Butter Pecan Bakeshop Food Production Lead - Quality and Food Safety Vallejo, CA · Part time Company website

Apply for Food Production Lead - Quality and Food Safety

Butter Pecan Bakeshop is a cookie shop inspired by childhood favorites and classic southern recipes. We pride ourselves on serving "The BEST cookies in the Bay" along with exceptional customer service. Butter Pecan Bakeshop is growing! We have a team of dedicated, hard-working individuals who thrive in our fun, fast-paced, start-up environment. If you are friendly, growth-oriented, flexible, and committed to excellence -- Butter Pecan Bakeshop is for you! Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and superstar candidates will be contacted for interviews.

Summary/Objective:

The Food Production Lead provides hands-on, day-to-day floor leadership for production while helping strengthen Butter Pecan Bakeshop's quality assurance and food safety systems. This position keeps employees focused on assigned work, monitors production flow, verifies product and order accuracy, reinforces sanitation and allergen controls, and makes sure required records are completed. This role is designed for a food professional with a foundation in food science, quality assurance, food safety, commercial food production, or a related field who is ready to take greater ownership on the production floor; it is not a laboratory-only quality role. The Production Manager retains responsibility for department planning, staffing, scheduling, purchasing, formal performance management, formulas, and final product-disposition decisions. The Floor Lead translates approved plans and standards into consistent daily execution and promptly escalates issues outside the position's authority.

Essential Functions:

• Review the day's production plan, priorities, staffing, and order deadlines with the Production Manager, then direct day-to-day workflow — assigning and redirecting tasks, adjusting sequence, and keeping the team on pace and quality standards
• Monitor the shift for delays, bottlenecks, staffing gaps, or missing materials, and provide real-time coaching and correction when procedures or quality standards aren't being met
• Work alongside the team on non-dough-making tasks (portioning, packaging, labeling, staging, sanitation, order prep) while maintaining oversight of the full shift, and serve as the floor point of contact when the Production Manager is unavailable
• Perform and document in-process and finished-product checks (weight, appearance, count, packaging, labeling, lot/date info) against established specifications, and verify store and franchise orders are accurate and release-ready
• Pause an activity or place product on temporary hold when there's a reasonable quality, allergen, contamination, or safety concern, and notify management immediately — without independently releasing, reworking, discarding, or determining final disposition
• Track recurring defects, waste, rework, and order errors, and help identify practical corrective actions and process improvements
• Monitor compliance with GMPs, hygiene, allergen controls, temperature controls, and sanitation procedures, and assist with pre-operational inspections of production areas and equipment
• Immediately respond to and escalate contamination, pest activity, damaged packaging, equipment failure, or other food safety concerns
• Verify sanitation, production, receiving, and quality control records are complete, accurate, and submitted on time, and support investigations, corrective actions, traceability exercises, and audits as assigned
• Monitor ingredients, packaging, and supplies and report shortages; assist with receiving checks, inventory counts, stock rotation, and organization of storage areas
• Confirm materials and equipment needed for upcoming production are ready, and report equipment, facility, or maintenance concerns for follow-up
• Train and reinforce approved production, quality, and food safety procedures, and report recurring performance or training concerns to the Production Manager
• Monitor dough production progress and verify process/quality requirements without independently changing recipes, formulas, or process parameters — participation in dough making requires separate authorization

Competency:

• Visible floor leadership and the confidence to redirect employees respectfully
• Strong attention to detail without losing sight of overall production flow
• Sound judgment when product quality or food safety may be at risk
• Clear written documentation and professional verbal communication
• Organization, urgency, reliability, and consistent follow-through
• Curiosity about root causes and a practical approach to process improvement
• Ability to work calmly under pressure and manage competing priorities

Work Environment:

Work is performed on site in a commercial bakery and central production facility with varying temperatures caused by ovens, production equipment, refrigeration, and freezer storage. The employee may occasionally be exposed to cold temperatures and elevated noise levels.

Physical Demands:

This role requires extended periods of standing and walking; frequent bending, reaching, pushing, pulling, and repetitive production activity; manual dexterity to use production tools and equipment safely; and the ability to lift and move up to 50 pounds.

Travel:

Limited local travel may occasionally be required for training, meetings, or operational support.

Required Education and Experience:

• One to three years of relevant experience in food production, food manufacturing, quality assurance, food safety, commercial baking, or another regulated food operation. Relevant internships, cooperative education, or substantial academic laboratory and production experience may count toward this requirement.
• Candidates must have either relevant college-level education in food science, food safety, microbiology, biology, chemistry, agricultural science, manufacturing, or a related field, or at least one year of direct quality assurance, food safety, or regulated food-production experience.
• Working knowledge of food safety, sanitation, allergens, quality checks, recordkeeping, and Good Manufacturing Practices
• Experience leading workflow, training employees, coordinating a team, or taking ownership of shift results; formal supervisory experience is helpful but not required for a candidate who demonstrates strong leadership readiness
• Ability to recognize a problem, contain immediate risk, document what occurred, communicate clearly, and follow the issue through completion
• ServSafe Manager certification or ability to obtain one within 30 days of hire
• High school diploma or equivalent

Preferred Education and Experience:

• Associate or bachelor's degree, or meaningful coursework, in food science, food safety, microbiology, biology, chemistry, nutrition, agricultural science, culinary science, manufacturing, or a related field
• Experience with HACCP-based programs, preventive controls, traceability, internal audits, corrective actions, product holds, recall exercises, environmental or sanitation monitoring, or regulated production records
• Experience in a bakery, frozen-food, packaged-food, ingredient, commissary, or central-production environment
• HACCP, Preventive Controls Qualified Individual, internal auditor, or other relevant training or certification

Additional Eligibility Qualifications:

Legal eligibility to work in the United States

Reliable and punctual attendance, with the ability to work variable schedules, including early mornings, weekends, and holidays, as required by production needs

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:

Butter Pecan Bakeshop is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law.