The above position exists in the Pipelines Operations. The successful candidate will report to the General Manager, providing operations management support. Responsibilities will include:

• Strategy
o Actively involved in setting the business strategy.

• Supervisory/Leadership/Managerial Tasks
o Actively lead the plant management team by being fully involved in the strategic development of the site against its business objectives.
o Providing strong and focussed leadership ensuring that the appropriate manufacturing culture has the following features – co-operative, responsive, flexible, results orientated, quick to solve problems and highly cost competitive.
o Build and manage a highly motivated and professional team who can rise to meet the demands of a fast-paced challenging business environment whilst also ensuring the site meets demanding financial, production and customer service and quality targets.
o Promote and support cross site networks to achieve consistency.
o Set targets for each direct report using Strategy Deployment.
o Ensure that there is a clear set of action plans for each departmental target with clear resources and budgets to achieve.
o Member of the company EXCO team

• Other (example Corporate Governance, Policy Formulation, BBBEE, etc)
o Accountable for ensuring rigorous Corporate Governance aligned to the Group standard
o Accountable for Risk management within the Business Unit.

• Key Accountabilities
o Develop plans to improve the site’s manufacturing & technical performance and ensure sustainable competitive edge.
o Providing string and focused leadership ensuring that the appropriate manufacturing culture has the following features – co-operative, responsive, flexible, results orientated, quick to solve problems.
o Build and manage a highly motivated and professional team who can rise to meet the demands of a challenging business environment.
o Continually monitor and review manufacturing performance against agreed objectives and to take necessary actions where appropriate.
o Deliver plant output as per sales demand/budget plan
o Monitor and drive CSI and schedule adherence to meet customer expectations
o Use WCM tools to continuously monitor and improve Plant KPIs (Safety, OEE)
o Manage WCM route map to drive the plant forwards, using cost deployment to identify major loss areas
o Be aware of and, where appropriate, contribute to and provide practical input to the one-year and three-year Business Plans and processes.
o With support of the Human Resources Department, oversee all the HR issues relating to recruitment, development and training of employees as well as appropriate succession planning.
o In conjunction with the GM, the Financial Manager, agree the production / operations element of the overall business financial objectives for both the short and longer term requirements.
o Review with the GM the future requirements of the site including the process to introduce new technology. Also set out the engineering and capital investment requirements of the site as part of the overall Business Plan.
o Develop and maintain clear and strong links with the Union representative(s) on site to ensure the site’s production and output quotas are met.
o Liaise with the GM and the company’s Commercial Departments to ensure that delivery schedules, quality and market needs are achieved and balanced to enable the business r to retain and enhance its market presence and share in South Africa.

Minimum requirements:

• Qualifications required to fulfil the role
o Relevant Tertiary qualification or equivalent in engineering
o Business management qualification would be an advantage
o Leadership Qualification

• Specific Work Experience, Knowledge and Skills required to fulfil the role
o 5 to 10 years experience of large plants, within a unionised environment
o Operations management experience in the metal manufacturing industry is essential (experience in the automotive industry supply chain would be an advantage
o 24 / 7 running plants
o Experience in managing a site would be advantageous
o Working within ISO9002, ISO14001 and/or OHSAS18001 standards and systems
o Experience of Integrated Business Planning process
o Competent PC user
o Significant experience as a Change Agent
o Proactive Management Activities (TPM, WCM etc.)
o Budgeting
o Financial understanding (how to improve P&L)
o Negotiating skills