Sanitation Manager

Conagra Brands; Town of Darien (WI); On-site; USD 82,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) with company match

Stock purchase plan

Paid time off

Parental leave

Flexible work schedules

Job summary

Conagra Brands in Darien, WI is seeking a senior sanitation leader to direct the sanitation department at our frozen food packaging facility. You will supervise 30+ staff, drive sanitation programs, and partner with operations, quality, and maintenance to meet safety and regulatory standards.

The role requires 5+ years in food manufacturing sanitation leadership, strong knowledge of sanitary design, and familiarity with FDA/USDA requirements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent related work experience.
• Minimum 5 years of food manufacturing sanitation leadership experience.
• Strong understanding of sanitation design, environmental monitoring, pest management, and food safety principles.
• Knowledge of FDA/USDA HACCP and related food processing regulations.

Responsibilities

• Lead sanitation operations and ensure compliance with company procedures, food safety standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Supervise 30+ sanitation employees and provide direction, training, and leadership.
• Partner with operations, quality, maintenance, engineering and external providers to improve sanitation performance.
• Manage sanitation programs, environmental monitoring and pest management, with trend analysis and corrective actions.
• Lead investigations into contamination risks using root cause analysis to prevent recurrence.
• Develop and maintain cost-effective sanitation programs, procedures, and best practices with KPI reporting to leadership.
• Serve as the technical expert for sanitary design and review equipment installations and capital projects.
• Validate cleaning methods and sanitation plans for new equipment and facility changes; conduct internal audits and support inspections.
• Support pest management programs and GMP compliance; provide on-site safety training for sanitation staff.
• Be available for on-call support for operational issues outside regular hours.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

Root cause analysis

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent related work experience

Job description

Reporting to the Plant Manager, you will lead the Sanitation Department at our Darien, WI frozen food packaging facility.

A Taste of Your Responsibilities

Lead sanitation operations, ensuring compliance with company sanitation procedures, food safety standards, and regulatory requirements. Supervise and develop a team of 30+ sanitation employees, providing direction, training, resource planning, and technical leadership. Partner with operations, quality, maintenance, engineering, and external service providers to drive sanitation performance, continuous improvement, and business objectives. Manage sanitation, environmental monitoring, and pest management programs, including trend analysis, effectiveness evaluations, and corrective action implementation. Lead investigations involving contamination risks, environmental findings, reduced shelf life, customer complaints, or other sanitation-related issues, utilizing root cause analysis to prevent recurrence. Develop, implement, and maintain cost‑effective sanitation programs, procedures, and best practices while monitoring key performance indicators and reporting results to leadership. Serve as the technical expert for sanitary design by reviewing equipment installations, modifications, capital projects, and new product introductions to ensure compliance with food safety and sanitation requirements. Validate cleaning methods, sanitation plans, and verification procedures for new equipment, facility modifications, and operational changes. Conduct internal sanitation and pest management audits and support regulatory inspections and external audits. Serve as the site resource for pest management programs, facility repairs, and good manufacturing practices that support effective pest prevention. Foster a culture of safety by ensuring sanitation personnel receive appropriate training and follow established safety practices.

Ingredients Required for Your Success

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent related work experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of food manufacturing experience in sanitation leadership roles.
• Understanding of microbiological organisms and their impact on process design, sanitary design, sanitation programs, and product safety.
• Knowledge of sanitary design, sanitation systems, environmental monitoring, pest management, food manufacturing processes, and food safety principles.
• Knowledge of Food and Drug Administration, United States Department of Agriculture, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point requirements, and other food processing regulations.
• Strong leadership, communication, relationship-building, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Experience using performance metrics, project management, trend analysis, and data-driven problem solving to improve sanitation and food safety outcomes.
• Bilingual English and Spanish language skills are preferred.
• Be available to provide on-call support as needed, including responding to operational issues, emergencies, or business needs outside of regularly scheduled working hours.
• Relocation assistance is available for this position. Preference will be given to local candidates.

Physical Requirements

More information about essential tasks and the facility will be shared during the hiring process. The role may require you to be in our manufacturing facilities. When visiting this site, the physical requirements below may apply: you may be required to walk around the facility, climb stairs/ladders, kneel, or perform repetitive tasks that require hand‑eye coordination. You may be required to lift or carry materials that can vary in weight and size. This is a manufacturing environment with large, moving equipment. Noise levels can be high, and temperatures may vary.

Compensation Pay Range

Pay Range:$82,000-$120,000

The annual salary listed above is the expected offering for this position. An employee’s actual annual salary will be based on but not limited to: location, relevant experience/level and skillset, while balancing internal Conagra employees’ equity. Conagra Brands will comply with applicable law regarding minimum salaries for exempt employees.

Our Benefits

• Health: Comprehensive healthcare plans, wellness incentive program, mental wellbeing support and fitness reimbursement
• Wealth: Great pay, bonus incentive opportunity, matching 401(k) and stock purchase plan
• Growth: Career development opportunities, employee resource groups, on‑demand learning and tuition reimbursement
• Balance: Paid‑time off, parental leave, flexible work‑schedules (subject to your location and role) and volunteer opportunities

Our Company

At Conagra Brands, we have a rich heritage of making great food. We aspire to have the most impactful, energized and inclusive culture in food. As a member of our 18,000+ person team across 40+ locations, you are empowered to reach your potential, make an impact and own your career. We're in the business of building champions – within our people and our iconic brands like Birds Eye®, Slim Jim® and Reddi‑Wip®.

Our focus on innovation extends beyond making great food, it also reflects our commitment to embracing new solutions that positively impact our team, the communities we serve and the health of our planet. Foodies Welcome.

Conagra Brands is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to sex, race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, pregnancy, leave status, disability, veteran status, genetic information and/or any other characteristic or status protected by national, federal, state or local law. Reasonable accommodation may be made upon request.

At Conagra Brands, we have a rich heritage of making great food. We aspire to have the most impactful, energized and inclusive culture in food. As a member of our 18,000+ person team across 40+ locations, you are empowered to reach your potential, make an impact and own your career. We're in the business of building champions – within our people and our iconic brands like Birds Eye ®, Slim Jim® and Reddi‑Wip®.

Our focus on innovation extends beyond making great food, it also reflects our commitment to embracing new solutions that positively impact our team, the communities we serve and the health of our planet. Foodies Welcome.

Conagra Brands is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to sex, race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, pregnancy, leave status, disability, veteran status, genetic information and/or any other characteristic or status protected by national, federal, state or local law. Reasonable accommodation may be made upon request.