Engineering Manager

MECS Africa; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 1,000,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Job summary

MECS Africa is seeking an experienced strategic engineering leader to oversee the Engineering, Maintenance & Asset Reliability function across mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and maintenance domains. You will partner with Operations and senior stakeholders to drive resilience and long-term asset sustainability.

The role emphasizes transitioning to proactive, predictive maintenance, delivering measurable improvements in plant performance, OEE and MTBF, while managing CAPEX, shutdowns and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant engineering discipline.
• 10–15 years engineering and maintenance experience with 5+ years leading multidisciplinary teams.
• Proven ability to translate engineering strategy into operational and commercial results; strong leadership and change management.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the Engineering, Maintenance & Asset Reliability Strategy.
• Lead a multidisciplinary engineering and maintenance team.
• Drive proactive, predictive and reliability-led maintenance.
• Improve plant availability, OEE, MTBF and asset performance.
• Lead CAPEX, shutdowns, projects and lifecycle planning.
• Ensure governance, compliance and technical standards.
• Develop high-performing teams and manage contractors/partners.
• Drive continuous improvement and measurable business benefits.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Engineering management

Stakeholder engagement

Maintenance & reliability

CAPEX governance

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Mechatronics, Industrial Engineering

Job description

This is a pivotal leadership appointment for an engineering professional who can move beyond traditional maintenance management to shape engineering strategy, strengthen asset reliability and deliver measurable improvements in plant performance.

The successful candidate will lead a multidisciplinary engineering function across mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, maintenance and reliability, partnering closely with Operations and senior stakeholders to drive operational resilience, productivity and long-term asset sustainability.

THE MANDATE

You will be responsible for:

• Defining and executing the Engineering, Maintenance & Asset Reliability Strategy
• Leading a multidisciplinary engineering and maintenance team
• Driving the transition towards proactive, predictive and reliability-led maintenance
• Improving plant availability, OEE, MTBF and overall asset performance
• Reducing unplanned downtime, recurring failures and reactive maintenance
• Providing leadership across CAPEX, shutdowns, engineering projects and asset lifecycle planning
• Optimising engineering and maintenance expenditure and total cost of ownership
• Ensuring engineering governance, statutory compliance and technical standards
• Building engineering capability, succession and high-performing teams
• Leading contractors and strategic engineering service providers
• Driving continuous improvement and delivering measurable business benefits

THE PROFILE

We are looking for a strategic engineering leader with:

• 10–15 years' engineering and maintenance experience, ideally within lubricants, chemical, refinery, petrochemical, FMCG, manufacturing or industrial processing environments, including a minimum of 5 years leading multidisciplinary engineering and maintenance teams.
• A Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Mechatronics, Industrial Engineering or a related discipline is required.
• Beyond technical expertise, the successful candidate will demonstrate the ability to lead change, influence senior stakeholders, develop high-performing teams and translate engineering strategy into tangible operational and commercial results.

WHY THIS ROLE?

This is an opportunity to take end-to-end ownership of engineering performance within a critical manufacturing environment and influence the plant's reliability, efficiency and long-term asset strategy.

If you are an engineering leader who combines technical depth with commercial thinking and a proven track record of transforming maintenance and asset performance, this is an opportunity worth exploring.