Partner with leadership to scale wholesale and co-packing operations, including capacity planning and workflow design
- Ensure production readiness for new wholesale accounts and co-packing partnerships
- Develop processes that support high-volume, consistent output while maintaining quality standards
- Identify operational constraints and proactively solve for growth-related bottlenecks
Team Leadership & Development
- Lead, coach, and develop team leads and production staff across all departments
- Own hiring, scheduling, performance management, and team accountability
- Build a culture of ownership, urgency, and continuous improvement
Continuous Improvement (Lean Operations)
- Identify bottlenecks and implement process improvements to increase throughput and efficiency
- Develop and maintain SOPs for all production processes
- Drive initiatives around waste reduction, labor efficiency, and workflow optimization
- Implement and maintain organized, efficient production environments (5S principles a plus)
Quality & Food Safety
- Ensure consistent product quality across all batches, locations, and production channels
- Maintain and enforce HACCP and food safety standards
- Partner with team to troubleshoot quality issues and implement corrective actions
Inventory & Cost Management
- Oversee ingredient and packaging inventory, ordering, and usage
- Monitor and improve key metrics including food cost %, labor cost %, and waste
- Collaborate with leadership on budgeting and cost control initiatives
Product Development & Scaling
- Partner with leadership and production team on new product development
- Ensure new products are designed for efficient production, scalability, and wholesale/co-packing viability
Equipment & Facility Oversight
- Ensure all equipment is maintained and operating efficiently
- Coordinate repairs and preventative maintenance to minimize downtime
Key Success Metrics
- Labor cost % and productivity
- Food cost % and waste reduction
- On-time order fulfillment (retail, wholesale, and co-packing)
- Production throughput and capacity utilization
- Product quality and consistency
- Successful onboarding and scaling of wholesale and co-packing accounts
QualificationsRequired
- 3–5+ years of experience in bakery or food production
- 2–4+ years in a leadership or management role
- Strong understanding of baking and formulating product
- Hands-on experience with baking and/or pastry production
- Strong understanding of production workflows and quality standards
- Experience managing teams in a fast-paced environment
Preferred
- Experience in high-volume production, wholesale, or co-packing environments
- Experience scaling production operations or supporting rapid growth
- Familiarity with Lean Manufacturing or continuous improvement principles
- Bilingual (English/Spanish)
Skills
- Strong leadership and team-building ability
- Excellent organization and problem-solving skills
- Data-driven mindset with ability to manage KPIs
- Ability to balance hands-on work with strategic oversight
- Clear communication and decision-making under pressure
- Collaborative approach to problem solving
Schedule & Benefits
Full-time role with flexibility based on production needs (early mornings, occasional weekends/holidays)
Benefits include:
- Competitive Pay with bonus potential
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- 401(k) with matching
- Paid time off
- Employee discount
- If you're someone who enjoys building systems, leading teams, and scaling production in a growing business—including expanding wholesale and co-packing operations—this role offers the opportunity to make a significant impact.
