Job at a glance
Grand River Foods is a leading food solutions company serving customers in the North American grocery and food service industry. As a member of the Sunrise Farm family, we remain as dedicated as ever to both providing a quality work environment for our employees, as well as producing only the highest quality products for our customers. We are known for the great care we take with clients and employees alike.
Position Summary The Sanitation Manager is responsible for leading and overseeing all sanitation, cleaning, and wastewater treatment operations within the facility to ensure compliance with food safety, quality, regulatory, and customer requirements. Reporting to the Plant Manager, this position provides strategic direction and operational leadership for sanitation programs, sanitation personnel, and third-party sanitation service providers.
The Sanitation Manager is accountable for developing, implementing, and continuously improving sanitation systems, procedures, and performance standards that support operational excellence and protect product integrity. This role partners closely with Production, Maintenance, Quality Assurance, and Health & Safety teams to ensure sanitation activities are executed efficiently, effectively, and in compliance with HACCP, CFIA, customer, and corporate requirements.
Success in this role requires strong leadership, technical expertise, resource management, problem-solving abilities, and a commitment to continuous improvement, employee development, food safety, workplace safety, and operational excellence. Position Responsibilities Leadership & People Management Provide leadership, direction, coaching, and performance management to the sanitation team while fostering a culture of accountability, engagement, safety, and continuous improvement.
Develop staffing plans, schedules, succession plans, and training programs to support operational requirements. Lead recruitment, onboarding, performance evaluations, employee development, corrective action, and disciplinary processes within the department. Conduct regular team meetings and communicate departmental objectives, performance metrics, and key initiatives. Promote employee engagement and develop team capabilities through coaching and mentoring.
Sanitation Program Management Develop, implement, maintain, and continuously improve sanitation programs, procedures, and standards to ensure compliance with food safety, quality, regulatory, customer, and company requirements. Ensure all sanitation activities are completed effectively and efficiently to support production requirements and maintain audit readiness. Monitor and verify sanitation effectiveness through inspections, environmental monitoring, pre-operational inspections, and trend analysis.
Lead root cause investigations and corrective actions related to sanitation, environmental monitoring, and food safety concerns. Maintain and continuously improve Master Sanitation Schedules, SSOPs, and sanitation documentation. Contractor & Vendor Management Manage third-party sanitation service providers and contractors, ensuring contractual obligations, service levels, and performance expectations are achieved.
Establish performance metrics and conduct regular reviews to ensure service quality, compliance, safety, and cost-effectiveness. Manage supplier relationships related to sanitation chemicals, equipment, supplies, and services. Identify opportunities to optimize contractor performance, costs, and sanitation effectiveness. Food Safety, Regulatory Compliance & Audits Act as a key contributor to the facility's food safety and quality management systems.
Ensure compliance with HACCP, SQF/BRC (if applicable), CFIA requirements, customer standards, GMPs, WHMIS, and company policies. Lead sanitation-related responses during customer, regulatory, third-party, and internal audits. Develop and implement corrective and preventive actions resulting from audits, inspections, environmental m