Uitenhage: Refrigeration Engineer

Job Requirements: Refrigeration/Mechanical/Electrical Engineering Degree A minimum of 10 years post-qualification hands-on ammonia refrigeration plant engineering experience. At least 5 years of experience managing a large-scale refrigeration ammonia plant in an FMCG environment. Category B or C Ammonia safe handling. Job Duties: Refrigeration Plant – Hardware & Operation: Maintain refrigeration equipment and peripherals to ensure greater than 97% plant availability. Responsible for maintaining sufficient stock back-up of critical hardware. Develop, install, and refine existing hardware installations to improve reliability and functionality. Maintain regular contact with suppliers/OEMs to ensure hardware remains current. Plan scheduled maintenance with the Production Manager to minimize plant downtime. Perform scheduled maintenance on equipment and update maintenance schedules. Report weekly on completed, pending, and outstanding maintenance. Ensure plant operation is conducted for maximum efficiency. Preventative Maintenance: Actively ensure all schedules and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are in place. Drive adherence to manufacturer’s service schedules to maintain full warranty cover and achieve cost savings. Establish sound discipline and control around the order, receipt, and issuing of all engineering inventory. Constantly review and update critical spares inventory for all key equipment, considering lead time, availability, cost, and cost of downtime Safety, Health, Environment, Food, and Legal Compliance: Drive statutory compliance. Immediately stop any dangerous acts and address any equipment posing a risk to personnel. Ensure all mechanical work, machinery, and processes comply with Food Safety and Occupational Health and Safety Act. Enforce internal safety systems, including Lock Out Tag Out (LOTTO), General Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for a food environment, and 100% compliance to the Health & Safety permit system. Projects: Draw up task clarifications for proposed projects involving changes to plant utilization and/or new equipment. Specify scope of work and source quotations from suppliers. Forward quotations for approval and liaise with suppliers once order numbers are allocated. People Management: Train, coach, upgrade, and develop subordinates. Maintain open communication channels with subordinates through daily meetings for two-way feedback. Drive Human Resource activities to ensure the department is adequately resourced for present and future business requirements. Ensure a positive working environment within the refrigeration department. Manage the team through proper guidance, supervision, inspection, and discipline. Cost Control: Develop and maintain the refrigeration department budget. Control expenditure in line with the budget, ensuring all refrigeration expenditure is pre-approved and tracked daily. Reduce costs of utilities (water, effluent, electricity, and waste disposal). General: Update asset and equipment data when changes are made. Maintain a Technical Library applicable to the Refrigeration Plant. Competencies: Qualified Engineer Driven to achieve results and quality Strong Leadership skills Good analytical skills and ability to take corrective action Assertiveness Strong interpersonal Skills Good adaptive skills Good communication skills Good investigative skills High degree of computer literacy Strong Project Management skills Building strategic working relationships Customer Focus Decision making Salary: Market Related How to apply: