Position Title: Plant Head - (Edible Oils, Fats, Margarine or Refinery Operations)
Location: Kiambu, Kenya
Reporting To: Operations – Head
Direct Reports
• Refinery Managers
• Fractionation Manager
• Oils Packing Manager
• Fats & Margarine Production Manager
• Utilities & Engineering Manager
• QA/QC Manager
• Planning Manager
• Lean / Continuous Improvement Leads
ROLE PURPOSE
To provide strategic and operational leadership for the entire refinery, oils, fats and margarine manufacturing business by ensuring world-class levels of safety, quality, cost, delivery, inventory optimization, asset utilization and people capability development while delivering business profitability targets.
The incumbent will lead the end-to-end manufacturing value stream covering:
• Crude oil refining
• Fractionation
• Oils production
• Fats manufacturing
• Margarine manufacturing
• Packaging operations
• Utilities and engineering
• RM PM inventory management
• Continuous improvement and Lean transformation
The role is accountable for delivering operational excellence while maintaining the highest standards of food safety, product quality, environmental compliance and employee engagement.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
• Business Leadership: Lead DRT operations, manufacturing performance, profitability, EBITDA growth, and long-term capacity/investment strategies.
• Manufacturing Excellence: Optimize refinery, fractionation, packing, throughput, OEE, reliability, and production plan adherence.
• Supply Chain & Inventory: Optimize raw materials, WIP and finished goods, inventory turnover, working capital, and stock accuracy.
• Cost Management: Control manufacturing, labor, utilities, maintenance, logistics costs, and drive yield and cost-per-MT improvements.
• Refinery & Yield Optimization: Improve refining efficiency, reduce oil losses, and optimize chemical, steam and energy consumption.
• Quality & Food Safety: Ensure food safety compliance, First Time Right production, and reduction of complaints, rework and rejections.
• Engineering & Utilities: Drive equipment reliability, preventive/predictive maintenance, plant uptime, and utility efficiency.
• Lean & Continuous Improvement: Lead Lean, TPM, Kaizen, OEE and waste-reduction initiatives to improve productivity and efficiency.
• People Leadership: Build high-performing teams, develop talent and succession pipelines, and drive employee engagement.
• Health, Safety & Environment: Promote a zero-harm culture and ensure statutory, safety and environmental compliance.
• Project Leadership: Lead strategic capital projects, ensuring timely delivery, budget adherence and targeted ROI.
Requirements
IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE
Education
Mandatory
Bachelor's Degree in one of the following:
• Chemical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Food Process Engineering
Preferred
• Master's Degree (MBA, Operations Management, Supply Chain, Manufacturing Excellence)
• Professional certifications in Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma or TPM
Highly Desirable Certifications
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
• TPM Practitioner
• ISO 9001 Lead Auditor
• ISO 22000 / FSSC 22000
EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS
Minimum
• 15 years experience in FMCG manufacturing.
• Minimum 10 years in edible oils, fats, margarine or refinery operations.
• At least 5 years in a senior leadership position managing multiple manufacturing
• Candidates currently serving in roles such as Plant Head, Refinery Manager, Head of Manufacturing, Factory General Manager, or Operations Head are encouraged to apply.
Technical Competencies:
Strong expertise in edible oil refining, fractionation, hydrogenation, interesterification, margarine manufacturing, blending, quality management, utilities, energy optimization, yield & inventory improvement, SAP ERP, S&OP, Lean Manufacturing, TPM, Kaizen, OEE, and continuous improvement.
Leadership Competencies:
Strategic thinking, business & commercial acumen, change leadership, people development, stakeholder management, results orientation, operational excellence, financial acumen, and data-driven decision-making.
Scale Managed
• 200+ employees
• Multiple production lines
• Annual production exceeding 100,000 MT
• Multi-product FMCG manufacturing environment
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