Maintenance Foreman

RCL FOODS; Pretoria; On-site; ZAR 30 000 - 50 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading food manufacturing company is seeking a Maintenance Foreman for their Pretoria West facility. The successful candidate will manage maintenance activities, oversee a team of artisans, and ensure compliance with health and safety standards. Candidates should have extensive experience in mechanical and electrical engineering and demonstrate leadership skills. This role requires dedication to improving plant efficiency and may include working overtime. The position offers competitive pay and benefits.

Qualifications

• Minimum 8 years trade experience, with at least 3 years in a supervisory category.
• Thorough understanding of the Labour Relations Act.
• Highly skilled in PLCs.
• Bread/Buns Bakery experience required.

Responsibilities

• Drive daily/weekly maintenance planning process for the plant.
• Ensure compliance with health and safety regulations.
• Maintain discipline in the engineering team.
• Organise meetings and inspections with engineering staff.

Skills

Leadership Skills

Communication Skills

Mechanical Engineering

Electrical Engineering

Refrigeration Knowledge

Problem-Solving Skills

Dedication and Loyalty

PLC Skills

Education

Trade Tested in Millwright or Electrical Engineering, minimum N4

Job description

Closing Date: 2025/11/15

Reference Number: RCL251105-3

Company: RCL Foods

Job Title: Maintenance Foreman

Functions: Engineering

Job Type: Permanent

Location: Pretoria West, Gauteng, South Africa

Job Description

At RCL FOODS we see GROW what matters! RCL FOODS is searching for a Maintenance Foreman to join our Engineering team at our Baking Unit based in Pretoria West. The role will be reporting to the Maintenance Manager.

Minimum Requirements

• Trade Tested in Millwright or Electrical Engineering, with minimum N4.
• Requirement of 8 years trade experience of which at least 3 years in a supervisory category.
• Excellent understanding of mechanical, refrigeration, and electrical engineering.
• Exchange information in a clear and concise manner (both written and verbal) to senior staff and subordinates.
• Will be required to work overtime and weekend when requested.
• Excellent leadership skills.
• Thorough understanding of the Labour Relations Act.
• Constantly looking and finding ways to improve plant efficiency and effectiveness.
• Regularly reviews and monitors progress, taking action to reschedule and re‑prioritise (must be able to “think on his feet”).
• Understand the full implications of potential problems and minimize their impact.
• Recommend solutions based on rigorous and sound information research.
• Dedication and Loyalty to the company.
• Highly skilled in PLC's.
• Bread/Buns Bakery Experience Required.

Duties & Responsibilities

Operational Engineering Management

• Drive the daily/weekly maintenance planning process for the plant – prioritising, scheduling and allocation of tasks to the different disciplines of the engineering department, with the assistance of the planner.
• Responsible for health and safety with regards to all equipment and plant to ensure a safe environment to operate and work on for all staff.
• Maintain the integrity of the engineering team and carry out corrective action if and when required.
• Ensure that the required focus is given to all audit requirements and findings.
• Management of the day to day activities and outputs of each discipline of the engineering department.
• Maintain discipline and standards in the area of responsibility.

Maintenance

• Drive sustainable maintenance practices throughout the plant.
• Manage maintenance team and ensure that planned maintenance programmes are implemented to enable optimal asset utilisation.
• Ensure that maintenance practices and procurement processes are aligned to business standards; manage all planned maintenance, preventative schedules, work requests and breakdowns, with support from a planner and Shift Fitters.
• Ensure that all are working according to safety regulations and enforce food safety requirements.
• Be available on call‑out and work on weekends or when necessary to ensure optimal performance of the team and effective maintenance of equipment.
• Ensure that the Planner develops a work schedule for all activities to be performed.
• Organise meetings with engineering staff and prepare inspection reports.
• Perform work inspections and check for completeness of tasks.
• Determine material, equipment, and supplies to be used.
• Plan and manage weekend maintenance tasks and projects against budget.
• Coordinate daily activities of engineering personnel.
• Ensure the neatness of the buildings and premises.
• Coordinate and manage, inspect, repair and maintain all plant and equipment and grounds; plan and manage leave roster of engineering staff.

Repairs & Renovations

• Coordinate renovations of existing facilities and the construction of new facilities.
• Coordinate and inspect major contract work on the electrical, refrigeration, mechanical and plumbing, and other related systems.
• Ensure that the building has adequate heating, lighting, ventilation and is properly cleaned, maintained and in good working condition.

Provide Leadership

• Lead a team of artisans towards meeting the plant engineering strategy and targets – through regular communication and utilisation of a full organisational talent management toolset.
• Deliver on agreed succession plans and develop the generation of leaders and specialists, overseeing engineering development programmes and on‑the‑job training.
• Manage employee relations and team climate to ensure optimal turnover and retention levels are maintained.
• Drive Employment Equity within the plant engineering team to ensure that diversity is achieved at all levels and that statutory targets and requirements are met.
• Champion training and development of the team utilising available training opportunities, apprenticeships and on‑the‑job training.
• Contribute to the development of new training solutions in collaboration with regional training specialists.
• Conduct regular performance appraisals with subordinates and ensure that the process is cascaded throughout the engineering team.
• Develop and manage high‑performance multi‑disciplinary teams in order to solve problems within engineering proactively.
• Conduct daily operational meetings and ensure that records are kept and shared across the team and that action plans agreed to within team meetings are delivered upon.
• Maintain the integrity of the engineering team and carry out corrective action if and when required.
• Manage the artisan and labour force with regards to HR and IR issues.
• Train and mentor his team to improve performance and reduce downtime.

Management of Safety Health Environment and Quality (SHEQ)

• Guide the engineering team to ensure that all legislative standards are achieved, and time‑ous action is taken where required to ensure that there are no areas of non‑compliance.
• Follow up on requirements for compliance ensuring that it is continuously maintained and adhered to; measure and manage sustainability practices within the area of responsibility.
• Suggest amendments to policies and practices within the operational area of responsibility with the processing engineering manager to ensure that these are kept up to date and are aligned with company objectives and standards.
• Ensure that and documentation required within the Total Quality Management system is maintained and applied consistently throughout the area of responsibility and any policy and procedure training required highlighted in the training needs analysis and action appropriately.

Safety and Security

• Ensure engineering staff follow safety rules and regulations as per the organisation’s safety plan.
• Ensure that security access points to the premises and the BMS system are in good working condition; report theft and dangers on the premises.
• Ensure safety equipment is in good working order (e.g. fire extinguishers).
• Ensure that security is maintained and any security concerns are escalated to the processing engineering and security manager.

Financial Management

• Manage costs to ensure the lowest cost production and the optimal utilisation of assets.
• Report to Plant Engineer on a weekly basis on actual KPIs versus budget and work with the team to address areas of non‑conformance or concern proactively and time‑sily.
• Report on and manage all input costs and manage any over or underspend appropriately to ensure that issues are escalated before significant financial loss occurs.
• Authorise plant engineering expenses within authority level and monitor spending activity within teams to ensure compliance to financial and ethical standards.
• Implement and encourage cost‑cutting initiatives within the team where these not impact on long‑term business sustainability.
• Work with the Plant Engineer to spend to areas of high priority within the plant.
• Provide input into CAPEX documentation taking into account return on investment, resourcing and sustainability requirements.
• Manage suppliers and contracts in collaboration with the procurement team to ensure agreed service levels are met, and escalated areas of concern to the Plant Engineer where necessary.
• Manage contractors in collaboration with Project Engineer on a daily basis through engineering foremen to ensure that correct standards of work are delivered and agreed delivery timelines are maintained.
• Ensure that stores team maintains a supply register and inventory of equipment and spares for use by engineering.