Food Safety & Sanitation Manager
The Killer Brownie Co. Food Safety & Sanitation Manager
The Food Safety & Sanitation Manager leads the Food Safety program to ensure a safe, compliant, and efficient operation across baking, packaging, warehousing, and support areas. This is a hands-on, floor based leadership role requiring strong visibility and direct engagement with the sanitation team. The role owns sanitation policies, regulatory compliance (e.g., FSMA, cGMP), audit readiness, resource planning, cross functional coordination, and continuous improvement.
Key Responsibilities
Program Leadership & Compliance
- Develop, implement, and maintain sanitation policies, SOPs, SSOPs, Master Sanitation Schedule (MSS), and sanitation pre-op procedures.
- Ensure compliance with relevant regulations and standards (e.g., FDA/USDA, FSMA Preventive Controls, GMPs, HACCP/PC, allergen control, environmental monitoring).
- Lead audit readiness and support third-party/Customer audits (e.g., SQF), corrective actions, and CAPAs.
Team Leadership & Training
- Lead sanitation team members; set expectations, coach, and conduct performance reviews.
- Build training plans for SSOPs, chemical handling, PPE, LOTO, and equipment teardown/reassembly.
- Champion safety culture: near-miss reporting, hazard assessments, safe chemical usage, ergonomics.
Planning & Resource Management
- Own sanitation labor planning, shift coverage, and scheduling.
- Manage sanitation budget (labor, chemicals, tools, equipment, consumables) and vendor relationships..
Continuous Improvement
- Analyze sanitation data (ATP, micro results, environmental swabs, allergen verification) and implement improvements.
- Drive root-cause analysis and corrective actions for pre-op failures, swab positives, and foreign material events.
- Optimize cleaning methods, tools, and equipment; evaluate automation/foamers/CI carts for efficiency.
Documentation & Reporting
- Ensure accurate and timely records (pre-op, post-op, MSS, chemical logs, training, deviations, corrective actions).
- Report KPIs and trends to leadership; present weekly/monthly sanitation performance and improvement plans.
Qualifications
- 5+ years sanitation experience in food manufacturing; 3+ years in a leadership role.
- Working knowledge of FSMA (Preventive Controls), cGMPs, HACCP/PC, allergen control, environmental monitoring.
- Experience with audits (SQF/BRC/GFSI or similar) and corrective action management.
- Proficiency with MSS planning, documentation systems (digital or paper), and data-driven decision making.
Preferred
- SQF Practitioner or PCQI certification; HACCP certification.
- Experience with bakery, confectionery, or allergen-heavy environments (e.g., nuts, dairy, gluten).
- Lean/CI exposure (5S, Kaizen) and root-cause tools (5 Whys, fishbone).
- Bilingual (English/Spanish) a plus.
Core Skills & Competencies
- Leadership & coaching, cross-functional collaboration, strategic planning.
- Strong knowledge of cleaning chemistry, sanitizers, and application methods; equipment teardown best practices.
- Analytical mindset: interpreting ATP/micro/allergen data; setting KPIs and action plans.
- Excellent documentation, organization, and audit presentation skills.
Physical & Work Environment
- Ability to stand/walk for extended periods; lift up to 50 lbs; work in cold/hot/humid conditions.
- Frequent use of PPE; exposure to wet processes and chemicals; flexible hours for deep cleans/pre-op coverage.
Schedule
- Full-time, second shift (2 PM–11 AM) availability, Saturdays as needed.