Maintenance Planner

Tongaat Hulett; oThongathi; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Tongaat Hulett seeks an experienced Maintenance Planner at Voermol Feeds, Maidstone (Tongaat). The role reports to the Engineering Manager and drives work management, planning and scheduling within SAP PM to balance maintenance demand with available resources.

You will develop weekly and monthly schedules, coordinate with Production, and ensure data integrity and readiness of spares, permits and tools to support reliable plant operations at Voermol Feeds.

Qualifications

• Minimum five years’ maintenance planning experience in manufacturing or related industrial environments.
• Experience with SAP PM planning and scheduling including work orders and backlog management.
• Ability to develop weekly maintenance and shutdown schedules and coordinate with Production.

Responsibilities

• Adhere to work management process ensuring planning, scheduling, execution and close-out controls.
• Develop weekly/monthly maintenance schedules and balance resource loading.
• Prioritise preventive and corrective maintenance based on criticality and business impact.
• Plan and schedule work within SAP PM including orders, plans and backlog.
• Ensure readiness of scopes, labour, spares, permits and licenses prior to scheduling.
• Align maintenance with Production to prevent conflicts and manage break-in work.
• Develop shutdown schedules with scope, resources and constraints.
• Maintain maintenance history and accurate feedback within SAP PM.

Skills

Maintenance planning

Scheduling

SAP PM

Asset reliability

Coordination

Education

National Diploma in Mechanical/Electrical/Industrial Engineering

Trade Test (advantageous)

SAP PM training/certification (advantageous)

Reliability/asset management qualifications (advantageous)

Tools

SAP PM

Job description

OPERATING CENTRE: Voermol Feeds

DEPARTMENT: Engineering

REPORTS TO: Engineering Manager

JOB GRADE: CU

CLOSING DATE: 04 November 2026

Tongaat Hulett Boasts a Proud 134-year History With a Strong Socio-economic Legacy In The KwaZulu-Natal Province Of South Africa And Across Sub-Saharan Africa. Our Technical Operations Encompass

• Four sugar manufacturing mills located along the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal, stretching from Tongaat through to Empangeni.
• A sugar refining operation based on South Coast Road, Durban.
• Voermol Feeds, an animal feeds manufacturing plant situated in Tongaat, alongside the Maidstone Sugar Mill.
• A Technical Operations support function comprising specialists who provide high-level assistance to operations within South Africa and abroad.

The Company’s current priority is to enhance overall business performance over the medium to long term. Our objectives are to operate strategically, sustainably, efficiently and profitably. Tongaat Hulett is focused on revitalising assets that will be cash-generative and exploring new customer segments.

This role is based at Voermol Feeds, Maidstone, reporting directly to the Engineering Manager.

Role Dimensions

• Work Management & Scheduling
• Maintain a disciplined workflow from identification and prioritisation through planning, scheduling, execution feedback and closure.
• Utilise SAP PM as the primary planning and scheduling system, ensuring accurate work-order, backlog, schedule and maintenance-history data.
• Balance maintenance demand with available labour, contractors, production windows and shutdown requirements across the planning horizon.
• Systems & Data Management
• Ensure incomplete, deferred and escalated work remains visible and traceable within the system.
• Cross-functional Coordination
• Collaborate with Production, Stores, Procurement, artisans and contractors to ensure work is schedule-ready and execution constraints are addressed prior to commitment.

Purpose of Role

To plan, schedule and control maintenance activities in accordance with Voermol’s approved work management process. This includes ensuring preventative, predictive and corrective work is appropriately prioritised, resourced, scheduled and closed out. The role is accountable for producing practical SAP PM schedules that balance maintenance demand with available resources and production requirements while maintaining reliable work-management data.

Key Accountabilities

Work Management, Planning & Scheduling

• Adhere to the approved work management process, ensuring all work follows required planning, scheduling, execution and close-out controls.
• Develop weekly and monthly maintenance schedules, maintain an achievable schedule-ready backlog and accurately balance resource loading across the planning horizon.
• Prioritise preventative and corrective maintenance based on equipment criticality, business impact, operational requirements and agreed priorities.

SAP PM & Data Integrity

• Plan and schedule work within SAP PM, including work orders, maintenance plans, task lists, backlog, resources and shutdown activities.
• Maintain accurate maintenance history, work feedback, deferments and escalation records.
• Protect schedule compliance and backlog integrity by retaining genuine planned and scheduled dates, avoiding administrative manipulation of work status or dates.

Job Readiness & Production Alignment

• Confirm scope, labour, spares, special tools, permits, access, contractors and required competencies or licences prior to scheduling work.
• Align maintenance schedules with Production to prevent avoidable conflicts and manage authorised break-in work through agreed processes.
• Ensure scheduled work is practical and achievable before commitment.

Preventative Maintenance, Shutdowns & Reliability Support

• Maintain and improve preventative and predictive maintenance programmes using equipment criticality, performance data and failure history.
• Develop and maintain shutdown schedules, including scope, resources, materials and key execution constraints.
• Support failure analysis and reliability improvement initiatives by ensuring accurate work-order feedback and maintenance history.

Spares, Materials & Continuous Improvement

• Ensure materials and critical spares are identified and available for planned work.
• Monitor spare-parts consumption patterns and provide feedback to Stores, Procurement and Engineering where recurring demand indicates a need to adjust stock levels or holding strategies.
• Utilise schedule, backlog, downtime and maintenance trends to identify and support continuous improvement opportunities.

SHEQ & Work Control

• Ensure planning incorporates all applicable safety requirements, permits, isolations and statutory or competency prerequisites.
• Support compliance with Occupational Health and Safety legislation and actively participate in risk assessments or investigations as required.
• Ensure escalated, deferred or incomplete work is reported through the appropriate team processes and remains visible in SAP until fully resolved.

Qualifications

Qualifications and Experience Required

• National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Maintenance Management, or an equivalent technical qualification.
• Trade Test qualification is advantageous.
• SAP PM training or certification is advantageous.
• Qualifications in reliability or asset management are advantageous.

Experience (Essential)

• Minimum five years’ maintenance planning experience within manufacturing, FMCG, feed milling, agricultural processing or a related industrial environment.
• Proven hands‑on experience in SAP PM planning and scheduling, including work orders, maintenance plans, backlog management and resource loading.
• Experience in developing weekly maintenance and shutdown schedules and coordinating these with Production teams.
• Strong understanding of disciplined work management, criticality-based prioritisation and accurate schedule compliance reporting.
• Experience collaborating with artisans, foremen, contractors, Stores and Procurement departments.

Knowledge, Skills & Attributes

• Excellent maintenance planning, scheduling, shutdown planning and resource‑loading capabilities.
• Good working knowledge of SAP PM and maintenance data discipline.
• Understanding of preventative maintenance, asset criticality, reliability principles and work prioritisation.
• Strong coordination, communication and analytical skills combined with a disciplined and accountable approach to work.