Hygiene Manager

Associ8 Solutions; Peterborough; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading food manufacturing business in Peterborough is seeking an experienced Hygiene Manager to oversee site-wide hygiene operations. The role involves leading a dedicated team, developing robust cleaning strategies, and ensuring compliance with food safety standards. Candidates should have a strong background in food manufacturing hygiene and leadership experience. This position offers a chance to drive significant improvements in hygiene practices within a fast-paced production environment.

Qualifications

• Experienced Hygiene Manager (or equivalent) within food manufacturing.
• Strong working knowledge of BRCGS Food Safety, FSSC 22000, HACCP, and allergen management.
• Confident leading teams in a fast-paced FMCG environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the Hygiene Team, driving high performance.
• Ensure cleaning, sanitation, allergen controls meet required standards.
• Act as operational hygiene lead during audits and inspections.
• Promote food safety and allergen-control culture.
• Drive continuous improvement and develop cleaning methods.

Skills

BRCGS Food Safety

FSSC 22000

HACCP

Allergen management

Hygienic design

Cleaning validation & verification

Team leadership

Continuous improvement

Job description

A leading food manufacturing business is seeking an experienced Hygiene Manager to take ownership of site‑wide hygiene operations and drive the highest standards of food safety, quality and compliance across a high‑volume production environment.

This is a key leadership role, responsible for developing and delivering robust cleaning and sanitation strategies, ensuring audit readiness, and safeguarding product integrity across a complex, fast‑paced site. You'll lead a dedicated hygiene team, shape long‑term hygiene programmes, and support day‑to‑day operational delivery.

The role is based on‑site in Cambridgeshire, operating Monday‑Friday within standard office hours. While there is no weekend working expectation, the site runs 24/7, so visibility across all shifts is required.

What you’ll be doing

• Lead, motivate and develop the Hygiene Team, driving high performance and accountability.
• Own hygiene KPIs and deliver improvements across H&S, GMP, training, labour planning and CI.
• Ensure all cleaning, sanitation, allergen controls, validations and verifications meet the requirements of:
  • BRCGS Food Safety
  • FSSC 22000 (future implementation)
  • Internal Cleaning & Sanitation Standards
• Act as the operational hygiene lead during internal and external audits (BRC, customer, FSSC, EHO).
• Build a strong service culture, ensuring production areas consistently receive equipment and environments cleaned to specification.
• Support new equipment introductions, factory upgrades and hygienic design improvements.
• Work cross‑functionally with Engineering, Technical and Planning to ensure equipment cleanliness, availability and reliability.
• Lead gap analyses against internal sanitation standards and ensure actions are prioritised and closed.
• Drive continuous improvement, embedding a Kaizen approach across hygiene operations.
• Develop improved cleaning methods (wet, dry, foam), validation processes and sanitation documentation.
• Promote a strong food safety and allergen‑control culture across the site.
• Coach, train and develop team members, ensuring capability and succession.
• Partner with agency providers to maintain an efficient and engaged hygiene workforce.
• Lead regular communication and briefings to align teams to short‑, mid‑ and long‑term plans.

Who you are

Essential

• Experienced Hygiene Manager (or equivalent) within food manufacturing.
• Strong working knowledge of:
  • BRCGS Food Safety
  • FSSC 22000
  • HACCP
  • Allergen management
  • Hygienic design
  • Cleaning validation & verification
• Confident leading teams in a high‑care, high‑risk or fast‑paced FMCG environment.

Desirable

• Experience delivering compliance standards or large‑scale sanitation gap analyses.
• Knowledge of hygiene‑related construction, upgrades or project work.