Sr Specialist Sanitation

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Job Location: Hazleton, PA

Summary:

The Hershey Company Hazleton plant is a Union plant producing products such as Cadbury, Milk Bars, Almond Bars, Extra Dark Bars, Caramel Bars, Candy Coated Eggs, and Kit Kat, in a high-speed complex environment.

Under minimal guidance, the Sanitation Specialist's primary role is to coordinate efforts to achieve and maintain sanitation programs and compliance Hershey's Product Excellence Program (PEP).

This position is responsible for overseeing the sanitation program to ensure compliance and proper execution in accordance with sanitation, food safety and safety corporate standards, HACCP principles, GFSI standards as well as local and state regulations, in order to maintain a visibly clean, audit ready environment for food production.

Recommends and secures the appropriate resources (internal and external) and time (including necessary downtime) to assure a sanitary environment is maintained.

Responsibilities:

Sanitation

• Manages Sanitation employees work schedule and responsibilities. Manage departmental financial responsibilities for sanitation, developing budget and cost controls when ordering supplies and scheduling services.
• Develops and maintains the digital Master Sanitation Schedule (MSS) and Sanitation Standard Operation Procedures (SSOPs).
• Supports root cause analysis and corrective actions with facility Environmental Microbiological Monitoring Program (EMMP).
• Supervises certified pest control operators and assures compliance to Integrated Pest Control Program (IPM).
• Develops and reports plant food safety and sanitation KPIs.
• Identifies and develops sanitary design solutions working with Microbiology, Engineering and/or Maintenance teams.
• Develops and conducts periodic audits and/or review results to interpret data trends, monitor emerging issues related to sanitation, and develop remediation strategies accordingly.
• Act as the primary interface for sanitation issues with regulatory agencies, corporate and other third-party audits, providing leadership to identify, monitor, correct, and eliminate gaps between the plant environment and the required standards.
• Serves as the liaison between the facility, 3rd party chemical, and janitorial providers.
• Supports cleaning verification and validation programs to demonstrate effectiveness of the sanitation program.
• Supports allergen cleaning and control measures within the facility.

Manufacturing Support:

• Act as an in-house expert resource for hourly, salary employees and supporting departments within the food safety and sanitation related discipline.

• The position serves as a technical resource for Manufacturing and Engineering along with providing leadership and guidance in the areas of sanitation and associated incident investigation and resolution, troubleshooting and other related matters.
• The position provides QA support to the various Business Units across the plant.

Training / Communication:

• Assure employee ownership of programs by developing and communicating essential information related to food safety and sanitation to all employees including management and line operatives.

Minimum knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform major duties/responsibilities:

• Effective communication of technical and non-technical information to various levels, both internally and externally to the organization
• Knowledge of federal and state food industry regulations including Food Safety Modernization Act
• Understanding of sanitation and pest control practices.
• Internal candidates shall have strong understanding of The Hershey Company's Product Excellence Program (PEP)
• Strong working knowledge of QA principles
• Strong computer and document management skills
• Strong documentation skills and attention to detail
• Strong communication skills and ability to work collaboratively with all levels internal and external to the plant to deliver timely results
• Establish and sustain effective relationships with all employees in order to foster an environment where innovation and cooperation are used to solve problems
• Strong auditing/assessment skills
• Knowledge of manufacturing operations
• Strong leadership skills and ability to influence management, enabling the activities of employee teams that do not have direct reporting to the Specialist
• Ability to interact effectively with third party and internal auditors
• Position will primarily work 1st shift, but work schedule flexibility is required to support a 24/7 manufacturing operation is required
• Work environment includes plant, warehouse, and plant grounds. Must be physically capable of walking, climbing, squatting etc. to complete sanitation inspections.
• Knowledge of pest control habits and possess the ability to identify pests (mice & rat droppings, insects, etc.).

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements:

Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in Food Science or related field preferred

Experience:

• 1-2 years related experience required; 5 years preferred
• Minimum of 1 year in a supervisory capacity required
• Sanitation related experience in a high-speed automated Consumer Goods manufacturing environment preferred (e.g. production of food, beverages, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, household goods, and/or tobacco)
• SAP experience preferred
• Relevant certifications such as GFSI and/or PCQI are a plus
• Confectionary based processes knowledge is a plus
• Allergens Management is a plus

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The Hershey Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The policy of The Hershey Company is to extend opportunities to qualified applicants and employees on an equal basis regardless of an individual's race, color, gender, age, national origin, religion, citizenship status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other categories protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.

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