Merriweather Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Merriweather Lakehouse Hotel | Columbia, Maryland
Full-Time | Culinary

Merriweather Lakehouse Hotel is seeking an experienced Artisan Bread & Pastry Baker to join our culinary team. This hands-on position focuses on producing naturally leavened breads, handcrafted pastries and scratch-made breakfast items for our restaurant, banquets, catering and special events.

We are looking for a baker who views bread and pastry as a craft, not simply a production task. The ideal candidate understands sourdough fermentation, takes pride in producing beautiful and consistent baked goods from scratch and is excited to help us continue developing a distinctive bakery program. 

Creativity is encouraged. We want someone interested in helping us continue to develop a distinctive bakery program with seasonal breads, locally inspired flavors, and elevated breakfast pastries that reflect the quality and character of Merriweather Lakehouse Hotel.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Maintain, feed, and manage the hotel's sourdough starter and levain production
• Produce artisan sourdough breads from mixing and fermentation through shaping, proofing, scoring, and baking
• Prepare a variety of breads including sourdough boules, batards, rolls, focaccia, baguette-style breads, and seasonal specialties
• Produce quick breads such as banana bread, seasonal loaves, muffins, biscuits, scones, and other breakfast items
• Prepare fresh breakfast pastries daily, including croissants, Danish, turnovers, cinnamon rolls, muffins, scones, and rotating seasonal pastries
• Prepare laminated doughs and manage proper fermentation, proofing, and baking
• Produce doughs, fillings, glazes, streusels, pastry creams, fruit preparations, and other bakery components from scratch
• Develop and execute seasonal bakery offerings in collaboration with the Executive Chef and culinary leadership
• Follow standardized recipes while maintaining consistent flavor, appearance, portion size, and quality
• Plan production appropriately to meet restaurant, breakfast, banquet, catering, and special-event needs
• Maintain accurate production pars and communicate upcoming ingredient and production needs
• Properly rotate, label, date, store, and organize all bakery products and ingredients
• Minimize waste through proper production planning and utilization
• Maintain a clean, organized, and sanitary bakery workspace
• Follow all food safety, sanitation, allergen, and hotel operating standards
• · Assist with special events, holiday production, and high-volume banquet periods as needed

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Previous professional baking experience in a hotel, restaurant, bakery, or similar high-volume culinary operation preferred
• Demonstrated experience with sourdough and naturally leavened bread production
• Working knowledge of fermentation, hydration, dough development, shaping, proofing, and baking
• Experience producing breakfast pastries and quick breads from scratch
• Laminated dough experience strongly preferred
• Ability to follow and scale recipes accurately using weight-based measurements
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to consistency
• Ability to organize independent daily production while meeting established deadlines
• Comfortable working early-morning shifts
• Ability to work weekends and holidays based on hotel business needs
• Ability to safely lift and carry up to 50 pounds and work on your feet for extended periods

SCHEDULE

This is a production-driven position that will primarily require early-morning shifts. Scheduling will vary based on hotel occupancy, restaurant business, banquet events and seasonal demand. Weekend and holiday availability is required.

WHY MERRIWEATHER LAKEHOUSE HOTEL

At Merriweather Lakehouse Hotel, we want our bakery program to be more than production. We are looking for someone who wants to take ownership of the craft, from maintaining the starter and planning fermentation schedules to developing seasonal breads and elevated breakfast pastries that reflect the quality and character of the hotel.

If you are passionate about great bread, thoughtful pastry and creating baked goods from scratch, we would love to hear from you.