The Sanitation Program Manager is responsible for the Sanitation Programs for the Home Chef Food Safety & Quality Assurance team. The primary goal of the Sanitation Program Manager is to lead development and oversee implementation of the Sanitation Program. Responsibility areas include Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), sanitation program, pest control program, and the hygienic design of infrastructure and equipment. The Sanitation Program Manager will manage all Sanitation Superintendents to coordinate the consistent development and execution of programs.

Oversee Plant Sanitation Teams

• Serve as direct line manager of Sanitation Superintendents, overseeing their priorities and providing support for day-to-day problem-solving, staffing, as well as execution of long-term priorities
• Manage Sanitation department staffing in alignment with budget, partner with operations to define sanitation schedule as volume changes, and lead sanitation labor efficiency activities
• Maintain responsibility for ensuring that sanitation programs including master sanitation schedule, pest control, GMP and hygienic design are executed effectively in the plants, in accordance with SQF standards and regulatory requirements Foster a community between Sanitation Superintendents across all of 3 plants
• Manage Sanitation Superintendents, and partner with them to ensure all sanitation activities are executed per the master sanitation schedule

Own Strategic Direction of Sanitation Program

• Work with VP and Director of FSQA to align on Home Chef’s sanitation priorities
• Provide technical leadership in the areas of sanitation, MSS (master sanitation schedule), pest control, new equipment design, installation or construction and other food safety or quality initiatives related to sanitation processes
• Leverage sanitation vendors and other external expertise to implement effective sanitation programs, including but not limited to, design and testing of new/improved sanitation methods, best practice sharing between plants, and identification of operational savings opportunities
• Maintain, revise and implement Sanitation procedures, including Master Sanitation Schedule and SOPs for Home Chef; providing technical and leadership expertise to streamline and simplify SSOPs
• Conduct gap assessment and internal audit to ensure that all sanitation SOPs are properly documented and implemented
• Develop, implement and track sanitation training program
• Maintain responsibility for ensuring that all Sanitation personnel are properly trained to perform job function, as well as possess and in-depth knowledge of food safety principles
• Lead SQF implementation for programs related to sanitation
• Build, implement, support, and maintain the SQF requirements related to Sanitation including but not limited to GMPs, sanitation program, personal hygiene, pest control

Manage Sanitation Issues & Escalations

• Communicate with Site Leadership Team and Director of FSQA to report accidents, downtime, damage and other important plant issues related to Sanitation
• Complete weekly internal safety audits on staff as well as equipment to ensure we are providing our team members a safe work environment
• Set, monitor, motivate and track specific goals for the sanitation teams in regards to working safe, clean and on time
• Partner with FSQA and Site Leadership teams by leading effort in resolving any major plant incident requiring sanitation

Qualifications: The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, ability and/or other characteristics needed for this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities.

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree is food science, food technology, microbiology or related field
• In lieu of a Bachelor’s degree, a combination of education and experience may be considered, provided the candidate has demonstrated technical proficiency in the areas of food safety, food microbiology, food defense, and food policy
• Minimum 5 years experience in quality assurance, food safety, food distribution, food manufacturing, food supply chain, or related field
• SQF Practitioner certification strongly preferred
• Experience with GFSI, FDA and USDA audits
• Basic understanding of food regulations from FDA, USDA and other state and local authorities
• Knowledge of food microbiology, food safety, and food defense
• Experience managing a Food Safety or Quality Assurance team in manufacturing facility; at least 1-2 years serving as an FSQA Manager strongly preferred
• Exceptional leadership and project management skills required
• Experience working across multiple production facilities strongly preferred
• Self-starter who is results-oriented, analytical and a problem-solver
• Proven ability to deliver results in an unstructured, fast-paced environment
• Willing to travel up to 30% of time to production facilities in Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles