Job Description

• Our client, a leading manufacturing organisation, is seeking to recruit an experienced and results-driven Plant Manager to provide strategic and operational leadership for its manufacturing plant.
• The successful candidate will have a strong background in feed milling operations, with proven experience managing production processes, plant performance, financial resources, equipment reliability, quality, safety and people.

Key Responsibilities

Plant Operations and Financial Performance

• Provide overall leadership and accountability for the safe, efficient and profitable operation of the plant.
• Drive achievement of production targets, operating profit and EBIT contributions.
• Develop, manage and control annual operating (OPEX) and capital (CAPEX) budgets.
• Monitor production costs per metric tonne and implement cost optimisation initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to improve labour productivity, raw material utilisation, energy efficiency and overall operational costs.

Production Planning and Supply Chain Management

• Lead plant-level Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) to align production with procurement, inventory levels and customer demand.
• Ensure effective production planning and maximum utilisation of plant capacity.
• Collaborate with Procurement and Commercial teams to ensure raw material availability and timely customer order fulfilment.
• Optimise inventory levels and minimise obsolete and slow-moving stock.

Plant Performance and Continuous Improvement

• Establish and monitor plant performance dashboards and operational KPIs.
• Conduct regular performance reviews and implement corrective actions to address production losses, downtime, quality deviations and cost overruns.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives using Lean Manufacturing, Kaizen, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and other relevant methodologies.
• Improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), production yield, waste reduction and labour productivity.

Asset Reliability and Maintenance

• Develop and implement preventive and predictive maintenance programmes.
• Ensure equipment reliability and optimal plant performance.
• Monitor equipment performance through indicators such as Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) and Mean Time to Repair (MTTR).
• Develop long-term asset replacement and lifecycle management plans.

Quality, Safety and Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure compliance with applicable statutory, regulatory, environmental, health and safety requirements.
• Oversee implementation and maintenance of Food Safety Management Systems, including ISO 22000.
• Ensure compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to feed milling operations.
• Lead operational risk assessments, emergency preparedness and business continuity initiatives.
• Promote a strong culture of safety, quality and environmental sustainability.

Leadership and Stakeholder Management

• Build and lead high-performing plant teams, promoting accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Coach and develop departmental leaders and establish succession plans for critical positions.
• Build effective working relationships with suppliers, customers, contractors, regulators and internal stakeholders.
• Represent the plant during customer audits and regulatory inspections.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Food Science or a related field.
• Minimum of 8 years’ experience in production management and plant operations, with at least 4 years at senior management level.
• Strong and demonstrable experience in feed milling operations is mandatory. Candidates must have practical exposure to milling processes, equipment and plant operations.
• Good understanding of statutory and regulatory requirements governing feed milling operations.
• Demonstrable knowledge and practical application of Food Safety Management Systems, particularly ISO 22000.
• Strong understanding of production planning, control and supply chain operations.
• Experience using ERP systems for production planning and control; knowledge of SAP Production Module will be an added advantage.
• Good understanding of financial management, budgeting, cost control and plant profitability.
• Proven experience implementing continuous improvement methodologies.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications.
• Strategic and operational leadership.
• Strong financial and commercial acumen.
• Production planning and operational excellence.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Asset and resource optimisation.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• People leadership and performance management.
• Results-oriented approach with a strong focus on safety, quality and efficiency