Job Summary 

The Operations & Maintenance Manager supervises dairy production, optimizes schedules, and ensures equipment runs smoothly. You’ll lead the team to follow best practices, meet safety standards, and fix any breakdowns.

Key Responsibilities

•  Provide strong and inspirational leadership to the production and maintenance team, cultivating a culture of teamwork, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Take charge of day-to-day production operations, ensuring adherence to production schedules, quality standards, and food safety protocols.
• Identify opportunities for process optimization and efficiency improvements, leading initiatives to enhance overall production performance.
•  Work collaboratively with various stakeholders to ensure factory facilities and resources are adequate and in good conditions to ensure product quality and safety through strict adherence to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Hygienic Practices (GHP).
•  Implement and maintain rigorous quality control measures to uphold the company’s commitment to delivering premium dairy products to our consumers. Lead the factory team to maintain readiness status for Quality and Food Safety certification and surveillance audits, e.g. NAFDAC, ISO 9001, FSSC 22000, MANCAP.
• Foster the professional development of production team members through training, mentoring, and creating a learning-oriented work environment.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including Field Operations, Quality, and Logistics and Distribution to streamline production processes and address challenges proactively.
• Effectively manage production resources, including manpower, raw materials, consumables and equipment, to meet production goals efficiently.
• Enforce and promote a strong safety culture, ensuring that all production activities comply with relevant safety regulations and guidelines.
• Support consumer and customer complaints investigations ensuring root cause analysis and effective corrective and preventive actions.
• Oversee the installation, repair and upkeep of the company’s equipment and facilities to ensure zero downtime and optimise equipment operational efficiency.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Process Engineering, Dairy Science, Food Science, or a related field. Advanced degrees or relevant certifications are advantageous.
• Experience: Minimum of 5 years proven leadership experience in a dairy manufacturing role, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of production processes and industry standards.
• Technical Skills: In-depth knowledge of dairy manufacturing processes and equipment, with a focus on continuous improvement and innovation.
• Leadership Skills: Strong leadership and team management skills, with the ability to motivate and inspire a diverse production team.
• Problem-Solving: Excellent problem-solving abilities with a proactive approach to addressing challenges in the production process.
• Communication: Effective communication skills, both written and verbal, to interact with team members and stakeholders.
• Adaptability: Ability to adapt to changing priorities and thrive in a fast-paced production environment.
• Exceptional attention to details
• Ability to lead, develop and motivate a team.
• Pragmatic, self-starting, and team player.
• Able to deliver results in a fast-paced environment, under pressure with little or no supervision.
• Good knowledge of Quality Management Systems, food safety /HACCP, food microbiology, foreign body prevention, etc.
• Proficiency in Non-Conformity Management. Able to analyse problems, detect root causes and proffer corrective and preventive actions to resolve issues.
• Generally tech-savvy with competency in Excel, Word, PowerPoint as a minimum