Plant Manager – Mobile Equipment

Location: Kempton Park, South Africa
Closing Date: September 22, 2026

Key Responsibilities

• Plant Strategy & Asset Management: Develop and implement the company’s plant strategy and asset management framework. Establish long-term fleet renewal, replacement, and disposal plans while determining optimal fleet composition aligned with operational production requirements. Implement best-practice asset management principles, including life-cycle costing, reliability engineering, and total cost of ownership, to continuously improve fleet productivity and reduce operating costs.
• Fleet Availability & Maintenance: Drive high equipment availability and reliability across the entire fleet by overseeing preventative, predictive, and corrective maintenance programs. Implement condition monitoring and reliability improvement initiatives in strict compliance with OEM specifications and engineering standards. Monitor key performance metrics such as mechanical availability, Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), maintenance cost per operating hour, and equipment utilization.
• Operational Support: Collaborate closely with site operations teams to ensure the fleet consistently meets production goals. Coordinate equipment deployment across projects to maximize utilization, provide expert technical support regarding equipment selection and performance, and ensure plant resources are optimally allocated across all contracts.
• Cost Control & Budget Management: Develop and manage the plant department's operating and capital budgets. Monitor maintenance expenditure, spare parts consumption, and component rebuild costs while implementing strategic initiatives to reduce the total cost per operating hour. Evaluate and execute critical make-versus-buy decisions relating to component rebuilds and outsourcing.
• Procurement & Supplier Management: Cultivate and manage strong relationships with OEMs, suppliers, and external service providers. Oversee the strategic procurement of equipment, components, spare parts, and specialized maintenance services, while skillfully negotiating service agreements, warranties, and component support programs.
• Systems, Data & Technology: Ensure the effective utilization of enterprise fleet management and maintenance systems (ERP and CMMS). Champion data-driven decision-making through equipment performance analytics, maintenance trend analysis, and cost modeling, while driving the adoption of advanced telematics and digital fleet monitoring technologies.
• Compliance, Safety & Governance: Champion a safety-first culture by ensuring strict adherence to occupational health and safety legislation, the Mine Health and Safety Act, and all relevant environmental regulations.
• Team Leadership: Inspire, lead, and develop the plant engineering and maintenance teams. Provide direct oversight to plant superintendents, maintenance planners, workshop personnel, and field service teams while establishing clear KPIs and robust performance management systems.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Fleet mechanical availability
• Equipment utilization
• Maintenance cost per operating hour
• Downtime reduction
• Fleet lifecycle cost optimization
• Compliance with safety and statutory requirements
• On-time equipment availability for operations

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering; OR
• Qualified Artisan (Heavy Duty Earthmoving Equipment) combined with mandatory post-qualifying technical or management qualifications (non-negotiable).

Experience Requirements

• 10 to 15 years of progressive experience in heavy mobile equipment or mining and construction plant management.
• Proven, hands-on experience managing diverse fleets, including excavators, loaders, drill rigs, and articulated dump trucks.
• Demonstrated expertise in maintenance strategy, reliability engineering, and fleet optimization.
• Extensive background in managing large, multidisciplinary maintenance teams and substantial departmental budgets.