Production Engineer — WCM & Continuous Improvement

Unilever; Boksburg; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Unilever is seeking a Production Engineer at the Boksburg Factory in South Africa to drive operational excellence through World Class Manufacturing. You will lead loss elimination, process optimization and capability building while fostering innovation and a safe, high-performance environment.

Reporting to the Unit Manager, you will focus on line stability, productivity gains and consumer-focused quality, leveraging technical leadership and continuous improvement across packaging lines.

Qualifications

• Bachelor-level degree in Mechanical, Chemical or Industrial Engineering with relevant FMCG experience.
• 3–5 years in Packaging and manufacturing environments.
• Solid WCM or Lean Manufacturing experience in FMCG/ Motor/ Manufacturing.
• High Speed Packaging experience is essential.
• Proven ability to eliminate loss and waste on major projects.
• Strong engineering leadership credentials and coaching ability.
• PM/Change management/QA knowledge.
• Statistical and process control tools proficiency.
• Autonomous Maintenance, Planned Maintenance, Quality and FI tool experience.
• Clear operating standards and robust problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Manufacturing and Packaging Technology: apply a solid understanding of manufacturing technologies to drive process improvements.
• Consumer and Customer Focus: remove losses and ensure costs of inefficiencies are not passed to customers.
• Bias for Action: provide real-time information to enable quick decisions on resource use.
• Build Talent and Teams: develop semi-autonomous teams and share best practices across lines.
• Accountability: own team performance and spread successful interventions.
• Growth Mindset: build world-class factories to stay competitive.
• WCM: apply AM, PM, FI, QC tools and establish standards for line stability.
• Process and Organisational Design: ensure optimal resourcing of lines and processes.
• Analytical Capability: collect and analyze data to identify root causes and solutions.
• Eliminate Waste and Loss using WCM pillars; create technical standards and training for line staff.
• Identify and extend good practices to other lines.

Skills

Lean Manufacturing

World Class Manufacturing

Leadership

Project Management

Continuous Improvement

Data Analysis

Autonomous Maintenance

Education

Degree in Mechanical/ Chemical/ Industrial Engineering

Job description

Unilever is seeking a Production Engineer at the Boksburg Factory in South Africa to drive operational excellence through World Class Manufacturing. You will lead loss elimination, process optimization and capability building while fostering innovation and a safe, high-performance environment.

Reporting to the Unit Manager, you will focus on line stability, productivity gains and consumer-focused quality, leveraging technical leadership and continuous improvement across packaging lines.