South Africa: Packhouse Manager (fresh produce)

Overview of responsibilities: Operations & Production: Oversee the full packing process across all crops, ensuring productivity, correct packing tempo, cold chain integrity, stock control of raw and packing materials, and well-maintained machinery, including planning CAPEX for upgrades and replacements. Quality, Compliance & Technical: Enforce Health & Safety and food-safety standards (OHSA, BRC, HACCP, FS22000), maintain strong audit-ready documentation and farm-to-fork traceability, and work with the Food Technologist to minimise rejections, run shelf-life trials and implement corrective actions. Financial & People Management: Control packhouse costs and purchasing, drive continuous improvement and waste reduction, manage and motivate a large team, ensure correct staffing levels and minimise overtime, and see that all staff are properly trained to perform their roles. Requirements: Matric (or equivalent) HACCP and FS22000 training, plus internal auditing experience Proven experience managing a fresh-produce pack-house (high-care environment) Export pack-house experience and good understanding of refrigeration Experience managing a large staff complement Strong MS Office skills and confident working with cloud-based data Valid drivers license and own transport Fluent in English and Afrikaans (Xhosa an advantage)