Operations Manager | Bécancour ABI

Alcoa Australia; Sainte-Marie-de-Blandford; On-site; CAD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Aluminerie de Béancancour Inc. (ABI), a major Alcoa joint venture, seeks a Plant Manager to lead a large-scale aluminum smelter in Bécancour. You will set strategy, advance safety, and drive performance with a focus on long-term value.

Reporting to the North America Operations VP, you will lead EHS, develop leaders, manage unions, and coordinate capital projects while balancing cost, reliability and quality.

Qualifications

• University degree in engineering, business or related field.
• Experience leading large manufacturing operations and lean transformation.
• Proven ability to develop leaders and manage safety programs.
• Experience in unionised environments and labour relations.

Responsibilities

• Lead site-wide EHS strategy and ensure legal compliance.
• Develop leaders and embed safety as a core value.
• Set and execute mid-to long-term site strategy.
• Deliver production and quality commitments while improving efficiency.

Skills

Safety leadership

Operational leadership

Lean principles

Budgeting & cost control

Bilingual (Fr/Eng)

Union relations

Strategic planning

People development

Education

University degree in engineering, business or related field

Job description

Shape Your World At Alcoa, you will become an essential part of our purpose: to turn raw potential into real progress. The way we see it, every Alcoan is a work‑shaper, team‑shaper, idea‑shaper & world‑shaper. Shape the future of ABI Lead ABI’s plant operations in Bécancour, a major industrial operation with a substantial workforce, diverse aluminum production activities and a significant regional economic footprint. Its scale brings interconnected operational, technical and people‑leadership demands within an Alcoa–Rio Tinto joint venture. Lead one of Canada’s largest aluminum smelters and shape its strategic direction for the future. As Plant Manager, you will provide strategic and operational leadership to a large‑scale, complex joint venture, advance safety as a core value and leadership imperative, and drive the organization toward its full potential. Through inclusive and unifying leadership, you will build on ABI’s strengths, align the organization around a shared vision, and position the operation for sustained, long‑term performance.

About the role

Reporting to the Vice‑President of Operations, North America, you will:

• Lead site‑wide EHS strategy, ensuring effective systems, resources and accountability to manage critical risks and uphold legal and environmental requirements.
• Develop leaders, support employees in raising concerns and stopping unsafe work, turn learning into continuous improvement and embed safety as a core value.
• Set and execute the site’s mid‑to long‑term strategy, aligning resources and priorities with Alcoa’s direction and values.
• Deliver production, quality and customer commitments; improve efficiency, costs and asset reliability through technology, continuous improvement asset management and Alcoa Centers of Excellence.
• Own sustaining and return‑seeking capital investments and project execution, balancing costs, returns and risks.
• Represent ABI with Alcoa, joint‑venture partners, government and community stakeholders; maintain constructive relationships, corporate compliance and required Ownership Committee and supporting committee approvals.
• Partner with HR to develop leaders and succession plans; coach teams, set clear accountability and foster an inclusive, collaborative environment to deliver goals safely and on time.
• Provide strategic labour‑relations leadership, enabling leaders to build constructive union partnerships and guiding forward‑looking labour‑relations strategies aligned with union dynamics and long‑term business priorities.

What you bring to the role

• Demonstrated safety leadership in comparable industrial operations, including site‑wide systems and accountability, fatal and critical‑risk control verification, and sound risk‑based decisions; knowledge of EHS principles and legislation.
• University degree in engineering, business or a related field.
• Successful leadership of large operational teams in complex manufacturing, with demonstrated operational improvement and change leadership results, knowledge of lean principles and project delivery experience.
• Experience developing leaders’ safety capability, responding to workforce concerns and supporting speak‑up and stop‑work; evidence of translating incident and audit learning into stronger work practices and controls.
• Strong coaching, listening, communication and influencing skills to develop leaders, build credibility and engage teams and stakeholders.
• Experience leading in a unionised environment, with the strategic judgment to understand union interests and internal dynamics, develop leaders’ ability to build constructive partnerships, and guide labour‑relations decisions within a broader business context.
• Strategic, business, financial and analytical skills to balance short‑term execution with long‑term priorities, manage risks and make sound operating cost and capital investment decisions.
• Fluency in French and proficiency in English to communicate effectively with regional stakeholders and global Centres of Excellence.

About the Location

Established in 1986 in the Bécancour Industrial and PortPark in Center‑du‑Québec, Aluminerie de Bécancour Inc. (ABI) is an aluminum production plant. The plant brings together more than 1,200 talented people committed to a health and safety‑focused work environment, where respect, inclusion, collaboration and continuous improvement serve as pillars so that every employee can contribute to collective success. We are values led, vision driven and united by our purpose of transforming raw potential into real progress. Our commitments to Inclusion, Diversity & Equity include providing trusting workplaces that are safe, respectful and inclusive of all individuals, free from discrimination, bullying and harassment and that our workplaces reflect the diversity of the communities in which we operate. This is a place where you are empowered to do your best work, be your authentic self, and feel a true sense of belonging.

Alcoan you are part of a global team committed to advancing sustainability and delivering excellence and innovation. As a values‑based company, we Act with Integrity, Operate with Excellence, Care for People, and Lead with Courage.

We treat all people with dignity and we believe in inclusion, diversity and enabling all employees to grow and develop their careers with us, where they can pursue their passions.