Packhouse Manager (Soft Fruit)

ARVO; Hermanus; On-site; ZAR 200 000 - 300 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading berry producer in South Africa seeks an experienced Packhouse Manager to oversee the full operation of its soft-fruit packhouse. The role demands effective leadership of staff and processes to ensure quality for local and export markets. An ideal candidate will possess at least 5 years of senior management experience in a similar environment, strong analytical skills, and the ability to thrive with minimal supervision. This is an excellent opportunity to drive operational excellence in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years’ experience managing a soft-fruit packhouse at senior level.
• Proven people leadership with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Strong numerical, planning, and analytical ability.

Responsibilities

• Run end-to-end packhouse operations and lead all packhouse staff.
• Ensure product integrity and traceability; uphold standards for customers.
• Implement policies and workflows to drive accuracy, yield, and consistency.

Skills

People leadership

Numerical ability

Planning skills

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Education

Tertiary qualification (operations/engineering/food science/similar)

Tools

MS Office

Google Sheets

Job description

Our client is a leading berry producer, for an experienced, self-motivated, and target-driven Packhouse Manager. This senior role leads the full packhouse operation- people, process, and performance, to deliver world-class quality for both local and export markets.

Location: Hermanus (Please note that accommodation is NOT provided for this position and nor will a housing benefit be provided)

Salary offered:Market related and negotiable (dependent on experience and suitability of the ideal candidate)

About the opportunity

You’ll own the day-to-day running of a high-throughput, labour-intensive soft-fruit packhouse. Your mandate: build a safe, disciplined, and data-driven operation that consistently meets customer specifications while developing a strong team and a culture of continuous improvement.

Key responsibilities

• Operational leadership: Run end-to-end packhouse operations (intake, grading, packing, labelling, cold chain, dispatch) and lead all packhouse staff and supervisors.
• Quality & compliance: Ensure product integrity and traceability; maintain documentation and SOPs; uphold standards required for local and export customers; prepare for and host audits.
• Best-practice systems: Implement and refine policies, workflows, and KPIs to drive accuracy, yield, and consistency (e.g., changeovers, line balancing, downtime control, waste reduction).
• People management: Recruit, train, schedule, and coach teams; build multi-skilled capability and a strong leadership bench; manage performance and labour relations constructively.
• Health & safety: Champion a proactive safety culture and ensure compliance with legislative and site requirements.
• Planning & reporting: Convert harvest forecasts into executable pack plans; manage materials, inventory, and cold-store capacity; track throughput, giveaway, and cost KPIs with clear daily/weekly reporting.
• Customer focus: Ensure all customer and market specifications are met, on time and in full, for both local and export programs.

Success in this role looks like

• Consistent OTIF delivery against pack plans and customer specs.
• Audit-ready quality systems with robust traceability and documentation.
• Improved yields, reduced waste, and reliable daily KPI reporting.
• Engaged, well-trained teams and a stable leadership pipeline on shift.

What you’ll bring

• Tertiary qualification (operations/engineering/food science/similar).
• 5+ years’ experience managing a soft-fruit (or similar high-care, labour-intensive) packhouse at senior level.
• Proven people leadership with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Strong numerical, planning, and analytical ability; confident with production data and MS Office/Google Sheets.
• Self-disciplined, team-oriented, honest, and high integrity; comfortable working with minimal supervision to hit targets and deadlines.
• Willingness to work overtime and weekends to meet operational demand.
• Advantageous: working knowledge of HACCP, BRC/BRCGS, and other quality systems; experience meeting export program specifications.