Lead hygiene excellence at a major food manufacturing site. Maternity Cover, Mon-Fri, Competitive Salary, Manage large teams, drive BRCGS compliance, food safety and continuous improvement in a fast-paced, high-care environment.

Hygiene Manager (Maternity Cover)

Northfleet, Kent

Competitive Salary

Our client, a leading food manufacturing business in Kent, is seeking an experienced Hygiene Manager to join their team on a maternity cover contract.

This is an excellent opportunity for a proven hygiene leader to take ownership of site-wide hygiene standards, compliance, food safety and continuous improvement within a fast-paced, high-care food production environment.

The Role

Reporting into the senior leadership team, you will lead the Hygiene function across the site, ensuring hygiene systems, sanitation programmes and cleaning standards consistently meet legal, customer and industry requirements.

You will work closely with Technical, Production and Engineering teams to support operational performance, audit readiness and a strong food safety culture.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, motivate and develop a large Hygiene team.
• Manage hygiene managers, supervisors and team leaders.
• Drive accountability, performance and continuous improvement.
• Develop and implement site hygiene and sanitation strategies.
• Manage master cleaning schedules and deep-clean programmes.
• Ensure compliance with BRCGS, food safety and customer standards.
• Lead investigations and responses to hygiene-related incidents.
• Maintain audit readiness and support external audits.
• Manage hygiene budgets and monitor operational costs.
• Review resource utilisation and identify efficiency improvements.
• Analyse KPIs and performance data to drive improvements.
• Conduct root-cause analysis and implement corrective actions.
• Support site projects, equipment installations and operational changes.
• Liaise with contractors, suppliers and external service providers.

About You

• Previous Hygiene Management experience within a high-care or ready-to-eat food manufacturing environment.
• Experience leading large hygiene teams.
• Strong knowledge of BRCGS, food safety and health & safety requirements.
• Experience managing budgets and performance metrics.
• Excellent leadership, coaching and people management skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Good Microsoft Excel and reporting skills.

Qualifications

Essential:

• HACCP Level 3.
• Hygienic Design qualification, formal training or equivalent experience.

Desirable:

• Degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Microbiology, Engineering or similar.
• Continuous Improvement or structured problem-solving qualification.

Why Join Our Client?

• Competitive salary
• Monday to Friday working pattern
• Modern manufacturing facilities
• On-site parking with EV charging points
• Subsidised staff restaurant
• Supportive team environment
• Staff events and wellbeing benefits
• Opportunity to make a significant impact within a successful food manufacturing business

Morgan Jones is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

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