Chief Operating Officer - Beverage Maunfacturing

About the Company

Our client is one of South Africa's leading and fastest-growing beverage manufacturers, from multiple manufacturing facilities and a national distribution network. The business is entrepreneurial, quality-driven, and committed to affordability, local relevance, and sustainability - and is continuing to expand capacity and reach across South Africa and selected neighbouring markets.

Role Purpose

The Technical & Operations Director holds end-to-end accountability for the company's manufacturing operations, engineering, quality, food safety, and technical agenda across all plants. As a member of the Executive Committee, the role ensures safe, efficient, cost-effective, and high-quality production at scale, while driving continuous improvement, capacity growth, and sustainability.

The Director drives a fundamental cultural and operational turnaround across multi-site operations. Navigating a complex India-South Africa matrix, the leader must possess the maturity and grit to bridge vast skill and productivity gaps. Operating with high autonomy, you will architect rigorous accountability frameworks on the shopfloor, upskill teams in a high-cost environment, and instil a high-performance mindset that transforms legacy employee culture to enable aggressive commercial scale.

Key Responsibilities

Manufacturing & Plant Operations

• Lead end-to-end manufacturing operations across all production sites, ensuring delivery of volume, quality, cost, and service targets.

• Drive operational excellence and continuous improvement to maximise OEE, efficiency, yield, and throughput.

• Standardise operating practices, KPIs, and ways of working across plants to ensure consistency and scalability.

• Ensure production plans are met in full and on time, in close partnership with Supply Chain and Commercial.

Engineering, Maintenance & Asset Management

• Own the engineering, maintenance, and asset-care strategy across all sites, maximising equipment reliability and uptime.

• Implement preventive and predictive maintenance regimes to reduce breakdowns and extend asset life.

• Manage utilities, energy, water, and infrastructure to ensure reliable, efficient plant operation.

Quality, Food Safety & SHEQ

• Ensure world-class product quality and full compliance with food-safety standards (FSSC 22000 / ISO 22000, HACCP) and relevant regulations.

• Champion a strong Safety, Health, Environment & Quality (SHEQ) culture and ensure compliance with the Occupational Health & Safety Act.

• Create a road map to improve quality to 'Gold' standards

• Own quality assurance, laboratory, and product-integrity processes from raw materials to finished goods.

Packaging Technology & Technical Development

• Develop and execute new technology absorption process to ensure vertical startup of all new equipment.

• Lead packaging technology, development, and optimisation across formats (PET, cans, closures, labels) for cost, quality, and sustainability.

• Partner with R&D / New Product Development to industrialise new products and packaging formats efficiently.

• Drive material specifications, supplier technical standards, and packaging-line performance.

Cost, Efficiency & Performance

• Own the manufacturing cost base, driving conversion cost, waste, and yield improvements without compromising quality.

• Set, track, and deliver operational KPIs and budgets across all sites.

• Identify and deliver productivity and cost-saving initiatives that protect margin during growth.

Capital Projects & Capacity Expansion

• Lead capital expenditure planning and execution - new lines, plant upgrades, and greenfield / brownfield expansion.

• Manage projects end-to-end on time, on budget, and to specification, with strong commissioning and ramp-up.

• Build capacity ahead of demand to support the company's growth trajectory.

Sustainability

• Drive the operational sustainability agenda - energy (including renewables / solar), water stewardship, carbon, and waste reduction.

• Embed eco-design and circularity into packaging and production decisions.

• Ensure environmental compliance across all sites.

Leadership, People & Strategy

• Lead, develop, and scale a multi-site technical and operations organisation, building bench strength and succession.

• Foster a high-performance, accountable, and safety-first culture across the manufacturing footprint.

• Contribute to overall company strategy as an EXCO member and translate it into a clear operations roadmap.

• Manage labour relations effectively within a unionised manufacturing environment.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical / Chemical / Industrial Engineering, Food Science, or Packaging Technology; a Master's degree (e.g., MSc Packaging Technology) is advantageous.

• Minimum 15 years' experience in FMCG manufacturing, including senior multi-site operations leadership at director level.

• Proven experience in beverages (carbonated soft drinks, water, juice) or comparable high-speed FMCG / food & beverage manufacturing.

• Strong track record in operational excellence (Lean / TPM / Six Sigma), engineering and asset management, and quality / food safety.

• Demonstrated success delivering capital projects and capacity expansion.

• International or multi-market manufacturing exposure is advantageous.

• Worked in a matrix organisation with dual reporting - function and business

Skills & Competencies

• Matrix Diplomacy, Objective Leadership and Emotional Resilience to build a high maturity relationship structure

• Strong commercial and cost acumen - able to connect operational decisions to margin and P&L outcomes.

• Executive presence with the ability to engage credibly at Board and EXCO level.

• Deep technical expertise across manufacturing, engineering, packaging, quality, and food safety.

• Excellent leadership, team-building, and change-management capability across multiple sites.

• Effective in a fast-paced, high-growth, entrepreneurial environment.

• Strong labour-relations and stakeholder-management skills especially knowledge of local South African Laws.

• Demonstrated learning agility to work and lead in an ambiguous set up.

What Success Looks Like (First 12-18 Months)

• Stable, safe, and efficient multi-site operations with measurable improvements in OEE, cost, and quality.

• A clear, standardised operating model and KPI framework applied consistently across all plants.

• Capital and capacity projects delivered on time and on budget to support growth.

• A strengthened SHEQ and food-safety posture with full regulatory compliance.

• Demonstrable progress on the sustainability agenda (energy, water, waste).

• Builds Credit Competency and de-escalates blame

• A capable, motivated, well-structured technical and operations organisation.