Group Hygiene Manager in Bradford

To lead and develop a multi-site hygiene strategy, systems, and team to ensure the facility, equipment, and production environment consistently meet food safety, legal, customer, and company standards. The role is responsible for delivering effective hygiene controls across a highly automated manufacturing operation while driving continuous improvement, audit readiness, and operational efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the site hygiene programme, including cleaning standards, schedules, work instructions, validation, and verification activities. To include Front of House Contracts.
• Own resourcing schedule and engage with 3rd Party agency providers as required.
• Ensure all hygiene activities support compliance with GMP, HACCP, COSHH, allergen control, BRCGS expectations, and site food safety requirements.
• Lead, coach, and develop the hygiene team, including QA’s, supervisors and operators, to deliver safe and effective cleaning standards.
• Set hygiene KPIs and monitor performance through inspections, trend analysis, swabbing results, audit outcomes, downtime, and non-conformance data.
• Work closely with production, engineering, technical, and quality teams to ensure automated lines, conveyors, fillers, packers, robotics, and associated equipment are cleaned safely and effectively.
• Review and improve hygiene procedures for clean-in-place, clean-out-of-place, tear-down cleaning, changeovers, and deep cleaning tasks.
• Manage hygiene chemicals, consumables, equipment, contractor activity, and budget control.
• Lead root cause investigations and corrective actions for hygiene failures, environmental results, pest issues, audit findings, and customer complaints where relevant.
• Ensure the site remains audit ready and support customer, third-party, and regulatory inspections.
• Drive continuous improvement in hygiene methods, labour efficiency, chemical usage, water use, and cleaning effectiveness and standardising cross site where appropriate to drive savings/efficiencies.
• Promote a strong food safety and health and safety culture across the site.

Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours

• Strong knowledge of food manufacturing hygiene principles would be preferable.
• Organised, detail focused, and able to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Good understanding of automated production equipment and hygiene risks associated with machinery, sensors, guarding, and production interfaces.
• Strong leadership, coaching, planning, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to analyse trends, identify risk, and implement effective corrective actions.
• Confident communicator who can influence cross-functional teams.

Experience and Qualifications

• Previous hygiene management experience within food manufacturing preferable.
• Experience of leading teams in a regulated and audit-driven environment.
• Working knowledge of HACCP, GMP, allergen management, and COSHH.
• Experience supporting external audits and customer standards.
• Food Safety qualification, HACCP training, and relevant health and safety or hygiene management training preferred.

Working Conditions

The role will require flexibility across days, nights, and weekends to support hygiene operations, shutdowns, deep cleans, and audit activity within a 24/7 manufacturing environment. The role will be based at Bradford but with the requirement to travel to Deeside c20% of the time.

Salary Competitive.