Factory Manager

Job Search; Kandla; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 2,100,000; Full time

Job summary

Job Search is seeking a senior Factory Manager for our Kandla unit in Gujarat. You will lead the entire factory, drive outputs, safety, and compliance, and manage a team including production executives and HR staff.

The role demands strong leadership, process discipline, and the ability to lift productivity while maintaining statutory compliance. You will report to the Director/Partner and base yourself at Gandhidham long term, overseeing around 120–150 workers with potential expansion on a

Qualifications

• Diploma or BE in Mechanical or Production Engineering.
• 12–15 years in discrete manufacturing with 5+ years in senior role.
• Proven experience leading a large workforce with full unit responsibility.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership on the factory floor, set daily targets and close gaps between plan and production.
• Own monthly output against target and manage downtime, changeovers and yield.
• Control labour cost, overtime, and shift deployment within budget.
• Ensure statutory registers, returns and licensing are maintained and audits pass without issue.
• Drive fire safety and emergency preparedness, incident investigation and compliance.
• Maintain SA8000 and ISO 9001 certifications and coordinate internal/external audits.
• Coordinate with head office, export, accounts and inter-unit teams for orders and dispatch.

Skills

Leadership

MS Excel

OSH & Safety

Labor cost control

Quality & Compliance

Hindi & Gujarati fluency

Education

Diploma or BE in Mechanical or Production Engineering

Tools

MS Excel

Job description

Urgently required of Factory Manager at Kandla

Company Description: Manufacturer of handmade combs in cellulose acetate, wood and ebonite

Job Title: Factory Manager

Location - Kandla Special Economic Zone (KASEZ), Gandhidham, Kutch, Gujarat

Reports To - Director / Partner

Experience - 1215 years in manufacturing, including 5+ years with full unit responsibility

CTC - Depend upon candidates experience

Qualification - Diploma or BE in Mechanical or Production Engineering

Workforce - Approximately 120 workers; up to 150 on introduction of a second shift

This is the senior-most role at the site. We are looking for someone to take charge of the entire factory its output, its people, its safety and its compliance and to run it as a complete unit rather than as a set of separate departments.

The unit has capable technical staff and processes documented in detail. What it needs is leadership on the floor: someone who sets the day's expectations, holds each section to its target, and closes the gap between what is planned and what is produced.

The role leads through two Production Executives, the QC Executive, the Store Supervisor and the HR Executive. It directs and verifies; it does not execute their work.

• Diploma or BE in Mechanical or Production Engineering.
• 12 15 years in discrete manufacturing, of which at least 5 as Factory Manager or Works Manager with full unit responsibility.
• Proven experience leading a workforce of comparable size (100150) through a supervisory layer delegating execution while retaining accountability, and verifying rather than re-doing.
• Evidence of having lifted output or productivity at a previous unit.
• Working knowledge of factory statutory compliance under the OSH Code, 2020 and applicable State rules registers, returns, working hours, overtime, leave and welfare sufficient to direct and verify work performed by the factory HR team.
• Practical fire and safety management: NOC process, extinguisher and hydrant upkeep, mock drills, emergency preparedness, incident investigation.
• Direct working relationships with inspecting and licensing authorities.
• Labour cost analysis and control — reading section-wise cost and wage data and acting on it.
• Basic technical command of the process: cutting, milling, tooling and cutter selection, finishing, and the judgement to assess a setup against an approved sample.
• Capacity planning, machine loading, shift planning and throughput improvement; rejection analysis at sub-1% levels.
• Strong MS Excel.
• Fluency in Hindi and Gujarati for the floor; English for Head Office, auditors and customers.
• Willingness to be based at Gandhidham for the long term.

Desirable

• Diploma in Industrial Safety, or a certificate or diploma in Labour Law or Industrial Relations.
• Experience maintaining SA8000 or a comparable social compliance certification (BSCI, Sedex/SMETA, or a customer code of conduct) through surveillance audits.
• Experience maintaining an ISO 9001 quality management system, ideally as management representative.
• Structured corrective action methodology (8D, CAPA or equivalent), with the ability to prepare a response an overseas customer's quality team will accept.
• Working knowledge of SEZ / EPZ operating discipline: bonded stock, dispatch timing, customs interface.
• Background in hand tools, cutlery, surgical or dental instruments, writing instruments, precision sheet-metal fabrication or fasteners — sectors involving cutting, milling and finishing to a master sample.

The opportunity

This is the senior-most role at the site. We are looking for someone to take charge of the entire factory — its output, its people, its safety and its compliance — and to run it as a complete unit rather than as a set of separate departments.

The unit has capable technical staff and processes documented in detail. What it needs is leadership on the floor: someone who sets the day's expectations, holds each section to its target, and closes the gap between what is planned and what is produced.

The role leads through two Production Executives, the QC Executive, the Store Supervisor and the HR Executive. It directs and verifies; it does not execute their work.

Key responsibilities

1. Leadership and workforce

• Provide clear, consistent day-to-day direction to the entire factory, working through the two Production Executives and the process supervisors.
• Set unit-level direction each day and close issues escalated from the floor; walk the floor and correct deviations against approved samples on the spot.
• Build supervisory capability — review performance, maintain the skill matrix, and ensure a trained backup for every critical process.
• Manage industrial relations and manpower deployment; maintain a disciplined, respectful working environment.

2. Production and quality

• Own monthly output against target.
• Raise plan adherence and reduce downtime, changeover time and yield loss.
• Hold rejection within limits at every stage while volume increases.
• Chair the weekly rejection root-cause review with QC and the Production Executives.
• Investigate customer quality complaints and prepare the corrective action response.
• Control cost of production per 1,000 pieces against budget.

3. Labour cost control

• Monitor section-wise labour cost and worker-wise wage data provided by HR.
• Control overtime and shift deployment within sanctioned budget, matched to production load.

4. Statutory compliance assurance

• Ensure statutory registers and returns are maintained and filed by the factory HR Executive, and verify completeness and correctness before each due date.
• Keep the factory licence and approvals current at all times.
• Represent the unit before inspecting and licensing authorities.

5. Fire, safety and security

• Conduct monthly safety and fire equipment inspection and quarterly mock drills; maintain the emergency plan across all shifts.
• Drive a zero lost-time-injury standard; investigate any incident.
• Maintain site security with zero unaccounted stock.

6. Audit and customer compliance

• Maintain SA8000 and ISO 9001 certifications without lapse, keeping the unit continuously audit-ready.
• Conduct quarterly internal audits and close gaps ahead of surveillance audits.
• Host external certification audits and government inspections; close all non-conformities within the auditor's timeline.
• Resolve international quality compliance matters raised by overseas customers with documented corrective action.

7. External and internal coordination

• Liaise with the Factory Inspector, Labour Officer, fire and other local authorities to whom the Development Commissioner, KASEZ delegates powers.
• Oversee export dispatch readiness, customs and KASEZ gate clearance and the annual APR filing, all executed by the Production Executive (Packing, Store, Logistics & Customs).
• Coordinate with Head Office, Export Sales, Accounts, Purchase and the Thane unit on orders, materials, dispatch and inter-unit supply.