Sanitation Manager - Berkeley Culinary Center at Whitsons… · Berkeley

Sanitation Manager – Food Manufacturing

Position Overview

The Sanitation Manager plans, directs, and continuously improves all sanitation programs throughout the food manufacturing facility. This position provides technical leadership and operational oversight of sanitation activities across both morning and night shifts, supported by a Sanitation Supervisor assigned to each shift.

Given the complexity of our operations and the importance of maintaining the highest standards of food safety, sanitation, and regulatory compliance, this role requires a combination of advanced technical sanitation knowledge, hands-on food manufacturing experience, and demonstrated leadership capabilities.

The successful candidate must be capable of designing and re-engineering sanitation programs, troubleshooting complex sanitation deficiencies, optimizing chemical applications and cleaning methods, evaluating equipment and facility conditions from a hygienic design perspective, and leading sanitation teams to consistently achieve sanitary operating conditions.

The Sanitation Manager is responsible for ensuring that all sanitation activities meet company food safety requirements, applicable regulatory standards, customer expectations, and SQF/GFSI requirements while supporting product safety, quality, legality, operational readiness, and continuous improvement.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

1. Sanitation Program Design and Management

• Develop, implement, maintain, and continuously improve the facility's sanitation programs, including Master Sanitation Schedules (MSS), Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs), cleaning procedures, sanitation verification protocols, chemical controls, and applicable sanitation-related preventive controls.
• Demonstrate the technical ability to design, evaluate, and re-engineer MSS and SSOPs to address operational deficiencies, recurring sanitation failures, equipment-specific cleaning challenges, and changing production requirements.
• Establish and standardize cleaning methods, frequencies, equipment disassembly requirements, sanitation parameters, and acceptance criteria for production equipment, utensils, production rooms, warehouses, and supporting areas.
• Conduct sanitation assessments to identify gaps in existing procedures and implement sustainable corrective and preventive actions.
• Direct sanitation activities across morning and night shifts, ensuring adequate staffing, effective shift-to-shift communication, completion of scheduled activities, and timely resolution of sanitation deficiencies.

1. Industrial Sanitation Chemicals and Technical Expertise

• Demonstrate strong technical knowledge and hands-on experience with industrial sanitation chemicals used in food manufacturing, including detergents, degreasers, sanitizers, and other specialized cleaning agents.
• Understand chemical concentrations, dilution methods, application parameters, contact times, compatibility, safe handling, storage, and appropriate use in accordance with manufacturer specifications and regulatory requirements.
• Evaluate chemical effectiveness and work with chemical suppliers to troubleshoot cleaning challenges, optimize chemical applications, and improve sanitation performance.

1. Hygienic Equipment Design and Sanitation Troubleshooting

• Apply a strong understanding of hygienic design principles for food manufacturing equipment, including cleanability, accessibility, drainage, material compatibility, and prevention of product residue accumulation and microbial harborage.
• Evaluate production equipment, utensils, infrastructure, and facility conditions to identify design limitations or physical deficiencies that interfere with effective cleaning and sanitation.
• Partner with Maintenance, Continuous Improvement, Production, and FSQA to resolve recurring sanitation issues associated with equipment design, disassembly, damaged surfaces, inaccessible areas, and other conditions that may affect sanitary performance.

1. Sanitation Verification and Food Safety Compliance

• Oversee pre-operational inspections, sanitation verification, ATP testing, microbiological monitoring, environmental monitoring activities, and other verification methods used to assess sanitary conditions.
• Collaborate with FSQA to investigate sanitation failures, environmental monitoring findings, audit observations, regulatory findings, and recurring deficiencies that could affect product safety or regulatory compliance.
• Ensure sanitation deficiencies are documented, investigated, corrected, and verified for effectiveness before affected production areas or equipment are released for use, in accordance with established procedures.

1. Leadership, Labor Management, and Team Development

• Lead, coach, train, and evaluate two Sanitation Supervisors and the sanitation workforce, ensuring consistent execution of sanitation procedures and performance expectations across both shifts.
• Demonstrate proven experience managing sanitation crews in a food manufacturing environment, including workforce planning, labor allocation, attendance, productivity, performance management, and accountability.
• Establish staffing plans and allocate labor based on production schedules, sanitation requirements, facility needs, equipment complexity, and changing operational demands.

1. Documentation, Performance Monitoring, and Continuous Improvement

• Maintain accurate and complete sanitation documentation, including MSS, SSOPs, pre-operational inspections, sanitation verification results, chemical usage records, corrective actions, training records, and sanitation performance reports.
• Review sanitation records and shift documentation to identify trends, recurring deficiencies, missed tasks, verification failures, and opportunities for improvement.
• Develop and monitor sanitation department key performance indicators (KPIs), including sanitation completion rates, pre-operational pass rates, verification results, environmental monitoring trends, corrective action effectiveness, labor utilization, and other relevant performance measures.

At Whitsons, our mission is Enhancing Life One Meal at a Time™.

This position offers a salary starting at $75,000 annually, based on skills, experience, and location. Employees also receive a comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) with company match, and paid time off.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES:

Education

• High School Diploma required;
• Associate or Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Sanitation, Microbiology, Operations, or a related field preferred.

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in food manufacturing sanitation, food safety, quality assurance, or a related manufacturing environment, including leadership or supervisory experience.
• Experience managing sanitation programs in a food manufacturing facility and supporting GFSI certification programs, preferably SQF.
• Experience with environmental monitoring, microbiological testing, sanitation verification, ATP testing, SSOPs, chemical sanitation programs, and sanitation validation preferred.

Certifications

• HACCP Certification preferred.
• ServSafe certification preferred; additional sanitation, food safety.
• Chemical Safety certifications are a plus.

Technical Proficiency

• Strong knowledge of sanitation programs, HACCP, Preventive Controls, GMPs, SSOPs, environmental monitoring, allergen control, chemical safety, and food safety principles.
• Knowledge of sanitation chemicals, concentrations, application methods, equipment disassembly/reassembly, cleaning tools, sanitation verification, and microbiological sampling.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, sanitation management systems, Quality Management Systems, and electronic documentation platforms.

Other Qualifications

• Knowledge of FDA, FSMA, USDA (where applicable), SQF/GFSI, OSHA, and other applicable regulatory and customer requirements.
• Strong leadership, communication, organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities across two shifts.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced food manufacturing environment, including flexibility to support morning and night shift operations, weekends, holidays, audits, investigations, and operational emergencies when needed.

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Sanitation Program Leadership
• Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance
• People Leadership & Team Development
• Continuous Improvement
• Problem Solving & Root Cause Analysis
• Communication & Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Accountability & Attention to Detail

WORK ENVIRONMENT AND OTHER DETAILS

Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time management position. The Sanitation Manager is responsible for sanitation operations across morning and night shifts and must maintain sufficient availability to support both shifts, production schedules, audits, investigations, and operational needs. Extended hours, weekends, holidays, or schedule adjustments may be required based on business and sanitation requirements.

Travel Requirements

This position is primarily based in Berkeley, Illinois. Occasional travel may be required for training, company meetings, supplier/chemical-provider meetings, or other business needs.

Physical Demands of the Job

The Team Member is required to stand and walk for the majority of the workday; frequently talk, hear, use hands and fingers to handle tools and equipment, and reach with hands and arms. Must be able to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds, including while turning side to side. The position requires regular exposure to wet environments, cleaning chemicals, hot and cold temperatures, production equipment, and moderate to loud noise levels. Appropriate personal protective equipment is required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Work Environment

This position operates primarily in a food manufacturing and production environment and regularly works in and around production areas, sanitation areas, equipment, chemical storage areas, storerooms, coolers, freezers, and other facility areas. The role requires frequent interaction with sanitation employees, supervisors, Production, Maintenance, FSQA, and other departments.