Donnelly fresh foods is part of the Donnelly Fresh Group and specialises in producing innovative, fresh food solutions for Ireland’s retail and foodservice customers. The business produces a wide range of fresh prepared salads, ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook products, prepared vegetables, sandwich fillers, food-to-go options and bespoke customer solutions.
Our success is built on quality, food safety, teamwork, flexibility and continuous improvement. We operate in a fast-paced chilled food manufacturing environment where high standards of hygiene, safety and compliance are essential every day. The Night Shift Hygiene Supervisor plays a key role in protecting these standards by ensuring the factory is cleaned, sanitised, verified and ready for production each morning.
Reporting To
Hygiene Manager / Technical Manager
Location
Donnelly fresh foods
Shift
Night Shift: 21:00–05:30. Flexibility is required to meet business needs, including cover for audits, deep cleans, production changes, training, holidays or absence.
Purpose of the Role
To lead and supervise the Night Shift Hygiene Team, ensuring all production, storage, dispatch, and ancillary areas are cleaned and sanitised to the highest standards in line with company procedures, GMP, HACCP, BRCGS requirements, customer standards, and legal obligations.
The Night Shift Hygiene Supervisor will ensure factory readiness for production each morning through effective people management, rigorous verification of cleaning standards, and continuous improvement of sanitation processes.
Key ResponsibilitiesHygiene & Food Safety
- Lead and coordinate all night shift hygiene activities across High Care, Low Care, Washroom, Dispatch, Goods-In and ancillary areas.
- Ensure completion of all cleaning schedules and sanitation tasks within agreed timeframes.
- Verify that cleaning is completed to the required standards before factory handover.
- Conduct pre-operational inspections and sign-off procedures.
- Ensure compliance with HACCP, BRCGS, GMP, customer codes of practice, and company hygiene policies.
- Support environmental monitoring programmes and ensure corrective actions are implemented where required.
- Coordinate deep cleaning activities and sanitation improvement initiatives.
- Assist with internal, customer, and third-party audits and ensure hygiene-related corrective actions are completed within agreed timelines.
Team Leadership
- Lead, motivate and develop the Night Shift Hygiene Team.
- Allocate daily tasks and resources to ensure all cleaning activities are completed efficiently.
- Conduct daily shift briefings and communicate site priorities.
- Coach, train and assess hygiene operatives to ensure competence and compliance.
- Manage attendance, performance, timekeeping and disciplinary issues in accordance with company procedures.
- Promote a positive safety and food safety culture.
Compliance & Audits
- Ensure all hygiene documentation is completed accurately and on time.
- Maintain cleaning records, chemical records, verification records and corrective action logs.
- Support internal audits, customer audits and third-party audits.
- Investigate hygiene non-conformances and implement corrective actions.
- Escalate risks, equipment issues and hygiene failures promptly.
Chemical & Equipment Management
- Ensure approved cleaning chemicals are prepared, stored and used safely.
- Monitor chemical consumption and minimise waste.
- Always verify correct PPE usage.
- Inspect cleaning equipment to ensure it remains fit for purpose.
- Report defects and liaise with Maintenance regarding repairs.
Continuous Improvement
- Identify opportunities to improve cleaning effectiveness, efficiency and labour utilisation.
- Ongoing review and improvement of cleaning cards.
- Support implementation of new sanitation procedures and best practices.
- Monitor hygiene KPIs including:
- ATP compliance
- Environmental swab results
- Audit findings
- Cleaning completion rates
- Labour efficiency
- Chemical consumption
- Participate in continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives.
Skills & ExperienceEssential
- Minimum 3 years' experience in a Hygiene Supervisor, Sanitation Supervisor, Hygiene Team Leader or similar leadership role within food manufacturing.
- Previous experience supervising night shift operations.
- Strong knowledge of HACCP, GMP, Food Safety and Hygiene requirements.
- Experience working within BRCGS certified food manufacturing environments.
- Experience managing and leading teams.
- Good understanding of cleaning chemicals, sanitation methods and environmental hygiene controls.
- Strong problem-solving and communication skills.
- Competent in Microsoft Office and electronic record keeping systems.
· Strong health and safety awareness, with the ability to promote safe working practices across the team.
· Experience completing hygiene checks, pre-operational inspections, audits or verification activities.
· Good written and spoken English is essential, with the ability to complete records, communicate clearly and follow site procedures.
· Good computer skills, including Microsoft Office and electronic record keeping systems.
· Ability to work flexibly and support business needs outside standard shift times when required.
Desirable
- HACCP Qualification.
- Food Safety Level 3 or higher.
- BRCGS Internal Auditor training.
- COSHH/Chemical Handling training.
- Experience in fresh food, ready-to-eat (RTE), salads or chilled food manufacturing environments.
- Knowledge of ATP verification and environmental monitoring programmes.
- Experience working in a high-care or high-risk food manufacturing environment
- Ability to communicate in Russian or Romanian would be beneficial but is not essential.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Hygiene schedule completion ≥ 100%
- ATP compliance results
- Environmental swab compliance
- Audit performance
- Non-conformance closure rate
- Labour utilisation
- Health & Safety performance
- Training completion rates
- Factory handover readiness
What We Expect
- Lead by example.
- Demonstrate strong food safety and hygiene standards.
- Foster teamwork and accountability.
- Drive continuous improvement.
- Maintain the highest standards of cleanliness, safety and compliance throughout the facility.
Salary: upon experience.
Pay: €35,000.00-€38,500.00 per year
Benefits:
- Bike to work scheme
- Company events
- Language training provided
- On-site parking
- Sick pay
Work Location: In person
