Shift Manager - Qpro Feeds, Bethlehem

VKB Agriculture; Bethlehem (Northampton County); On-site; USD 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading agricultural company is seeking a team-oriented supervisor for its animal feed manufacturing plant in Bethlehem. The ideal candidate will oversee production, ensuring safety, quality, and efficiency while managing staff and operational workflows. A minimum of 3 years' experience in a supervisory role is required, along with technical knowledge in feed production processes and compliance standards.

Qualifications

• At least 3 years’ experience in a supervisory role in an animal feed plant.
• Hands-on technical/troubleshooting experience.
• Knowledge of ISO 14000, 14001, and 9001.

Responsibilities

• Leading a team responsible for the total production function.
• Communicating job expectations and enforcing policies.
• Maintaining quality service and safety compliance.

Skills

Analytical skills

Organizational skills

Leadership skills

Problem-solving skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Job description

Introduction to the VKB Group

The VKB Group is an agricultural company, providing support to farmers and producing straight-from-the farm-foods for consumers. Apart from the various consumer brands, the VKB Group is also represented by its regional brands: VKB, GWK and NTK. Our roots are firmly planted in agriculture with farming at our core, continuously growing and evolving throughout the years.

Starting with providing everything needed on the farm to produce food, we now also operate in all areas of the food supply chain: processing, logistics, and national and global market channels.

This “house of brands” we’ve established with the support of our farmer shareholders is the foundation for building the agribusiness of the future.

Our purpose

Touch lives – for the better: We always aim to make a positive impact in people’s lives: our employees, producers, clients, communities and the larger industry. And, through collaboration with this group of people, we strive to make an even bigger and longer lasting impact in the lives of all South Africans.

Values

We live by five important values:

We are HUMBLE

We acknowledge that we are blessed

We are HUNGRY

We do not settle for mediocre

We are BOLD

We do what is right, even if it scares us

We are SMART

We consider our words and actions

We are TEAM PLAYERS

No-one can do this alone

Our legacy

For the Love of the Land: We do it all for our legacy and the love of nature, people, country, sustainability and progress.

More about Qpro Feeds
QPro Feeds is a dynamic Animal Feed Manufacturing business with a facility in both Bethlehem and Vrede. We are responsible for producing animal feed to in-house clients as well as external clients in the monogastric and ruminant fields.

Job Description
The ideal team player will be required to supervise staff, organise and monitor workflow to maximize plant performance in a safe, legal and cost-effective manner within specification by utilizing available resources.

Requirements

• At least 3 years’ experience in a supervisory role in an animal feed plant
• Previous experience leading a production team (preferably in feed) would be an advantage
• Hands on technical/troubleshooting experience will be beneficial
• Sound knowledge of ISO 14000, 14001 and 9001
• Must be literate and able to read and write English
• Must be willing to work shifts
• May also need to assist the maintenance technician if required from time to time.
  

Duties and Responsibilities

• Leading a team that is responsible for the total production function in terms of functional responsibilities of all equipment.
• Aligning, guiding and co-coordinating the activities of a team to utilize the skills and experience of each team member to achieve targets in terms of production volumes, quality, uptime, safety, costs and staff development.
• To keep management up to date of all risk, plant, equipment, people and quality issues.
• Accomplishes manufacturing results by communicating job expectations, planning, monitoring and appraising job results, disciplining employees, initiating, coordinating, and enforcing systems policies and procedures.
• Maintains workflow by monitoring steps of the process, setting processing variables, observing control points and equipment, monitoring personnel and resources, studying methods, implementing cost reductions, facilitating corrections to malfunctions, within process control points.
• Completes production plan by scheduling and assigning personnel, accomplishing work results, establishing priorities, monitoring progress, resolving problems, reporting results of the processing flow on shift production sheets.
• Maintains quality service by establishing and enforcing standards.
• Provides manufacturing information by compiling production performance records.
• Maintains a safe and clean working environment, maintains compliance with established policies and procedures.
• Manage the shift change over.
  
• Daily monitoring of actual production against the planned targets.
• Record keeping of all downtime (Man, Machine, and System) and provide feedback indaily production meeting.
• Ensure works force understands the expectations and that performance vs expectationsare clearly understood.
• Identifying and reporting quality problems to the Line Manager/QA Manager.
• Taking full responsibilities for the entire plant’s functions overnight and weekends when on duty.
  

Skills Required

• Analytical and Organisational skills
• Strong leadership skills
• Problem solving skills
• Sound product knowledge
• Computer Literacy
• Industrial Relation Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Self-driven
• Assertiveness
• Work Pride
• Good Communication skills – written and verbal