Manager, Sanitation

Danone; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 78,000 - 113,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance bonus

401(k) plan

Tuition reimbursement

Paid parental bonding leave

Hybrid work environment

Medical, dental, vision

Job summary

Danone North America seeks a Corporate Sanitation Manager to lead sanitation strategy across facilities, ensuring hygienic design, extended shelf-life processing, and regulatory compliance. The role requires travel 50-70% with a hybrid work model and frequent collaboration with plant leadership to uphold food safety and operational excellence.

The ideal candidate will have 5+ years in sanitation leadership in food manufacturing, strong dairy processing knowledge, and expertise in CIP/MSS

Qualifications

• Bachelor-level degree in a related field.
• 5+ years in sanitation leadership in food manufacturing, multi-site preferred.
• Strong knowledge of dairy processing, CIP, MSS, phage monitoring and industry standards.

Responsibilities

• Lead sanitation program across facilities, ensuring hygienic design and compliance.
• Oversee CIP/SIP system validations and optimize cycles to reduce water, energy and chemicals.
• Drive Master Sanitation & Hygienic Zoning, improve MSS effectiveness and allocate resources.
• Analyze environmental data to identify risks and support plant execution when issues arise.
• Collaborate with plant leadership to ensure consistent sanitation program execution.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Dairy processing

CIP systems

MSS management

Phage monitoring

Environmental testing

Food safety & quality

Budget management

Education

Bachelors in food science / dairy science / microbiology / engineering

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

About The Job

The Corporate Sanitation Manager will lead the company’s sanitation strategy across all facilities, ensuring the highest standards of hygienic design, extended shelf-life processing, fresh dairy processing, frozen processing, and regulatory compliance. This role is responsible for developing, implementing, and monitoring sanitation programs that safeguard product integrity, protect consumer health, and maintain operational excellence in food manufacturing.

About The Job

The Corporate Sanitation Manager will lead the company’s sanitation strategy across all facilities, ensuring the highest standards of hygienic design, extended shelf-life processing, fresh dairy processing, frozen processing, and regulatory compliance. This role is responsible for developing, implementing, and monitoring sanitation programs that safeguard product integrity, protect consumer health, and maintain operational excellence in food manufacturing.

This position operates under a hybrid work model, requiring onsite presence at one of our internal manufacturing sites while not traveling. Travel is 50-70%. While this schedule is typical, team or business needs may require additional onsite days.

Job Summary

We are seeking a motivated and detail-oriented professional to join our team. This role contributes to the success of the organization by supporting key functions, driving operational excellence, and collaborating across departments to achieve strategic goals. The ideal candidate will bring strong communication skills, a proactive mindset, and the ability to adapt to a dynamic environment. This position offers opportunities for growth, innovation, and meaningful impact within the company.

Key Responsibilities

As a key member of our team, you will play an important role in driving our mission forward. The following responsibilities outline the core expectations and contributions for this position

Sanitation Program Leadership

• Acts as an expert in cleaning parameters and related quality & food safety risks for manufacturing teams.

CIP & SIP System Validations

• Work with our internal plants on Validation Cleaning Protocols and CIP United Program Implementation
• Optimize CIP cycles to reduce water, energy, and chemical usage while maintaining sanitary integrity and meeting Regulatory Compliance (including PMO).

Master Sanitation & Hygienic Zoning

• Drive continuous improvement in MSS effectiveness, frequency, and resource allocation.
• Understand our Hygienic Zoning policies and procedures with ability to facilitate and research mitigation technology to support the manufacturing sites

Environmental Program

• Analyze environmental data to identify risk patterns and drive proactive interventions.
• Ability to assist our plants in execution of program and support when issues arise

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with plant leadership to ensure consistent execution of sanitation programs, including extended shelf-life processing and hygienic design standards.

Physical Demands & Work Environment

• This role is performed in a standard office setting as well as on floor in the manufacturing plant. It requires the ability to remain in a stationary position (e.g., seated or standing) for extended periods.
• The employee may be exposed to moderate noise levels from office equipment and conversations. Hybrid or remote work arrangements may apply, which can introduce variability in work settings.

The salary range for this position is $78,000.00 – $113,000.00 USD. The exact salary offered will depend on several factors, including the candidate’s relevant experience, geographic location, internal equity, and market conditions. Danone North America additionally offers a performance-based bonus and has a strong benefits package including Medical, Dental, Vision, Prescription Drug Coverage, 401k Plan, Wellness Program, Life Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement, Flexible Time Off, and Paid Parental Bonding Leave, among other benefit plan options. To give our employees flexibility, Danone is a hybrid work environment.

This role is considered a “hybrid” position that allows for flexible work, meaning it is a role where collaboration with key stakeholders in Danone Hubs occurs. While you may have the option to work from home on a schedule as agreed to with your supervisor, you are also expected to regularly report to your assigned office location at least 3 days per week.

About You

The ideal candidate will bring a combination of education, experience, and skills that enable them to excel in this position. The following qualifications outline what we’re looking for, including both required and preferred criteria

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in food science, Dairy Science, Microbiology, Engineering, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in sanitation leadership roles within food manufacturing, with multi-site responsibility preferred.
• Strong knowledge of dairy processing, CIP systems, MSS management, phage monitoring, environmental testing, and dairy industry standards.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams, influence at all organizational levels, and drive cultural change.
• Knowledge of food industry regulations, safety standards, and quality control processes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to train, mentor, and engage diverse teams.
• Strong financial acumen, with the ability to develop and manage budgets.
• The ideal candidate for this role excels in a hands‑on support environment.

Leadership behavior

• Strategic vision, leadership
• Desire to always find the best solution with resilience and prudence using IWS troubleshooting tools
• Ability to take decisions, taking risks into account
• Constant search for new solutions and technologies (external networking)
• Interaction/communication with other departments
• Optimism, creativity, and drive action
• Accuracy and discipline
• Critical thinking Ability to express complex issues in a simple and easy way

About us

Life at Danone

With approximately 5,000 employees and 13 production locations across the U.S., our vibrant culture and endless growth opportunities are just a couple of the reasons our employees call themselves “Proud Danoners.”

Learn more about Life at Danone

Our Brands

When you join us, you’ll work with some of the best-known food and beverage brands in the world, including Activia®, DanActive®, Danimals®, Dannon®, evian®, Follow Your Heart®, Happy Family® Organics, International Delight®, Light + Fit®, Nutricia ®, Oikos®, Silk®, So Delicious® Dairy Free, STōK® Cold Brew Coffee ®, Too Good & Co™, and YoCrunch®.

Our Purpose

We’re committed to making a positive impact on our world. Rooted in our mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible, we’re proud to be the world’s largest B Corp.

Learn more about our mission.

Our Benefits

Our commitment to making the world healthier starts with our employees.

• Physical Wellbeing We pay for the majority of your medical benefits – which include medical, dental and vision – with our competitive 80%/20% cost-sharing model.
• Mental Wellbeing Danoners receive fitness discounts, unlimited flexible time off and hybrid work schedules. We also have a range of programs that support mental health and substance abuse.
• Financial Support We offer a performance-based bonus, a 401(k) plan, tuition reimbursement, employee discount programs and voluntary perks.
• Family Care We offer caretaker benefits, 18 weeks of parental bonding, fertility, surrogacy, adoption benefits and pet insurance.

Learn more about our benefits.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Danone North America is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. It is our policy to give equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to legally protected characteristics, or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state/provincial and/or local law. For our EEO policy statement and your EOO rights under law click here.

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