About the position
Location: Northern Suburbs
Industry: Plastics Manufacturing
Relocation Assistance: Yes
Reporting to: Managing Director
A well-established plastics manufacturer is seeking a hands-on Production & Maintenance Manager to take full ownership of factory performance across injection moulding, recycling, and assembly.
This is a high-accountability role responsible for delivering OTIF production, driving cycle efficiencies, and ensuring machine and utility reliability, while maintaining strict cost and operational discipline.
Ideal Profile
- 8-12 years' experience in injection moulding or high-volume manufacturing
- 5+ years in a senior production and/or maintenance leadership role
- Strong technical understanding of:
- Injection moulding machines & processes
- Tooling / moulds
- Plant utilities (air, cooling, power)
- Proven ability to manage cost-focused, performance-driven operations
- Trade qualification (Millwright / Mechanical / Electrical) advantageous
Core Mandate
- Deliver fully completed, dispatch-ready production output (not fragmented WIP)
- Drive cycle efficiency, machine utilisation, and throughput
- Own maintenance reliability across machines, moulds, and utilities
- Embed disciplined preventive maintenance and breakdown management
- Control labour productivity, scrap, and operational costs
- Lead from the floor, ensuring execution, accountability, and stability
Key Focus Areas
- Production Execution: Align moulding, recycling, and assembly to achieve OTIF delivery
- Process Efficiency: Maintain standard cycle times and minimise start-up losses
- Reliability: Maximise uptime across machines, auxiliaries, and critical utilities
- Maintenance Discipline: Drive structured PM and eliminate repeat breakdowns
- Cost Control: Reduce scrap, rework, and non-value-adding activity
- Leadership: Build a high-performance, accountable shopfloor culture. Manage 30 - 40 staff & grow team accordingly.
Success Metrics
- Output vs Plan & OTIF
- Machine Utilisation & Cycle Efficiency
- MTBF / MTTR
- Preventive Maintenance Compliance
- Scrap (% of Sales)
- Labour Productivity
- Maintenance Spend vs Budget
- Utility Downtime
Person Profile
- Hands-on, factory-floor driven leader
- Strong bias for execution, discipline, and accountability
- Able to balance production pressure with technical integrity
- Driven by output, efficiency, and continuous improvement
Desired Skills:
- Injection
- Moulding
- Production
