Sanitation Manager - Berkeley Culinary Center

Whitsons Culinary Group•Berkeley, IL

53d•Onsite

About The Position

The Sanitation Manager plans, directs, and coordinates sanitation programs throughout the food manufacturing facility. This position leads sanitary operations across both morning and night shifts, with the support of a Sanitation Supervisor assigned to each shift. The Sanitation Manager is responsible for ensuring effective cleaning and sanitation of production areas, equipment, utensils, and supporting areas in accordance with company food safety requirements, regulatory standards, customer requirements, and applicable GFSI standards. The role ensures that sanitation programs support product safety, quality, legality, and operational readiness while promoting a strong food safety culture and continuous improvement.

Requirements

High School Diploma required
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.
HACCP Certification preferred.
ServSafe certification preferred; additional sanitation, food safety.
Chemical Safety certifications are a plus.
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.
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.

Nice To Haves

Associate or Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Sanitation, Microbiology, Operations, or a related field preferred.
HACCP Certification preferred.
ServSafe certification preferred; additional sanitation, food safety.
Chemical Safety certifications are a plus.

Responsibilities

Develop, implement, maintain, and continuously improve the facility sanitation program, including Master Sanitation Schedules, SSOPs, cleaning procedures, chemical controls, sanitation verification, and sanitation-related preventive controls.
Direct sanitation activities for both morning and night shifts, ensuring adequate staffing, effective shift-to-shift communication, completion of scheduled sanitation activities, and timely resolution of sanitation deficiencies.
Establish clear expectations and accountability for sanitation supervisors and sanitation team members, including cleaning methods, equipment disassembly, chemical use, personal hygiene, GMPs, and safe work practices.
Oversee pre-operational inspections, sanitation verification, ATP testing, microbiological monitoring, environmental monitoring activities, and other verification activities used to confirm sanitary conditions.
Partner with FSQA, Production, Maintenance, and Operations to investigate sanitation failures, environmental monitoring findings, recurring deficiencies, and equipment or facility conditions that may affect product safety.
Ensure sanitation activities support compliance with FDA, FSMA, SQF/GFSI, customer standards, GMPs, HACCP/Preventive Controls, SSOPs, and applicable regulatory requirements.
Lead, coach, train, and evaluate two Sanitation Supervisors and the sanitation workforce, establishing consistent expectations across morning and night shifts.
Build a strong sanitation and food safety culture through employee engagement, training, accountability, recognition, and cross-functional collaboration.
Plan sanitation staffing and resources based on production schedules, operational needs, sanitation requirements, and changing production volumes.
Maintain accurate sanitation records, including sanitation schedules, SSOPs, pre-operational inspections, verification results, chemical usage records, corrective actions, training records, and sanitation performance documentation.
Review sanitation reports and shift documentation to identify trends, recurring deficiencies, missed tasks, verification failures, and opportunities for corrective and preventive action.
Develop and report sanitation department KPIs and performance trends to FSQA and site leadership, including sanitation completion, verification results, environmental monitoring trends, corrective actions, staffing, and other department indicators.