Engineering Manager

Engineering Manager (3-Month Contract)

Location: Chloorkop & Newtown, Gauteng

Start Date: 1 November 2026

Contract Duration: 3 Months Fixed-Term Contract

About the Role

An established manufacturing operation is seeking an experienced Engineering Manager to provide leadership and oversight of all engineering, maintenance, asset management, and capital project activities across its operations.

The successful candidate will be responsible for driving plant reliability, improving maintenance performance, ensuring statutory compliance, managing engineering budgets, and leading multidisciplinary engineering teams in a fast-paced production environment.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership

• Lead and manage the engineering and maintenance function.
• Provide technical leadership to engineering and maintenance teams.
• Develop and implement engineering strategies aligned to operational objectives.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across the operation.
• Coach, mentor and develop engineering personnel.

Maintenance & Asset Management

• Ensure optimal plant reliability and equipment availability.
• Oversee preventive and planned maintenance programmes.
• Drive improvements in equipment performance and uptime.
• Manage asset lifecycle planning and replacement strategies.
• Monitor and improve maintenance KPIs.

Capital Projects & Budget Management

• Manage engineering and maintenance budgets.
• Develop CAPEX motivations and business cases.
• Execute capital projects within budget and agreed timelines.
• Identify and implement cost-saving opportunities.

Health, Safety & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with engineering, safety and statutory requirements.
• Drive engineering governance and best practice standards.
• Support a strong safety culture throughout the operation.
• Maintain compliance with all relevant legislation and company policies.

Operational Excellence

• Partner with production teams to improve operational performance.
• Reduce downtime and improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
• Provide technical support and problem-solving expertise.
• Drive reliability-centred maintenance practices.

Minimum Requirements:

Qualifications

• BEng / BSc Engineering / BTech Engineering (Mechanical or Electrical)
• GCC (Factories) is essential
• ECSA registration will be advantageous

Experience

• 8-10 years' engineering experience within manufacturing, FMCG or a heavy industrial environment.
• Minimum 3-5 years in a senior engineering leadership or Engineering Manager role.
• Proven experience managing engineering and maintenance teams.
• Strong experience in maintenance management, asset management and capital projects.

Technical Competencies

• Asset management and reliability engineering expertise.
• Maintenance planning and CMMS experience.
• Budgeting and cost control.
• Health & Safety and statutory compliance knowledge.
• Strong project management capability.
• Advanced MS Office proficiency.

Personal Attributes

• Strong leadership and people management skills.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement ability.
• Highly organised with strong planning capabilities.
• Analytical thinker with strong problem-solving skills.
• Results-driven with the ability to perform under pressure.
• High levels of integrity and accountability.