Baker

Role Overview

This position keeps the baking section of an institutional catering kitchen running on schedule, turning out the breads, buns, pastries, cakes and biscuits that appear on the daily menu for students and staff. Working under the Kitchen/Catering Supervisor, you will be responsible for the full arc of production — from scaling ingredients to pulling finished trays from the oven — while meeting the kitchen's recipe standards and public health requirements. Because the food goes to a captive campus community every day, consistency, punctuality and hygiene here directly shape how the institution is experienced by the people it feeds.

Key Responsibilities

• Weigh and combine ingredients to fixed institutional recipes, then carry dough and batter through mixing, kneading, resting and shaping stages so each batch behaves predictably.
• Produce the full daily range of baked items — loaves, buns, pastries, cakes and biscuits — in volumes that match the catering schedule and expected headcount.
• Run commercial bakery equipment such as industrial mixers, proofing cabinets and deck ovens safely, following the manufacturer's operating and shutdown procedures.
• Watch oven temperatures and bake times closely, adjusting as needed to keep crumb, colour and texture consistent from one batch to the next.
• Keep work surfaces, utensils, mixing bowls and machinery clean and sanitised throughout the shift, and maintain disciplined personal grooming standards.
• Handle ingredients and finished goods in line with food safety rules — labelling stock, rotating it on a first-in-first-out basis, and preventing cross-contamination between raw and ready items.
• Check incoming raw materials and outgoing products for freshness and fitness for use, flagging anything that falls short.
• Monitor stock levels of flour, yeast, sugar, fats and other inputs, and tell the supervisor in good time when something needs reordering.
• Keep ingredient loss and dough waste low through accurate portioning and by sticking to the specified recipe yields.
• Coordinate with kitchen and catering colleagues so baked items and refreshments reach service points on time.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Hands-on experience as a baker gained in a commercial bakery, hotel kitchen, restaurant or institutional catering operation.
• Working knowledge of baking science: how dough develops, how proofing affects structure, how temperature control changes results, and how to scale a recipe up for larger production runs.
• Familiarity with food safety regulations and sanitation practice as they apply in an institutional kitchen setting.
• Physical stamina to stand through long shifts, lift heavy bags of flour, and work in a hot production kitchen.
• Sharp attention to detail and reliable time management — you will be expected to reproduce the same product consistently while working against service deadlines.
• Clear communication, dependability and a cooperative approach to working alongside other kitchen staff.

What We Offer / Why Join

• Monthly salary of KSh 22,000.
• Full-time, on-site position based in Ongata Rongai, Kenya, working within a school/institutional catering kitchen.
• A defined production routine with set daily bake schedules, reporting directly to the Kitchen/Catering Supervisor.