Turnaround Lead

Astron Energy South Africa (Pty) Ltd; Milnerton; On-site; ZAR 1,000,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Astron Energy South Africa is seeking an experienced Turnaround Lead to oversee end-to-end planning, preparation and execution of refinery turnarounds in the Western Cape. You will lead a team of planners, engineers and coordinators to deliver safe, on-schedule events within budget.

The role requires 10+ years in refinery maintenance with 5+ years in turnaround leadership, strong IMS experience, and proficiency with Primavera P6 and SAP Plant Maintenance.

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years' experience in refinery, petrochemical or heavy industrial maintenance.
• Minimum 5 years in turnaround leadership or senior planning with delivery accountability.
• Proven track record in IMS development, contractor management and PSSR/startup processes.

Responsibilities

• Translate strategy into an executable multi-year turnaround programme with measurable schedule, cost and integrity outcomes.
• Lead the planning, scoping and execution for each turnaround; manage scope freeze and post-freeze changes.
• Oversee safety, health, environment and quality compliance across turnaround activities.
• Interface with FEI, Reliability and Operations to ensure seamless handover and startup readiness.
• Coordinate with procurement and warehouse to secure long-lead items and ensure material availability.

Skills

Turnaround leadership

Turnaround planning

Budget management

Stakeholder management

Team leadership

Education

National Diploma or Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical, Chemical or Industrial Engineering

Project management certification (PMP) or turnaround qualification advantageous

GCC - Factories advantageous

Tools

Primavera P6

SAP Plant Maintenance

Job description

The Turnaround (TAR) Lead is accountable for the end-to-end planning, preparation and execution of the refinery's major and on-stream turnaround programme, delivering each event safely, on schedule and within approved budget. Leading a team of Turnaround Planners, Engineers, Analysts and Coordinators, the Turnaround Lead integrates operational, maintenance, reliability and integrity scope into a single executable plan, and provides the turnaround management capability that underpins refinery availability and asset integrity.

Strategic Implementation

Translate the refinery reliability and maintenance strategy into an executable multi-year turnaround programme with measurable schedule, cost and integrity outcomes. Facilitate the development of turnaround best practice and execution excellence, embedding lessons learned, benchmarking and continuous improvement across successive turnaround events. Lead the development of the Turnaround (TAR) strategy and schedule in support of the Reliability and Maintenance Manager, integrating process unit requirements, Fixed Equipment Integrity (FEI) inspection scope, reliability recommendations and operational availability constraints. Lead the turnaround scope-management process from initial scope development through scope freeze to post-freeze change control, ensuring scope decisions are risk-based, cost-aware and aligned to the approved turnaround envelope.

Operational Effectiveness

Lead the planning and scoping of each turnaround, directing the Turnaround Lead Planner in the production of the detailed Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) and ensuring all work scope is defined, estimated and resource-loaded ahead of execution. Manage the scope-freeze process and post-freeze scope changes through the appropriate governance forum, balancing schedule, cost and asset integrity outcomes when discovery work arises. Lead the execution and supervision of the turnaround work scope, coordinating maintenance, contractor and operational resources to deliver the event safely and to plan. Manage discovery work and execution scope changes during the turnaround, directing the Turnaround Engineering team in the timely assessment, estimation and disposition of emergent work. Lead the safe execution of on-stream turnarounds - directing partial shutdown, isolation coordination with Operations, and maintenance execution to reduce operations for field work without compromising unit availability. Lead on-stream turnaround planning and scheduling end to end, ensuring timely close-out of work scope, inspection findings and handover documentation for each event. Add day-to-day delivery, running processes, monitoring performance, managing exceptions.

Financial Management

Manage budgets and monitor expenses ensuring expenditure is within approved budgets. Drive delivery of each turnaround within the approved budget, tracking actual spend against sanction throughout execution and escalating material cost deviations to the Reliability and Maintenance Manager. Support the turnaround budget approval process by providing accurate scope estimates, resource requirements and contractor cost inputs for CEO and Board sanction submissions.

People Management

Provide direction and define objectives to be achieved in area of responsibility. Manage performance of direct reports ensuring agreement of annual goals and measuring performance against agreed goals and addressing non-performance issues. Deploy people management processes effectively, in line with Company policies, procedures and prevailing improvement initiatives. Drive operational excellence through area of supervision. Oversee resource deployment to ensure adequate cover and resilience in the team. Promote, support, and encourage team members to live the Company values. Drive a culture of high performance and accountability and encourage team members to live the Company values. Build deep turnaround management capability within the team, coaching the Turnaround Lead Planner, Senior Turnaround Engineer, Turnaround Analyst and Turnaround Coordinator in scheduling, scope control, contractor management and lessons-learned capture. Ensure the turnaround team is resourced and resilient across the annual programme, deploying planners, engineers and coordinators effectively through peak turnaround planning and execution periods. Live the Company values and work effectively as an active and contributing member to achieve team goals.

Safety, Health, Environment and Quality

Ensure compliance with all Safety, Health, Environmental (SHE) and all other applicable regulatory statutes, and all other safety and quality processes for the area of responsibility/work. Steward the Operations Management System (OMS) within Astron Energy to ensure continuous improvement. Ensure Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) accountability is upheld across turnaround execution - covering shutdown, decontamination, confined space entry, hot work and contractor safety management - working within the Control of Work framework owned by Operations for permit-to-work and equipment isolation. Ensure all turnaround activities comply with the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act 85 of 1993, Astron Energy SHEQ policies, the permit-to-work (PTW) system and Management of Change (MOC) requirements. Support the Major Pre-Startup Safety Review (PSSR) and startup authorisation process, ensuring mechanical completion, quality sign-off and handover documentation are complete before units are returned to operations. Drive a zero-harm safety culture across all contracted turnaround service providers, enforcing site safety standards, toolbox talks and pre-job safety reviews throughout each execution event.

Stakeholder Relationship Management

Lead the turnaround contracting strategy and contractor selection in conjunction with the Procurement Manager, ensuring contracting models are appropriate to scope complexity, risk profile and market conditions. Ensure the turnaround Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) is endorsed by the Operations Manager Refinery and Technical Services Manager before each event, and is realistic, resource-levelled and agreed by all key execution stakeholders. Interface with the Fixed Equipment Integrity (FEI) Lead, Reliability Lead and Process Support Lead on turnaround scope development, scope freeze and post-freeze change management, ensuring inspection and reliability scope is fully integrated. Coordinate with the Business Team Managers and Operations Turnaround Lead on unit handover, shutdown sequencing and startup readiness, minimising impact on refinery availability and integrated margin. Provide input into post-turnaround analysis and lessons-learned processes — accountable to the Reliability and Maintenance Manager for the quality and completeness of turnaround execution lessons captured. Interface with the Procurement Lead and Warehouse Lead to ensure materials procurement, long-lead items and specialist equipment are secured within the turnaround schedule and budget. Identify, build, and nurture trust and collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Professional Qualification and Certifications

• National Diploma or Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) / Bachelor of Technology (BTech) in Mechanical, Chemical or Industrial Engineering (minimum)
• Project management certification (e.g., PMP) or turnaround management qualification advantageous
• Government Certificate of Competency (GCC) - Factories advantageous

Work Experience

• Minimum 10 years' experience in refinery, petrochemical or heavy industrial maintenance, with significant exposure to turnaround planning and execution
• Minimum 5 years in a turnaround leadership or senior turnaround planning role with direct programme delivery accountability
• Proven track record in major turnaround scope management, Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) development, contractor management and PSSR / startup processes
• Experience managing large multi-discipline contractor workforces during turnaround execution
• Experience with turnaround planning and scheduling tools (e.g., Primavera P6) and SAP Plant Maintenance advantageous

Application deadline: 23 September 2026

Astron Energy is a leading supplier of petroleum products in South Africa, with a vast network of Caltex-branded service stations that make us one of the country's top two petroleum brands. We are strongly committed to being a responsible corporate citizen, promoting education, health and economic development in an effort to build stronger communities and drive sustainable economic growth. We own and operate the country's third-largest crude oil refinery in Cape Town, which has a capacity of 100,000 barrels a day, and a lubricants manufacturing plant in Durban.