Hygiene and Sanitation Manager

Brief summary of job profile:

• The Hygiene & Sanitation Manager is a key leadership position within the production facility, responsible for safeguarding the hygiene, sanitation, and food safety of all operations across the commissary, packaging, receiving, dispatch, public and staff areas, and retail store interface.
• This role ensures products consistently meet the highest international standards of food safety, hygiene, and regulatory compliance, protecting both the company's brands and customers. The Hygiene Manager has strategic and operational accountability for compliance with HACCP, ISO, Cold Chain Best Practices, government food safety laws, and customer brand standards.
• Beyond compliance, the Hygiene Manager is tasked with building a culture of accountability and learning, delivering hygiene training across the Central Kitchen and commissary and stores, overseeing lab testing and supplier hygiene, implementing waste management and sustainability practices, and coordinating with other kitchen and production leaders to embed hygiene at every step of the workflow.

Key Accountabilities:

Planning & Budgeting

• Develop the annual hygiene and sanitation plan aligned with production and business goals.
• Prepare and manage the hygiene budget (PPE, chemicals, sanitation, pest control, lab testing, training).
• Track monthly hygiene-related costs and identify cost-saving opportunities.
• Monitor ROI on hygiene investments (waste reduction, sustainability programs, eco-packaging).
• Monitor hygiene-related costs, track ROI on investments (waste reduction, sustainability programs, eco-packaging), and identify cost-saving opportunities without compromising safety.
• Collaborate with Finance to forecast hygiene-related costs for annual budgets and audits.

Hygiene & Food Safety Operations

• Lead the facility-wide hygiene program, ensuring compliance with HACCP, ISO, GMP, Cold Chain, and government standards.
• Work with appointed suppliers for adequate installations and implementations
• Oversee hygiene across all facility zones, including hot kitchen, butchery, pastry, packaging, storage, dispatch, staff canteen, locker rooms, corridors, public areas, receiving bays, and loading docks.
• Monitor and enforce hygienic packaging practices (MAP, vacuum, shrink, eco-packaging) to protect product integrity and shelf life.
• Ensure proper chemical offloading, storage, labeling, and PPE compliance across all sanitation processes.
• Maintain complete documentation of hygiene processes through logs, checklists, and digital reporting systems.
• Lead pest control and facility hygiene programs, including Integrated Pest Management, deep cleaning schedules, and corrective actions for non-conformities.
• Monitor hygiene at receiving bays and dispatch docks, coordinate with suppliers to meet standards.
• Approve and track procurement of hygiene supplies, PPE, chemicals, and sanitation items.
• Collect and send product, water, and surface samples for accredited lab testing, implement corrective actions when required.

Training & Compliance

• Deliver hygiene and food safety induction training for all new staff and contractors.
• Conduct periodic refresher training for all food handlers, packaging operators, and store staff.
• Lead hygiene training for flagship retail stores, focusing on product handling, shelf-life management, and display standards.
• Foster a culture of learning, responsibility, and accountability where hygiene is a shared responsibility.
• Partner with HR to oversee sickness reporting, medical checks, and staff fitness-to-work programs.
• Lead internal hygiene audits across all facility and store-related operations.
• Prepare and coordinate external audits (ISO, HACCP, government inspections, and brand audits).
• Identify risks and implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Ensure compliance with dietary handling requirements (Halal, Kosher, vegetarian, allergen-free).
• Report directly to the Head of Food Production with findings, risks, and recommendations.

Retail Support & Sustainability

• Conduct periodic product usage assessments in flagship stores to ensure hygiene, rotation, and waste control.
• Provide structured feedback to Head of Food Production and store managers on hygiene performance.
• Train store associates in hygiene SOPs for storage, handling, and customer presentation.
• Report store-level hygiene trends to commissary leadership to align improvements.
• Lead the facility's overall waste management program, ensuring compliance with regulatory and company standards.
• Develop and implement SOPs for waste handling and segregation across production, packaging, staff, and public areas.
• Coordinate with culinary, kitchen, and production leaders to align on waste reduction and sustainability targets.
• Partner with approved waste collection vendors to manage periodic collections and recycling programs.
• Drive initiatives to minimize food and packaging waste through process optimization, staff training, and sustainable practices.
• Introduce and monitor the use of eco-friendly cleaning and sanitation solutions (green chemicals, water- and energy-saving systems), track sustainability KPIs, integrating results into hygiene and facility performance reporting.
• Work directly with Executive Chefs, Sous Chefs, Production Managers, and Packaging Leaders, and Supply Chain to integrate hygiene into workflows & logistics.
• Support R&D on hygienic process validation for new products, packaging innovations, and dietary-compliant lines.
• Represent hygiene as a strategic function, not only operational, to the leadership team.

Job Requirements:

Education/ Training Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Environmental Health, Food Technology, Public Health, or related field.

HACCP & ISO certification required; Advanced Food Safety/Environmental Health preferred.

Experience:

• 7–10 years in hygiene, sanitation, or food safety management in large-scale kitchens, 5* hotels, food manufacturing, or catering (airline/cruise preferred).
• Experience managing hygiene budgets, procurement, and cost optimization.
• Proven record in audits, compliance management, and training delivery.

Knowledge of:

• HACCP, ISO, GMP, Cold Chain Best Practices.
• Hygiene compliance for production, packaging, logistics, staff/public spaces, and stores.
• Hygienic packaging solutions and shelf-life control.
• Food microbiology, lab sampling, and analysis.
• Waste management and sustainability frameworks.
• Financial tracking for hygiene-related operations.

Skills (Ability to):

• Fluent in Vietnamese and English; effective communicator and trainer.
• Leadership and coaching skills with accountability-driven culture building.
• Financial acumen: budgeting, cost control, ROI analysis.
• Analytical and detail-oriented with strong reporting/documentation ability.
• Proficiency with MS Office and compliance/audit management tools.