Heat Treatment Production Leader

Macsteel Service Centres SA (Pty) Ltd; Boksburg; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Macsteel Service Centres SA (Pty) Ltd in Gauteng invites an experienced Production Manager to take full ownership of the Heat Treatment Department. This hands-on leadership role combines metallurgical expertise with strategic, commercial and people leadership to deliver quality, performance and growth for customers.

The role requires a recognised Metallurgy qualification, 8–10 years of manufacturing experience with at least 5 years in production/operations management, and strong knowledge of

Qualifications

• Matric (Grade 12).
• A recognised tertiary qualification in Metallurgy (bachelor’s degree or National Diploma, NQF Level 6 or higher) is essential.
• An additional qualification in Engineering, Production Management, Operations Management or a related field will be advantageous.
• 8–10 years’ manufacturing experience, including a minimum of 5 years in a production or operations management role, with heat treatment experience essential.
• Experience in steel, engineering or heavy manufacturing environments.
• Strong understanding of heat treatment processes, metallurgical principles and production management.
• Computer proficiency in Microsoft Office and production management systems.

Responsibilities

• Direct all heat treatment production activities to achieve throughput, productivity and delivery targets.
• Develop and execute production plans aligned to customer demand, capacity and operational requirements.
• Monitor furnace utilisation, turnaround times, workflow, productivity and operational performance.
• Interpret material specifications, technical drawings and customer requirements to determine optimal treatment cycles.
• Coordinate production, quality, maintenance, and support functions to ensure seamless operations.
• Analyse operational metrics and implement corrective actions to address bottlenecks and inefficiencies.
• Provide technical leadership and oversight for all heat treatment operations, ensuring compliance with customer specifications, metallurgical requirements and industry standards.
• Develop, review, approve and continuously optimise heat treatment procedures for steel grades, product dimensions and customer applications.
• Determine and authorise appropriate heat treatment cycles including annealing, normalising, stress relieving, quenching and tempering.
• Monitor and control furnace temperatures, soak times, quench conditions, cooling rates, tempering temperatures and load configurations.
• Interpret material certificates, metallurgical test reports, technical drawings and customer requirements.
• Ensure the controlled atmosphere furnaces are set correctly for nitrogen, methanol and LPG to prevent oxidation, decarbonisation, soot formation and other surface defects.
• Develop and implement departmental strategies aligned to business objectives.
• Identify opportunities to improve capacity, service delivery, profitability and customer satisfaction.
• Contribute to long-term operational planning and sustainable business growth.
• Manage the Heat Treatment Department budget and control costs including overtime within approved limits.
• Monitor labour, energy, maintenance and consumable expenditure.
• Drive cost reduction initiatives while maintaining quality and safety standards.
• Prepare and present operational and financial performance reports.
• Lead, mentor and motivate departmental teams to achieve performance objectives.
• Foster a culture of accountability, respect, teamwork and high performance.
• Conduct performance reviews and implement development plans.
• Identify training requirements and support skills development and succession planning.
• Ensure effective preventative maintenance programmes for furnaces and supporting equipment.
• Drive equipment reliability, plant availability and downtime reduction initiatives.
• Support maintenance planning and capital replacement strategies.
• Ensure assets operate safely and efficiently.
• Champion a Safety Always culture across all departmental activities.
• Ensure compliance with OHSA, ISO standards, internal policies and customer requirements.
• Lead investigations into quality, safety and operational incidents and implement corrective actions.
• Maintain traceability, documentation integrity and audit readiness.
• Drive continuous improvement in quality performance and process control.

Skills

Metallurgy

Production management

Heat treatment

Leadership

MS Office

Production management systems

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgy

National Diploma / NQF Level 6 in Metallurgy or related

Job description

Macsteel Service Centres SA (Pty) Ltd in Gauteng invites an experienced Production Manager to take full ownership of the Heat Treatment Department. This hands-on leadership role combines metallurgical expertise with strategic, commercial and people leadership to deliver quality, performance and growth for customers.

The role requires a recognised Metallurgy qualification, 8–10 years of manufacturing experience with at least 5 years in production/operations management, and strong knowledge of