Pastry Chef

Location: New York, NY

Work Setting: 100% onsite in a high-volume bakery and production environment

Schedule: Full-time; schedule will require flexibility based on a 24-hour production operation

Compensation: Approximately $150,000-180,000+ base salary, depending on experience and the ultimate scope of the role

Bonus: Year-end bonus is currently discretionary; a more structured incentive program may be developed

Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, and additional company benefits

Additional Benefits: Relocation assistance may be available for qualified candidates; visa sponsorship may also be considered for an exceptional candidate

Position Summary

A highly regarded, growth-oriented bakery organization is seeking a senior Pastry Chef to lead pastry production at its flagship New York City facility and help guide the business through its next stage of expansion.

This is a highly visible, hands-on leadership role combining advanced pastry craft, large-team management, recipe development, production planning, quality control, and increasing financial and operational responsibility. The organization is looking for someone who can protect an established reputation for premium products while introducing the structure and systems required to scale production across additional locations.

The Pastry Chef will lead an approximately 60-person pastry team operating around the clock, directly managing three sous chefs while remaining actively involved on the production floor. This is not a corporate culinary position; the successful candidate must be equally comfortable working with dough, coaching chefs, developing products, reviewing labor and food costs, and building better production processes.

What You'll Do
• Lead day-to-day pastry production while remaining highly visible and hands-on with the team on the production floor
• Manage, coach, and develop three pastry sous chefs and an approximately 60-person pastry production team operating across a 24-hour schedule
• Own product quality, consistency, and execution across the flagship production facility and other bakery locations that produce onsite
• Lead recipe development while working within the bakery's established brand, flavor profile, and overall product direction
• Oversee a broad pastry portfolio including laminated pastries and viennoiserie, babka, tea cakes, cookies, confectionery, cold-case items, and related products
• Build stronger systems around labor planning, scheduling, food cost, COGS, waste, inventory visibility, production flow, and operating performance
• Partner with purchasing to maintain ingredient quality and appropriate product specifications
• Help plan and launch future production capacity, including new production facilities and bakery openings
• Balance artisan craftsmanship and premium product standards with the logistics, systems, and financial discipline required to scale a growing multi-location bakery organization
• Guide the pastry team through a significant leadership transition while earning the trust of long-tenured employees and a wide range of personalities

What You Bring
• Advanced hands-on pastry expertise, particularly in viennoiserie and laminated dough production
• Leadership experience within a high-quality bakery, commissary, all-day café, hospitality group, or another scaled pastry production environment
• Demonstrated experience leading multiple managers and a sizable hourly production team
• A deeply quality-driven approach to ingredients, craftsmanship, consistency, and product integrity
• Experience developing recipes and translating them into repeatable, consistent production at meaningful scale
• Working knowledge of labor management, scheduling, food cost, COGS, waste, inventory, logistics, and production planning
• Willingness to remain closely connected to the product and production floor rather than operating primarily through meetings and administrative work
• Strong people leadership, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and the ability to build credibility during periods of organizational change
• Ability to combine creative pastry expertise with strong operational judgment and production discipline

Preferred Qualifications
• A career that combines high-level artisan bakery or fine-dining pastry training with later experience in multi-unit growth, commissary production, openings, or organizational scaling
• Experience opening bakeries, building production facilities, or expanding a production model across multiple locations
• Exposure to French, Israeli, Jewish, Polish, North African, Mediterranean, or other relevant culinary influences
• International experience, travel, or meaningful exposure to multiple culinary cultures
• Experience with babka is helpful but not required
• Background with a premium bakery, restaurant group, hospitality organization, or other business recognized for exceptional product standards
• Experience supporting a growing founder-led or entrepreneurial organization
• No specific degree is required; experience, product standards, leadership ability, and operating maturity will be prioritized
• A portfolio or active culinary social-media presence is welcome but not required

Why This Opportunity
• Take ownership of pastry production for an established bakery brand known for premium, highly crafted products
• Lead and develop a substantial pastry organization with approximately 60 team members and three sous chefs
• Maintain meaningful hands-on involvement with the product rather than moving into a purely administrative culinary leadership role
• Play a major role in recipe development, quality standards, production strategy, and operational improvement
• Help shape future production facilities and support expansion into additional bakery locations
• Opportunity for the role to grow into broader production leadership spanning pastry, bread, and kitchen operations for an exceptional candidate
• Join the organization during a pivotal period of succession, expansion, and operational development
• Competitive compensation with the flexibility to calibrate scope and title based on the experience of the selected candidate