Plant Manager

Chainlink Recruitment; Nigel; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Chainlink Recruitment is seeking an experienced, technically strong Production Manager for a client site in the petrochemical sector. You will lead all on-site production operations, ensuring safe, efficient, and reliable manufacturing output.

Responsibilities include overseeing daily production performance, plant availability, maintenance coordination, quality compliance, HSE standards, and continuous improvement initiatives, with a focus on strong leadership and regulatory adherence.

Qualifications

• Experience in the petrochemical industry is essential.
• Proven track record in production management and operations leadership.
• Strong knowledge of maintenance, asset management, and reliability.
• Familiarity with HSE, quality systems, and regulatory compliance.

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily production flow to meet volume, quality, and timeline requirements.
• Coordinate maintenance and asset management to optimise uptime.
• Lead production and maintenance teams with strong people management.
• Ensure compliance with SOPs, quality systems, and regulatory standards.
• Drive continuous improvement using Lean, Six Sigma, and OEE initiatives.

Skills

Petrochemical industry experience

Production management

Operations leadership

HSE knowledge

Job description

PRODUCTION MANAGER – PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY

Location: (Client site – details provided during screening)

Industry: Petrochemical / Manufacturing / Industrial

Employment Type: Permanent

Salary: Market-related (based on experience)

Department: Site Operations – LCS Service Function

Reporting To: Senior Management

Our client is seeking an experienced, technically strong, and operationally driven Production Manager with proven experience in the petrochemical industry.

This role is responsible for leading all on-site production operations, ensuring safe, efficient, and reliable manufacturing output.

The Production Manager will oversee daily production performance, plant availability, maintenance coordination, quality compliance, HSE standards, and continuous improvement initiatives.

This is a high?impact leadership role requiring strong operational discipline, people management capability, and deep technical understanding of petrochemical production environments.

Key Responsibilities

Production Operations Management

• Oversee daily production flow to meet volume, quality, and timeline requirements
• Schedule and coordinate production activities based on demand and capacity
• Optimise utilisation of equipment, labour, and materials
• Ensure compliance with SOPs, quality systems, and regulatory requirements

Maintenance & Asset Management

• Oversee preventive, predictive, and reactive maintenance strategies
• Ensure asset performance, uptime, and reliability targets are met
• Collaborate with Maintenance Supervisor on work orders, CMMS accuracy, and spares
• Lead plant shutdowns, commissioning, and upgrade projects

People Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach, and manage production and maintenance teams
• Oversee workforce planning, shift scheduling, and staffing levels
• Build a culture of accountability, collaboration, safety, and continuous improvement
• Identify skills gaps and implement training plans

Health, Safety & Environment (HSE)

• Ensure all activities comply with safety policies and regulatory standards
• Conduct safety audits, risk assessments, and incident investigations
• Champion safe working behaviour and drive HSE performance improvements

Quality & Compliance

• Ensure products meet required specifications and quality standards
• Address deviations, non?conformances, and root?cause investigations
• Collaborate with QA/QC teams to maintain certification and audit readiness

Continuous Improvement & Performance Optimisation

• Lead Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, and OEE improvement initiatives
• Analyse performance data to identify bottlenecks and improvement opportunities
• Drive 5S, standardised work, and waste?reduction projects

Budget & Cost Control

• Manage operational budgets and cost control
• Track and reduce production cost per unit
• Ensure cost?effective use of materials, utilities, and workforce

Key Performance Outputs (KPOs)

Aligned to operational excellence, including:

• Production Performance: Output vs target, Production Efficiency %, On?Time Delivery
• Quality: Right?First?Time %, Scrap/Waste Reduction %, Customer Defects
• Maintenance & Reliability: OEE, Plant Uptime %, MTTR, PM Compliance %
• HSE: LTIR, Near?Miss Reporting, Training Completion %
• Financial: Cost per Unit, Budget Adherence, Energy Efficiency
• People: Retention, Absenteeism, Training Completion, Performance Reviews

Team Structure

You will lead and coordinate:

• Millwright
• Maintenance Team
• Supervisor
• Operators
• Foreman
• Artisans
• Safety Officer
• Administrator

Minimum Requirements

• Experience in the petrochemical industry (essential)
• Proven experience in production management, operations, or plant leadership
• Strong knowledge of maintenance, asset management, and reliability principles
• Strong understanding of HSE, quality systems, and regulatory compliance
• Experience with Lean, Six Sigma, OEE, and continuous improvement methodologies
• Strong leadership, communication, and people?management skills
• Ability to work under pressure in a high?risk industrial environment
• Strong analytical, problem?solving, and decision?making ability