Assistant Hygiene Manager (Days)

The Sterling Choice; Sunderland; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

The Sterling Choice is seeking an experienced Hygiene Leader to heads the day-to-day hygiene operation in a food manufacturing environment. You will work closely with the Hygiene Manager, challenging current practices and driving improvements while coaching the Hygiene Team Leaders and broader team to deliver safe, compliant hygiene standards.

You'll own key site-wide programmes such as water management and Legionella control, ensuring audit readiness across BRCGS, HACCP and GMP.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in food manufacturing hygiene.
• Proven ability to lead and coach teams.
• Strong understanding of hygiene standards and audits.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day hygiene operation through Hygiene Team Leaders and ensure safety and consistency while coaching the wider team.
• Drive continuous improvement using time and motion studies and performance data to optimise labour and processes.
• Own site-wide programmes including water management, Legionella control and waste management in collaboration with internal teams and external partners.
• Maintain constant audit readiness across BRCGS, HACCP, GMP and customer standards; support audits and inspections.

Job description

Hygiene is one of those functions where maintaining the standard is only half the job.

The other half is asking whether there's a better way to achieve it.

You'll work closely with the Hygiene Manager, but this isn't a position where you're simply there to follow an established cleaning schedule. They want someone capable of looking at how things are currently done, challenging where appropriate and continually raising the bar.

You'll lead the day-to-day hygiene operation through the Hygiene Team Leaders, making sure standards are delivered safely and consistently while coaching and developing the wider team.

A big part of your remit will be continuous improvement. You'll review cleaning methodologies, hygiene schedules and labour utilisation, using time and motion studies and performance data to identify where things can be done more effectively. That could mean improving how people are deployed, reducing unnecessary chemical or water usage, changing cleaning frequencies or introducing completely different ways of working.

You'll also take ownership of important site-wide programmes including water management, Legionella control and waste management, working with internal teams and specialist external partners to maintain compliance and drive further improvement.

Food safety remains at the heart of everything. You'll help maintain constant audit readiness across BRCGS, HACCP, GMP and customer standards, support audits and inspections, manage corrective actions and work closely with Technical, Engineering and Production to ensure hygiene risks are identified and resolved quickly.

They're looking for someone with strong experience within food manufacturing hygiene who is already comfortable leading people. You'll understand what excellent factory hygiene looks like, but you'll also have the confidence to question established practices rather than accepting that something should continue simply because it's always been done that way.

Experience with continuous improvement or Lean methodologies will be particularly valuable. Knowledge of water management, environmental compliance or Legionella would also be useful, although it isn't essential.

This could be a great opportunity for an experienced Hygiene Leader, Senior Hygiene Supervisor or Assistant Manager who's ready for greater ownership, or an established Assistant Hygiene Manager looking for a role where they can genuinely influence how a department operates.

If you enjoy developing people, improving processes and leaving a hygiene operation better than you found it, let's have a confidential conversation.