Sanitation Program Manager

About the position

Califia Farms is on a mission to create a future where plants replace dairy, without compromise. The company creates a variety of great-tasting plant-based beverages that make the transition to eating plant-based dairy easy and delicious. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, Califia Farms is one of the fastest-growing, independently owned, natural beverage companies in the U.S., the UK, and Australia. The company's culture is built around four core values: passion for purpose, insights into action, fierce interdependence, and challenger spirit.

Responsibilities

• Ensure/maintain compliance with regulatory and Califia policies requirements related to sanitation and plant hygiene.
• Developing, implementing, and maintaining sanitation procedures and programs (i.e., CIP validation, Allergen cleaning validation, Master Sanitation Schedule, Environmental Monitoring, and others as assigned).
• Optimize sanitation operating procedures to achieve the highest level of effectiveness and efficiency while lowering environmental impact and maintaining cleaning standards.
• Maintain and validate effectiveness of sanitation Standard Operating procedures (SOPs). Utilize plant SME for documentation and training of procedures.
• Validate, troubleshoot, and improve or make recommendations on how to improve CIP system operation. Leverage chemical company representatives and internal process managers to enhance the program.
• Report on key sanitation metrics and perform periodic reviews on effectiveness of CIP and Sanitation schedules.
• Ensure a pest free environment by working with the Quality, Operations, and pest control vendor to assure compliance with Califia Farms Standards.
• Partner with the engineering and maintenance team on hygienic design and new equipment approval.
• Conduct sanitation GMP inspections of the facility and participate in monthly and annual reviews. Partner with safety department on GMP/Safety inspections.
• Enforce Color Coding and Hygienic Zoning procedures.
• Maintain records of sanitation related activities in appropriate databases and spreadsheets.
• Work with the plant leadership team to review all sanitation training programs to ensure they are understood and completed by fellow sanitation personnel and/or plant personnel in a safe and efficient manner.
• Develop training modules for employees on sanitation.
• Train and supervise sanitation and/or plant personnel.
• Train all employees in sanitation SOPs, and conduct refresher training as needed.
• Meet and train with new employees that perform critical sanitation SOPs as part of their job and discuss the importance of this activity and how to adequately perform it.
• Participate in root cause analysis and corrective/preventive action plans on any event related to sanitation.
• Coordinate the activities of the plant personnel to maximize productivity while maintaining cleaning standards.
• Provide general support of plant production and quality as assigned by plant leadership.
• Support quality certification programs (BRC, Kosher, etc.)

Requirements

• Minimum of 3-5 years Sanitation or Quality related experience in a food production environment.
• Previous experience with automated CIP systems and COP processes.
• Knowledge of food safety systems and chemical safety.
• Understanding of root cause analysis and corrective/preventative actions.
• Must possess strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to set expectations and hold supervisory personnel and team members accountable for sanitation results.
• Able to develop people to higher levels of performance.
• Ability to read piping and instrumentation diagrams (or show potential to learn it).
• Excellent skills with Word and Excel Software.
• Ability to work independently (high level of autonomy) and have high level of organizational skills.

Nice-to-haves

• Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and tools a plus