Hygiene Manager – Maternity Cover - FMCG

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Role: Hygiene Manager – Maternity Cover | Salary: Up to £55,000 | Location: Kent | Monday–Friday</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">The Opportunity</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Are you an experienced Hygiene Manager looking for an opportunity where you can lead a large team and have a genuine impact on food safety, hygiene standards and operational performance?</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Our client is an established and growing food manufacturing business, looking for a confident and driven Hygiene Manager to take responsibility for the site-wide hygiene function during a maternity cover period.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">This is a key leadership position, responsible for leading and developing a large Hygiene team while ensuring consistently high standards of hygiene, food safety, compliance and continuous improvement across the site.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">You’ll work closely with Technical, Production, Engineering and Projects, providing strong hygiene leadership, supporting operational performance and ensuring the site remains audit-ready and compliant with legal, BRCGS, customer and internal standards.</p>

<h5 class="fw-bold text-success mt-4 mb-3">Key Responsibilities</h5>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Hygiene Leadership: Lead, manage and develop a large Hygiene team, setting clear expectations, maintaining standards and promoting a culture of ownership and accountability.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Hygiene Strategy: Develop, implement and continually review the site's hygiene and sanitation strategy, ensuring cleaning programmes and procedures remain effective.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Food Safety & Compliance: Ensure hygiene standards meet legal, BRCGS, customer and internal</p>

<h5 class="fw-bold text-success mt-4 mb-3">requirements, maintaining strong audit readiness across the site.</h5>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Team Development: Coach and develop Hygiene Managers, Supervisors and Team Leaders, supporting performance, succession planning and continuous development.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Budget & Cost Management: Manage hygiene budgets and operational costs, monitoring labour, chemicals, PPE, equipment and water usage while identifying opportunities for improved efficiency.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Continuous Improvement: Use data, KPIs and structured problem-solving to identify trends, eliminate recurring issues and improve cleaning methods, processes and resource utilisation.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Incident Management: Lead the hygiene response to contamination events, allergen cross-contact risks and other sanitation-related incidents, ensuring effective corrective and preventative actions.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Cross-Functional Working: Work closely with Technical, Production, Engineering and Projects teams, providing hygiene input into operational changes, new equipment and site developments.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Supplier & Contractor Management: Build effective relationships with chemical suppliers, external contractors and specialist service providers to ensure high standards and value.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">What You’ll Bring:</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Hygiene Management Experience: Proven experience managing Hygiene within a high-care or ready-to-eat food manufacturing environment.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Leadership: Strong experience leading, motivating, coaching and developing a large Hygiene team.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Technical Knowledge: Excellent understanding of BRCGS, HACCP, food safety, hygiene compliance, legal</p>

<h5 class="fw-bold text-success mt-4 mb-3">requirements and customer standards.</h5>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Operational Expertise: Strong knowledge of sanitation, cleaning standards, hygienic design and hygiene best practice.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Continuous Improvement: A structured and proactive approach to problem-solving, root-cause analysis and driving operational improvements.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Commercial Awareness: Experience managing Hygiene budgets, costs and resources, with the ability to identify efficiency opportunities.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Data Driven: Comfortable working with KPIs, reporting and data to identify trends, risks and areas for improvement.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Communication: Confident working with senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams, with strong organisational and communication skills.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Qualifications: HACCP Level 3 is essential, alongside a recognised hygienic design qualification, formal training or equivalent practical experience.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Why Apply?</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Leadership: Take ownership of the site's entire Hygiene function and lead a large, established team.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Impact: Play a key role in maintaining food safety, hygiene and compliance standards across a busy food manufacturing environment.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Development: Work closely with Technical, Production, Engineering and Projects teams, gaining broad exposure across the wider operation.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Variety: A genuinely hands-on leadership position covering people, hygiene strategy, compliance, budgets, continuous improvement and operational performance.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Environment: Join a supportive and forward-thinking business with modern facilities and a strong focus on people and development.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">Benefits: Competitive salary, Monday–Friday working, on-site parking with EV charging, subsidised staff restaurant, staff events, brand-new facilities.</p>

<p class="text-muted mb-3">If you're an experienced Hygiene Manager with strong food manufacturing experience and the leadership skills to maintain high standards while driving continuous improvement, we'd love to hear from you</p>