operations manager - Johannesburg, South Africa - Gerald Lilian Executive Appointments (GLEA)

Description

Join a multinational that has a footprint throughout the world including its small but very profitable African office based in Johannesburg. This business consists of its main plant (Workshop) in Jhb that does some manufacturing for OEMs (components for reciprocating compressors) but most of the business repairs are for components in the Workshop (e.g. valves, pistons, packing boxes, piston rods, gear boxes, pumps etc.) for customers, especially in the oil and gas industry. In addition, the Operations Manager supervises three Field Service Engineers who do the repairs on site at the customers plant throughout South Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa. It should be noted that there are small Workshops in two of the African countries. The current Operations Manager is being transferred to a sister business overseas resulting in this vacancy. The candidate will be reporting into a South African Managing Director who recently transferred back from Dubai after spending five years as an Executive in one of the businesses. It should be noted parenthetically that a number of the local employees have also been employed in various operations in one of the 150 countries that this multinational is based in, which has resulted in their upskilling. There is also a Training Academy for all employees and staff are encouraged to advance their education. The Operations Manager will be responsible for the management and leadership of the Service Workshop (including supply chain, quality & customer service), Field Service Engineers & Project Management Teams.

Key performance areas, inter alia, include:

• Manage the day to day operations of the Workshop, Field Service Engineers & Planner, align spares with labour which is co-ordinated on site. Also provide technical support for the Sales Team.
• Monitor and support compliance of Workshop repair procedures, standard operating procedures, ERP (SAP) processes and best practices. Ensure the respective jobs are completed on time and as per the customer requirements.
• Manage and control of cost centre expenses, resource utilization and cost savings projects in co-ordination with the Financial Controller. Furthermore, drive efficiencies and monitor workshop recovery rates.
• Manage resource planning and capital expenditure as well as local projects (internal & external).
• Together with the Sales Team and the Field Service Engineers, visit customers both locally and in Africa to problem solve and create awareness of the businesses capabilities.
• Monitor the KPIs on a monthly basis and implement control measures when required in order to achieve targets.
• Manage, motivate, guide and asses workshop staff performance including encouraging training.
• Control inventory fluctuations according to budget forecasts as well as develop and monitor short and long-term goals.

Requirements:

• Mechanical Engineering Degree or Diploma plus a Project Management Certification (PMP) would be highly recommended. In addition, the candidate must be technically very competent.
• Well developed interpersonal and leadership skills as well as being an excellent communicator in English, both written and oral.
• Knowledge of the compressor and compressor industry as well as production equipment such as CNC milling and lathes, honing machines, lapping machines and similar.
• At least 10 years experience in Operations Management in a workshop type environment and able to manage & motivate staff effectively.
• Driven, proactive, decisive, logical and strong computer literacy skills especially Excel & PowerPoint and used one of the ERP systems (SAP would be an advantage).