Sanitation Supervisor

Description

**Job Category:** ================= Quality **Job Family:** =============== Sanitation **Job Description:** ==================== POSITION: SANITATION SUPERVISOR POSITION SUMMARY Lead sanitation efforts at the Porto Feliz plant, ensuring alignment with factory, functional, and corporate goals. Key responsibilities include leading the development, implementation, and execution of sanitation and food safety programs, ensuring compliance with internal, corporate, legal, and customer requirements. The role is responsible for training, coaching, and developing sanitation partners, promoting best practices, problem-solving, and providing technical support to operations. The Sanitation Supervisor is also responsible for ensuring strict adherence to applicable corporate and governmental programs, procedures, requirements, and guidelines related to sanitation and food safety. Works collaboratively with Operations, Engineering, Technology, chemical suppliers, and service providers to ensure equipment, processes, and the manufacturing environment are appropriately designed, maintained, cleaned, monitored, and controlled for food safety. Additionally, leads continuous improvement initiatives in sanitation, ensuring consistency and excellence for internal and external audits, as well as evaluating team performance and ensuring accountability for sanitation program execution. Serve as a technical leader and subject-matter expert in sanitation and food safety, with hands-on involvement in implementing, maintaining, and continuously improving plant-level programs. Lead the development and application of sanitation standards, procedures, SSOPs, MSS, training, and metrics, ensuring compliance with corporate, legal, and customer requirements. Collaborate closely with Operations, Engineering, Corporate Quality, suppliers, and service providers to ensure equipment, the manufacturing environment, and processes are appropriately designed, maintained, and sanitized. Manage internal sanitation audits, monitor performance indicators, lead standardization and improvement projects—including CIP validation and hygienic design—and provide technical support through data analysis, deviation investigation, corrective and preventive action definition, and strengthening of food safety culture. **DUTIES, RESPONSIBILITIES AND ATTRIBUTES** Direct and train Plant Sanitation personnel, as well as Sanitation and Sanitization partners. Interface with plant leadership and Corporate Quality to develop qualified teams that effectively and efficiently ensure a satisfactory hygienic-sanitary operational environment. Support the development of SSOPs, MSS, CIP processes, and related SOPs across all departments. Perform troubleshooting and provide support during CIP system programming validation. Review and analyze data from pathogen monitoring, MSS, pre-operational inspections, food safety audits (internal, third-party, customer, and regulatory), customer complaints, and other sources, using this information to identify trends and implement corrective and preventive actions. Proactively use process metrics and technical expertise to prevent issues affecting product quality and safety. Investigate potential sanitation deviations that could result in product contamination, reduced shelf life, customer complaints, or product rejection. Support root cause identification and the definition and implementation of corrective actions. Collaborate closely with Engineering, Maintenance, Corporate Quality, and equipment suppliers to ensure new or modified equipment meets hygienic design and regulatory requirements prior to purchase and installation. Validate that equipment modifications or new equipment can be effectively sanitized to achieve appropriate microbiological levels. Collaborate closely with chemical sanitation suppliers and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) service providers to maximize technical expertise, drive results, and ensure cost efficiency. Lead the plant’s sanitation verification and audit process, including Environmental Monitoring. Work jointly with appropriate partners to address and resolve identified deviations. Lead plant-based projects resulting in more effective execution of sanitation and monitoring processes, as well as cost-reduction initiatives. **FOOD SAFETY FUNCTIONS** In collaboration with the leadership team, ensures compliance with Food Safety and Quality Plans and customer requirements. Interprets and communicates these requirements to production and/or support teams. Establishes and audits PCPs (Process Control Points), CCPs (Critical Control Points), and Standard Operating Procedures, ensuring processes are defined, monitored, and executed to meet customer requirements. Analyzes incidents arising from non-compliance with procedures and determines appropriate corrective actions for partners failing to meet established standards. **LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES** Table – Leadership Attributes **Attribute** **Expected Level** Personal Characteristics * Inspirational – “Generates followers.” * Caring – “Treats others with mutual respect and dignity.” * Integrity – “Maintains high ethical standards for self and others.” * Energy – “Engaged with enthusiasm.” Demonstration of understanding and skills. People Leadership * Promotes Social Responsibility – “Able to define how a partner impacts results.” * Emotional Maturity – “Focuses attention on what is relevant.” * Builds High-Performance Teams – “Hires, develops, promotes, and retains top talent.” * Communicates Openly – “Seeks the truth and conveys it professionally.” Demonstration of understanding and skills. Process Leadership * Technical/Functional Knowledge * “Understands what, how, and why.” * Disciplined Approach – “Consistent, standardized, measurable, sustainable.” * Customer Focus – “Committed to the voice of the customer.” * Continuous Improvement – “Agent of Change. Seeks a better way.” Demonstration of understanding and skills. Business Leadership * Industry Knowledge – “Understands fundamentals of the dairy industry and our business environment.” * Company Knowledge – “Culture, financial acumen, food safety, and people.” * Results Orientation – “Focuses on outcomes for the entire company. Increases shareholder value.” * Strategic Orientation – “Sound judgment and decision-making. Future-focused.” Demonstration of understanding and skills. **EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE/SKILLS REQUIREMENTS:** Education: Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Food Engineering, Food Science/Dairy Science, or related fields. Experience: Minimum 3 years’ experience in the food industry, preferably in the dairy sector, with a focus on Quality. Skills: Essential Technical Knowledge * Food Safety and Quality Programs; * Basic knowledge of Microbiology; * Excellent oral and written communication skills; * Technical knowledge of COP and CIP processes; chemicals used in sanitation; * Principles of hygienic equipment design for food processing; * Audit experience; * Computer literacy and process excellence tools. * English: Intermediate proficiency required. Advanced/Fluent is preferred. * Desire for professional growth and willingness to take on new challenges and opportunities. Leadership and Management Skills * Team leadership; * Ability to train employees; * Strong communication with operational, maintenance, sourcing, sales, and corporate teams; * Priority management, organization, decision-making, and sense of urgency. Differentiating Technical Knowledge * Knowledge of SQF Code (Edition 9.0) requirements for Food Safety and Food Quality. * Solid understanding of HACCP/APPCC. * In-depth understanding of prerequisite programs (GMPs, allergens, traceability, glass and plastic control, maintenance, environmental monitoring, finished product analysis, supplier approval, etc.). * Ability to assist in developing, implementing, and maintaining the SQF System, including procedure and indicator reviews. * Knowledge of MAPA legal requirements for dairy product establishments: – RIISPOA (Regulation for Industrial and Sanitary Inspection of Animal-Origin Products). – Regulations for processed cheeses, authorized additives, labeling, and inspection. * Experience with official MAPA inspections and plant preparation for audits; * Knowledge and maintenance of MAPA control elements (documents, SOPs, records, analytical standards); * Laboratory Knowledge – Interpretation and review of physicochemical and microbiological laboratory results. – Knowledge of analytical methods applicable to dairy products and processed cheeses. – Ability to evaluate analytical deviations, define corrective actions, and validate results. – Management of laboratory controls per Food Safety and MAPA program requirements. Operational and Systems Skills * Proficiency in Windows, Excel, Word. Desirable: TOTVS, LIMS, Power BI