Area Operation Manager

Sanitation Specialists; United States; On-site; USD 105,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Sanitation Specialists, Inc. seeks an Area Manager to oversee performance across a group of sites within a national region.

You will lead Site Managers and Supervisors, drive sanitation, safety, customer service, and financial results, while maintaining site plans, staffing, and corrective actions. The role requires flexible travel among assigned sites, leadership of hourly sanitation teams, and collaboration with the Regional Sanitation Manager.

Qualifications

• Five+ years of progressive leadership in regulated operations.
• Experience leading multiple sites through managers or supervisors.
• Knowledge of sanitation programs, SSOPs, GMPs, HACCP, audit systems.
• Experience managing labor plans, overtime, budgets, and controllable costs.
• Bachelor's degree in related field preferred; progressive experience acceptable.
• Strong communication, customer service, coaching, and analytical skills; English-Spanish preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop site management across assigned accounts.
• Coach site leaders to plan work, staff shifts, and manage records.
• Ensure SSOPs and sanitation schedules are current and followed.
• Lead audits, investigations, and corrective actions.
• Manage customer operations and service recovery.
• Own controllable financial and labor performance.
• Maintain workforce safety and regulatory discipline.
• Improve area performance across sites.

Skills

Leadership experience

Multi-site leadership

Sanitation programs

Labor planning

Communication skills

Travel willingness

Education

Bachelor's degree preferred

Job description

POSITION SUMMARY

The Area Manager is accountable for performance across an assigned group of sites and leads through Site Managers and Supervisors. The role sets expectations, verifies execution, develops site leadership, and drives consistent results in sanitation, safety, customer service, workforce stability, and controllable financial performance. Site leaders retain day-to-day ownership of site plans, records, staffing, and corrective actions.

Position Profile

Department: Operations

Reports to: Regional Sanitation Manager

Direct reports: Site Managers and/or Sanitation Supervisors, as assigned

Leads through: Site Leads and hourly sanitation teams

Position type: Full-time, exempt

Work pattern: Flexible schedule with recurring overnight field work and travel among assigned sites

Scope

Approximately 7-10 sites representing $9 million-$14 million in annual revenue within one national region: Central, West, or East

Compensation

$105,000-$125,000 annually

Key Accountabilities

1. Lead and develop site management

1. Set clear operating and performance expectations for Site Managers and Supervisors; review results across assigned accounts.
2. Coach site leaders to plan work, staff shifts, manage labor, communicate with customers, maintain required records, and resolve site-level issues.
3. Evaluate leadership effectiveness through site visits, shift observations, operating reviews, and objective performance measures. Establish development or improvement actions and verify follow-through.
4. Hold site leaders accountable for hiring, onboarding, training, attendance, performance management, and employee documentation in coordination with Human Resources. Strengthen succession coverage for critical roles.

2. Assure sanitation plans and SSOP control

1. Hold Site Managers accountable for maintaining and executing current SSOPs and sanitation schedules that reflect site equipment, processes, customer requirements, and applicable food-safety controls.
2. Review SSOPs and sanitation records to confirm they are current, controlled, usable, and consistent with site practice; require correction and verify completion when deficiencies exist.
3. Independently evaluate sanitation methods and documentation. Engage FSQA or other technical specialists when changes affect food-safety controls, hazard analysis, validation, or customer-defined technical requirements.

3. Lead audits, investigations, and corrective action

1. Maintain audit readiness and represent Operations in customer, certification, and regulatory audits, as assigned.
2. Ensure timely investigation of sanitation failures, audit findings, customer complaints, and other nonconformances. Lead or participate in root-cause analysis for significant, recurring, cross-site, or complex issues.
3. Oversee CAPA and SCAR activity by reviewing causes, actions, ownership, due dates, and evidence. Verify that corrective actions are effective and sustained, not merely documented as complete.
4. Escalate overdue, ineffective, high‑risk, or technically unresolved actions to the Regional Sanitation Manager and appropriate specialists.

4. Manage customer operations and service recovery

1. Maintain productive relationships with plant‑level customer contacts in operations, quality, food safety, and maintenance.
2. Serve as the area‑level escalation point for significant service, staffing, sanitation, or documentation concerns. Ensure the site leader owns the immediate response and completes communicated actions.
3. Lead or coordinate monthly operational reviews; participate in quarterly business reviews and corporate‑level discussions with the Regional Sanitation Manager and Business Development, as appropriate.
4. Identify potential scope changes or service expansion and route opportunities through Business Development. Do not make pricing, contract, or unapproved resource commitments.

5. Own controllable financial and labor performance

1. Manage performance against approved budgets, staffing plans, contract requirements, and delegated spending limits. Accountability is limited to controllable performance within the company's financial authority structure.
2. Monitor labor hours, overtime, productivity, staffing, supplies, consumables, rework, and other relevant account costs. Explain material variances and lead corrective plans with site leadership.
3. Protect revenue by ensuring contracted services are delivered, scope changes are identified promptly, and customer‑impacting gaps receive timely intervention.

6. Maintain workforce, safety, and regulatory discipline

1. Ensure site leaders maintain staffing, training, retention, and leadership coverage plans aligned with customer requirements and company standards.
2. Reinforce applicable GMP, HACCP, SSOP, SQF or BRC requirements, customer standards, and workplace‑safety practices, including PPE, LOTO, and HAZCOM. Coordinate technical interpretation with FSQA, Safety, and other subject‑matter experts.
3. Respond promptly to significant employee‑safety, food‑safety, regulatory, or customer risks through appropriate containment, communication, investigation, and escalation.

7. Improve area performance

1. Use site visits, trend data, customer feedback, audit results, labor reports, and corrective‑action status to identify deteriorating performance and recurring causes.
2. Standardize effective practices across accounts while adapting execution to each facility's equipment, products, sanitation plan, and operating schedule.
3. Resolve matters within delegated authority, develop site leaders to prevent recurrence, and elevate issues that exceed authority, risk tolerance, or technical competence.

Performance Measures

Performance is evaluated against approved company, customer, and account targets. The Area Manager monitors trends, explains performance gaps, and delivers corrective action; the role does not guarantee zero incidents or zero audit findings.

Measure area

Financial and labor

Labor and overtime versus approved budget; productivity; material controllable‑cost variances; corrective‑action completion.

Sanitation and audit readiness

Audit and pre‑operational findings; recurring deficiencies; documentation completeness; timely and effective corrective‑action closure.

Workforce

Turnover and retention against company targets; staffing stability; training completion; site‑leadership readiness and development.

Safety and compliance

Leading and lagging safety indicators; incident response and action closure; completion of required safety and compliance controls.

Customer concerns; response and closure timeliness; service reliability; completion of agreed operational reviews.

Qualifications

• Five or more years of progressive leadership experience in food manufacturing, industrial sanitation, production, quality, or another regulated or audit‑driven operation.
• Demonstrated experience leading multiple sites or a complex workforce through managers or supervisors; food‑processing sanitation experience is strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of sanitation programs, SSOPs, GMPs, HACCP, audit systems, and corrective‑action methods, with the ability to review documentation and investigate operational failures independently.
• Experience managing labor plans, overtime, productivity, budgets, or other controllable operating costs and converting performance data into action.
• Bachelor's degree in operations, food science, business, or a related field preferred; equivalent progressive experience may be considered.
• Strong communication, customer service, coaching, conflict resolution, analytical, and follow‑through skills. English‑Spanish fluency is preferred.
• Valid driver's license and ability to travel among assigned customer locations.

Schedule and Work Environment

This position requires a flexible schedule, including recurring overnight field work and, as customer needs require, evenings, weekends, and holidays. Work occurs in food‑processing facilities that may be cold, wet, noisy, or otherwise demanding. The employee must be able to travel, enter production and sanitation areas, and use required personal protective equipment, with or without reasonable accommodation.