Director of Sanitation

POSITION SUMMARY:
The Director of Sanitation is a strategic and operational leader responsible for developing, implementing, and continuously improving the enterprise-wide sanitation program across 12 food manufacturing facilities. Reporting to the Senior Director, FSQA & Regulatory, this position provides leadership, technical expertise, and direction to ensure all products are manufactured in a sanitary, hygienic, and regulatory-compliant environment that protects consumer safety, product quality, and company reputation.

The Director of Sanitation will establish and execute a comprehensive 3–5-year sanitation strategy focused on advancing best-in-class sanitation practices, standardization, risk reduction, operational excellence, and continuous improvement across all facilities. This role will drive harmonization of sanitation programs, develop sanitation talent and organizational capability, implement innovative cleaning technologies and equipment, and ensure compliance with FSMA, GFSI, customer, and regulatory requirements.

The successful candidate will serve as the company’s sanitation subject matter expert, leading initiatives that optimize sanitation effectiveness, improve cleaning validation and verification programs, reduce food safety risks associated with allergens and cross-contamination, identify cost-saving opportunities, and support hygienic design principles in facility, process, and equipment development. This leader will proactively leverage industry best practices, emerging technologies, automation, data analytics, and continuous improvement methodologies to enhance sanitation performance, operational efficiency, and overall business results.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
• Serve as the corporate sanitation subject matter expert and primary resource for sanitation-related initiatives, risk assessments, and problem-solving.
• Directly manages the Corporate Sanitation Manager and provides functional leadership to plant sanitation leaders across all manufacturing facilities.
• Develop and execute a 3–5-year sanitation strategy aligned with company goals, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices.
• Lead the development, implementation, and governance of enterprise sanitation standards, SSOPs, cleaning validation and verification programs, and sanitation systems to drive consistency and harmonization across all manufacturing facilities.
• Ensure sanitation programs effectively prevent microbiological, allergen, foreign material, and cross-contamination risks.
• Lead the evaluation, selection, and implementation of emerging sanitation technologies, equipment, automation systems, chemicals, and cleaning methodologies to improve sanitation effectiveness, food safety performance, operational efficiency, sustainability, and cost optimization across all manufacturing facilities.
• Drive continuous sanitation innovation through the advancement of CIP optimization, dry-cleaning strategies, automated and robotic sanitation systems, environmental monitoring technologies, and data-driven sanitation tools to maintain industry-leading sanitation and food safety programs.
• Benchmark sanitation programs against leading food manufacturing organizations and industry best practices.
• Ensure compliance with FSMA Preventive Controls requirements, GFSI standards, USDA, FDA, customer requirements, and applicable regulatory expectations.
• Serve as the enterprise sanitation leader by partnering with Operations, FSQA, Engineering, Maintenance, EH&S, Procurement, Supply Chain, and Plant Leadership to align sanitation programs with business objectives, strengthen food safety and regulatory compliance, optimize operational performance, and drive continuous improvement across all manufacturing facilities.
• Lead sanitation readiness efforts for customer, regulatory, and third-party audits.
• Drive post-sanitation inspection and audit programs with documented corrective actions.
• Support root cause investigations, corrective actions, and preventive action programs related to sanitation, food safety, and environmental monitoring findings.
• Establish and oversee sanitation performance management systems, including KPIs, scorecards, dashboards, audits, and reporting processes to measure program effectiveness, ensure accountability, and drive enterprise-wide standardization and execution excellence.
• Analyze sanitation, food safety, environmental, and operational performance data to identify trends, risks, continuous improvement opportunities, and cost-saving initiatives, driving measurable improvements in sanitation effectiveness, resource utilization, regulatory compliance, and business performance.
• Establish standards, performance measures, and governance processes for third-party sanitation providers.
• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop sanitation managers and sanitation teams across all manufacturing locations.
• Develop ongoing training programs that strengthen technical expertise and program execution.
• Foster a culture of sanitation ownership, accountability, food safety, and continuous improvement throughout the organization.
• Conduct facility assessments and sanitation audits to identify gaps, drive corrective actions, and share best practices.
• Oversee the corporate Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program across all manufacturing locations.
• Support sanitary design reviews and risk assessments for new equipment, technologies, and manufacturing processes.
• Support food safety incident investigations, product holds, recalls, and crisis management activities involving sanitation-related risks.
• Lead sanitation program integration activities for acquisitions, facility expansions, and network optimization initiatives.

COMPETENCIES:
• Strategic, results-driven leader with a proven ability to develop and execute long-term sanitation and business strategies, drive accountability, and deliver performance improvements across a multi-site manufacturing network.
• Innovative and collaborative change agent who fosters a strong food safety culture and continuous improvement mindset while building effective partnerships across Operations, FSQA, Engineering, Maintenance, Supply Chain, and Executive Leadership to implement emerging sanitation practices, technologies, and equipment.
• Comprehensive technical expertise in sanitation programs, including sanitation chemistry, cleaning processes, hygienic zoning, hygienic design, food safety risk management, and sanitary equipment design principles.
• Demonstrated knowledge of advanced sanitation technologies and industry best practices, including CIP/COP systems, sanitation automation, robotics, dry-cleaning methodologies, environmental monitoring technologies, and digital sanitation management platforms, with a focus on driving innovation, efficiency, and continuous improvement.
• Strong leadership, project management, financial, and change management capabilities, with proven success leading multi-site initiatives, developing teams, influencing cross-functional stakeholders, identifying cost-saving opportunities, and translating complex technical requirements into practical, sustainable business solutions.

REQUIRED SKILLS:
• Strong project management and change management capabilities with the ability to drive large-scale initiatives across multiple locations.
• Excellent leadership, coaching, influencing, and communication skills with the ability to engage all levels of the organization.
• Proven success developing and implementing enterprise-wide sanitation strategies across multiple facilities.
• Strong working knowledge of FSMA Preventive Controls, FDA, USDA, GFSI benchmarked standards (SQF, BRCGS, FSSC 22000), environmental monitoring programs, allergen controls, and sanitation regulatory requirements.
• Proven track record implementing sanitation improvements resulting in measurable reductions in risk, cost, downtime, water usage, chemical consumption, labor, and food safety incidents.
• Experience overseeing corporate pest management programs and integrated pest management strategies.
• Extensive knowledge of: SDS, PPE, Chemical/Safety programs and requirements
• Strong written and verbal communication skills. Ability to write and maintain SSOP's, Master Sanitation Schedule, Work Instructions, Sanitation Audit Programs/Metrics.
• Must possess analytical problem-solving skills including root cause analysis, organizational and basic project management skills.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
• Required Education / Experience: Bachelor’s degree in food science, Microbiology, Dairy Science, Biological Sciences, Engineering, Operations Management, or a related technical field required.
• Certificate in PCQI and HACCP required.
• Training or certification in hygienic design, sanitation, environmental monitoring, Listeria control required.
• Training or certification in SQF, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or Continuous Improvement methodologies preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in sanitation, food safety, quality systems, or manufacturing operations within the food and beverage industry.
• Minimum of 5 years of leadership experience managing multi-site sanitation programs and teams in a food manufacturing environment.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: 60-75%. Position located in Pennsauken, NJ or La Vergne, TN; remote seat at JJSF plant location may be considered for the right candidate.

Pay range: 130,000-$150,000

US Salary Pay Range 130000 - 150000 USD