Doughnut Excellence Manager

Placed.au is looking for a full-time Doughnut Excellence Manager for our client in Coolaroo, Victoria. This role is responsible for leading and managing the doughnut production team at a central production facility, maintaining product quality and food safety standards, coordinating production requirements, and ensuring the reliable fulfilment of orders for the company's network of stores.

Job Description:

People Leadership and Team Performance

-Direct the doughnut production team, establish daily priorities, delegate work, and hold employees accountable for product quality, production output, and safe work practices.
-Plan staff rosters and labour coverage according to production requirements.
-Identify recruitment, staffing coverage, and capability needs and communicate these to senior management.
-Lead staff onboarding, skills development, coaching, and performance reviews.
-Address employee performance issues within delegated authority and escalate formal matters when appropriate.

Product Excellence and Quality Assurance

-Establish and maintain approved product specifications, standard operating procedures, and quality checkpoints to ensure consistency across the doughnut range.
-Review quality results and investigate recurring defects or rejected batches.
-Direct corrective actions, staff retraining, and process changes where required.
-Ensure the production team complies with food safety procedures, allergen controls, hygiene, traceability, and product-handling requirements.
-Maintain appropriate quality and compliance records.

Production Planning and Store Supply Requirements

-Translate consolidated store orders into team priorities, staffing allocations, and daily production plans in coordination with relevant colleagues.
-Monitor production progress against agreed quantities, product mix, and dispatch cut-off requirements.
-Reprioritise team activities and resolve production shortfalls or delays.
-Ensure completed products meet release criteria.
-Provide accurate production counts and handover information to the dispatch function.

Performance, Resource Control and Continuous Improvement

-Monitor team productivity, labour utilisation, ingredient use, rework, and wastage against approved standards.
-Identify performance variances and implement corrective measures.
-Maintain performance and compliance reports for senior management, highlighting product-quality trends, staffing constraints, and improvement opportunities.
-Recommend and implement approved improvements to training, workflows, quality controls, and product-launch readiness.
-Drive improvements in production consistency, efficiency, and waste reduction.

Management and Operational Coordination

-Exercise day-to-day managerial authority over task allocation, roster planning, staff coaching, production priorities, and quality-related corrective actions within company delegations.
-Work with senior management on staffing, budgets, and significant changes to procedures.
-Provide technical demonstrations where required for training and production problem-solving.

Qualifications/Attributes:

-Must hold a Diploma of Hospitality Management or a relevant diploma-level management qualification, or at least three (3) years of relevant work experience may substitute for the formal qualification.
-Must have at least one (1) year of relevant work experience in commercial food production, bakery operations, or a related supervisory or management role.
-A bakery-related qualification or equivalent commercial baking expertise sufficient to oversee product standards and coach specialist production staff.
-Demonstrated experience leading a commercial food-production team, including rostering, coaching, performance management, and quality oversight.
-Sound knowledge of food safety, allergen management, hygiene, and product traceability.
-Strong leadership, team coordination, and staff development skills.
-Ability to plan production activities and manage staffing according to changing production requirements.
-Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to investigate defects and implement corrective actions.
-Experience monitoring productivity, ingredient usage, rework, wastage, and production performance.
-Strong reporting, organisational, and communication skills.
-Commitment to maintaining consistent product standards, reliable production output, and food safety compliance.

Salary Range:

$70,000 – $95,000 p.a. excluding superannuation.