Sanitation Manager

The Sanitation Manager provides strategic leadership for all sanitation operations across the Buckner facility, ensuring processing and packaging equipment and facilities consistently meet company, customer, regulatory, and food safety requirements. This role is responsible for managing, coaching, and developing the sanitation team, ensuring production readiness through effective sanitation practices, driving continuous improvement initiatives, optimizing labor and operating costs, and maintaining compliance through successful internal and external audits.

Employee Type:

Full time

Location:

KY Buckner

Job Type:

Production Sanitation

Job Posting Title:

Sanitation Manager

Job Description:

Schedule: Monday- Friday, working 11pm-8am with flexibility as needed to meet plant needs including weekend hours

Location: 1 Quality Place, Buckner, KY 40010

Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k) with match, STD/LTD/AD&D/Life, HSA, FSA, EAP, Hospital indemnity, Accident Insurance, Identity and Fraud Protection Plan, Legal, and Critical Illness.​

Salary, based on experience and other qualifications: $93k -$138k annually with additional bonus potential

Essential Functions, Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead, coach, develop, and manage the Sanitation team to ensure a safe, engaged, and high-performing workforce.

• Direct all sanitation activities to ensure equipment and facilities meet company, customer, regulatory, and food safety requirements.

• Plan, prioritize, and allocate labor, equipment, and resources to support production schedules and sanitation objectives.

• Develop, implement, and continuously improve sanitation programs, procedures, and standards across the facility.

• Monitor sanitation performance through key metrics (including SE, PEM, and MSS), identify trends, perform gap analyses, and implement corrective and preventive actions.

• Investigate sanitation-related issues, determine root causes, and partner with cross-functional teams to implement sustainable solutions.

• Partner with Quality Assurance to validate sanitation effectiveness, evaluate environmental monitoring results, and ensure continuous compliance.

• Lead and support internal, customer, SQF/BRC, FDA, and other regulatory audits, ensuring audit readiness and timely resolution of findings.

• Collaborate with Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, and R&D to support new equipment installations, product commercialization, and sanitary design initiatives.

• Manage the sanitation operating budget, inventory, and procurement of sanitation supplies.

• Develop and deliver sanitation-related training to ensure compliance with company standards and regulatory requirements.

• Perform all other duties as assigned.

Physical Demands:

• Must be able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation.

• Must be able to perform the following: standing, climbing, pulling, and or pushing, carrying, grasping, reaching, twisting, turning and stooping.

• Ability to walk and/or stand for extended periods of time. 

• Must be able to work overtime and extended hours as required.

• Good physical condition with the ability to lift up to 50 lbs frequently.

• Good hand/eye coordination, motor skills, 20/20 corrected vision and hearing within the normal range.

Environmental, Health and Safety Requirements:

• Must wear all required personal protection equipment associated with specific manufacturing work environment and job duties as stated in the Employee Handbook, posted policies, or as assigned by leadership personnel.

• Maintain clean and safe working environment and follow all safety policies and procedures, such as lock out/tag out, safe lifting techniques, and all others as instructed.

• Inform Management of any food safety or quality issues or of any processes which become noncompliant with specified requirements.

Food Safety:

• Notify supervision of any repairs or adjustments that are required.

• Understand, observe, and comply with the handling and usage of the color-coded container policy while in the Production Areas.

• Perform all duties necessary to meet Company, Customer and/or Government requirements/standards as prioritized by the Company.

• Ability to initiate action to prevent the occurrence of nonconformities relating to Food Safety and the Quality of the product, processes, quality system, or safety system.

• Identify and record any problems relating to Food Safety and the Quality of the ingredients, processes, quality system, or safety system.

• Controls further processing or delivery of nonconforming product in terms of Food Safety and Quality issues until the deficiency or unsatisfactory condition has been correct

EEO Statement:

Winland Foods seeks to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool, and as a global company we believe our success is enhanced by fostering equity and inclusion in the workplace. Therefore, Winland Foods is committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military or veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law.