Hygienist Facility

Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream•Bakersfield, CA

About The Position

The Hygienist is the facility’s owner of hygiene and sanitation effectiveness, with a preventive focus on stopping contamination before it occurs. The role spends most working time on the production and sanitation floor, personally verifies cleaning results, identifies and eliminates harborage points, and leads Listeria and other microbiological investigations. Working with Sanitation, Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, and Quality, the Hygienist converts findings and data into lasting improvements to cleaning methods, equipment, and facility design. The position owns the site sanitation program, including SSOPs, the master sanitation schedule, deep-clean plans, cleaning procedures, sanitation chemistry, and CIP/COP parameters. It performs and verifies sanitation inspections across shifts, participates in teardowns and deep cleans, evaluates cleaning effectiveness through inspections and testing, and coaches employees on hygiene and contamination prevention. The Hygienist leads environmental monitoring investigations and root-cause analysis, drives hygienic design and zoning, leads allergen cleaning controls and the Pest Control Program, and delivers training while supporting food safety programs and audits. The role provides functional direction to the Sanitation team on cleaning methods, standards, and verification, and escalates repeat failures or unresolved hygiene risks directly to the Plant Manager. The employee must be flexible to respond on site to positives, audits, and investigations outside normal hours. The work is regularly around other people, in wet and/or humid and high-noise areas, and near mechanical, electrical, and pressurized equipment. The pace is fast, and the position involves frequent exposure to nuts and other potential allergens. The annual pay range is $77,000–$91,000. The company offers medical, dental, vision, and life benefits, paid time off, paid holidays, paid parental leave, and a 401(k) plan with employer match and annual contribution available. Visa sponsorship and immigration support are not available.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Microbiology, Microbiology, Biology, Dairy Science, Food Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related scientific discipline, or equivalent hands-on experience in sanitation and hygiene leadership.
HACCP certification is required.
At least 3 years of hands-on sanitation, hygiene, or environmental monitoring program responsibility on a plant floor.
Proven experience leading Listeria investigations, including vector swabbing, teardown, and root-cause elimination.
Experience developing, implementing, and verifying SSOPs and cleaning validations.
Experience with CIP and COP systems, sanitation chemistry, hygienic zoning, allergen cleaning control, and harborage point identification.
Strong knowledge of food safety regulations, including FDA, FSMA, PMO, and relevant state requirements.
Deep understanding of HACCP, GMPs, sanitation programs, environmental monitoring, and allergen controls.
Ability to critically assess equipment and facility designs for cleanability and harborage risk.
Competence in data analysis, trending, and quality systems or software.
Ability to lead by example on the floor and work credibly with operators, sanitation crews, and maintenance technicians.
Ability to influence cross-functional teams and uphold hygiene standards under production pressure.
Excellent communication and coaching skills, high accountability, sound decision-making, and integrity.
Flexibility to respond on site to positives, audits, and investigations outside normal hours.
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States now and in the future; visa sponsorship and immigration support are not available.

Nice To Haves

PCQI (Preventive Controls Qualified Individual) certification.
Training in GFSI schemes such as SQF, BRC, or FSSC 22000, or training in hygienic design.

Responsibilities

Own the site sanitation program, including SSOPs, the master sanitation schedule, deep-clean plans, and cleaning procedures for lines, equipment, and facility infrastructure.
Serve as the site subject matter expert for sanitation chemistry, including chemical selection, application, concentration, contact time, and verification.
Define and verify CIP and COP parameters, and act on deviations.
Drive dry and low-water cleaning practices during production and control cleaning tools, including color coding, storage, condition, and replacement.
Personally perform pre-operational and post-sanitation inspections on all shifts, including night and weekend sanitation shifts.
Participate in line teardowns and deep cleans to identify hidden soil, niches, and harborage points.
Verify cleaning effectiveness through visual inspection, ATP, allergen swabs, and microbiological results.
Coach operators, sanitation crews, and supervisors at the line on cleaning methods, contamination prevention, and hygienic practices.
Lead investigations of pathogen or indicator positives, starting on site within 24 hours, using vector swabbing, teardowns as needed, and documented root-cause analysis.
Apply knowledge of microorganism niches, biofilm formation, and pathogen behavior to eliminate root causes.
Lead structured root-cause analysis, including 5-Why, Fishbone, and CAPA, and verify corrective actions in the field.
Drive hygienic design improvements for equipment, drainage, water management, condensation control, and structures; review new equipment and projects for cleanability before installation.
Develop, implement, and verify hygienic zoning, including personnel and material flow, hygiene barriers, traffic control, and equipment segregation.
Lead allergen cleaning validation and verification, allergen changeover cleaning controls, and allergen swabbing.
Lead the facility Pest Control Program, ensuring monitoring, prevention, trend analysis, and compliance with food safety and regulatory requirements.
Develop and deliver sanitation, GMP, and hygiene training, and verify competence through floor observation.
Represent sanitation and hygiene during customer, regulatory, and certification audits, and keep sanitation records complete and audit-ready.
Support HACCP, Preventive Controls, and GMP programs with hygiene risk assessments.
Provide functional direction to the Sanitation team on cleaning methods, standards, and verification.
Escalate repeat sanitation failures and unresolved hygiene risks directly to the Plant Manager.
Maintain measurable performance in sanitation effectiveness, environmental monitoring, hygienic design and zoning, allergen cleaning, audits, training, and proactive risk identification.