Sanitation Supervisor

Sanitation Supervisor

Industry: Food Manufacturing & Processing

The Sanitation Supervisor oversees daily sanitation operations within a fast-paced food manufacturing and processing facility, ensuring production equipment, processing lines, and surrounding areas meet strict food safety, quality, and regulatory standards. This position leads sanitation personnel, coordinates cleaning schedules, enforces safety procedures, and partners with production, maintenance, and quality assurance teams to maintain a clean, safe, and efficient manufacturing environment.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Supervision: Lead, train, schedule, and supervise sanitation personnel, ensuring daily responsibilities are completed safely, efficiently, and within established timelines.
• Sanitation Operations: Oversee the cleaning, sanitizing, and inspection of processing equipment, production lines, utensils, floors, drains, and facility areas.
• Food Safety & Compliance: Ensure compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), food safety requirements, company sanitation procedures, and applicable regulatory standards.
• Chemical Safety & Handling: Supervise proper preparation, application, storage, and handling of sanitation chemicals, ensuring appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is used.
• Workplace Safety: Enforce Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) procedures, chemical safety protocols, and safe equipment cleaning practices. Identify and correct potential hazards.
• Production Coordination: Collaborate with production leadership to execute sanitation activities during scheduled breaks, shift transitions, and production downtime while minimizing operational disruptions.
• Preventive Sanitation: Develop and maintain daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning schedules to ensure equipment and facilities consistently meet sanitation requirements.
• Quality Assurance: Conduct routine sanitation inspections, identify deficiencies, implement corrective actions, and support facility readiness for internal and external audits.
• Maintenance Collaboration: Partner with maintenance teams to address equipment concerns, drainage issues, and sanitation-related mechanical problems.
• Documentation & Reporting: Maintain accurate sanitation records, cleaning checklists, chemical usage documentation, corrective action reports, and work orders.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify opportunities to improve sanitation effectiveness, employee productivity, chemical utilization, and overall operational efficiency.
• Employee Development: Provide ongoing coaching, performance feedback, and training to strengthen sanitation practices, accountability, and team performance.

Qualifications & Experience

• Previous sanitation experience within food manufacturing, food processing, agriculture, or a related industrial production environment.
• Prior team leadership, supervisory, or lead experience preferred.
• Working knowledge of sanitation chemicals, industrial cleaning procedures, and food safety practices.
• Familiarity with GMP, sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOPs), and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles preferred.
• Understanding of OSHA safety standards, Lockout/Tagout procedures, and proper PPE requirements.
• Ability to coordinate sanitation schedules in a high-volume, production-driven environment.
• Strong organizational, communication, problem-solving, and employee leadership skills.
• Ability to maintain accurate documentation and ensure compliance with established sanitation standards.
• Flexibility to work varying shifts, weekends, or overtime based on production requirements.

Key Success Factors

The ideal candidate is a hands-on sanitation leader who understands the demands of food processing operations, takes ownership of food safety and facility cleanliness, and can effectively lead a team while balancing sanitation quality, employee safety, and production efficiency.