Section Manager Plant Technical Services

We have an exciting opportunity for a Section Manager Plant Technical. The purpose of this role is to Optimise plant operations and product quality by providing specialist metallurgical support, resolving complex process issues, and leading improvement initiatives safely.

We’re the best in the industry.

You’ll make us better.

Guided by our purpose and our values, we enable both high performance and purposeful action as we aim to “re-imagine mining to improve people’s lives", delivering the metals and minerals that make modern life possible – from mobile phones to medicines.

Kumba Iron Ore               

We produce high-grade iron ore, the key component in steel widely used in construction and manufacturing across the world. Our activities include all aspects – exploration; mining; processing and blending; shipping; marketing and selling. In South Africa, we have mining operations in the Northern Cape province, as well as a head office in Centurion, Gauteng, and a port operation in Saldanha Bay, Western Cape.

As our Section Manager Plant Technical your responsibilities will include but not limited to:

Safety, Health, and Environment

Consistently apply Safety and health principles in all team interactions and take personal responsibility for the safety of self and others to ensure zero harm and elimination of fatalities.

• Act as a role model and reinforce a workplace culture where safety and health for the site are paramount.
• Provide an environment for on-site teams to challenge and act on unsafe behaviours without repercussions.

Collect and summarise the specific risks within the working area and implement plans/systems to avoid these risks.

• Review and assess the impact of critical risks and monitor the effectiveness of critical controls relevant to the work area.
• Identify PUEs and monitor critical control performance within teams.
• Embed critical controls into the daily work practices of teams.

Manage Safety & Health systems within the work area.

• Assess the safety leadership capabilities of direct reports.
• Assess the 'fitness for duty' of team members and take any subsequent necessary action.
• Engage in physical safety checks, interventions, and coaching.
• Create safety reports and manage analysis of KPIs based on available data.
• Report deficiencies and implement plans to address deficiencies.
• Facilitate continual safety audits to ensure all safety requirements are met.
• Support site visits by internal and external visitors to ensure adherence to site safety systems (including induction)

Active participation in VFLs, Risk Assessments and close-out of Safety Actions.

Performance and Delivery

Technical support to Plants:

• Apply and maintain metallurgical process/operating standards in the area of accountability; identify non-conformance, recommend corrective actions, and contribute to updates based on lessons learnt.
• Provide technical inputs to short- and medium-term operational planning (constraints, risks, opportunities, operating windows and required interventions).
• Identify and motivate stay-in-business capital needs by compiling technical problem statements, option evaluations, preliminary scopes and supporting data for review and prioritisation.

Provide specialist technical support to the operation and projects as required within the area of functioning, i.e. DSO and DMS plant.

• Customer satisfaction index.
• Throughput achievement.
• Product quality conformance.

Acts as subject matter expert- develops and implements metallurgical blueprint for their area of functioning.

• Process standards conformance.
• Advanced process control.
• Conformance to client requirements.

Provide technical input for troubleshooting and solving complex metallurgical problems for specific processes/systems.

Contribute to knowledge sharing and best practice transfer.

Technical reporting of process performance in the area.

Provide SME input into production plans.

• Ensure optimal equipment and process operation.

Liaises upstream and downstream to provide the best support and input to process performance.

• Plant efficiency (ore utilisation).

Optimisation and Improvement of Plant Processes:

• Support implementation of processing service strategies by executing assigned improvement initiatives, tracking benefits (efficiency/cost), and reporting progress, risks and dependencies.
• Champion operate-for-reliability practices by supporting defect elimination, participating in RCAs, recommending controls/operating practices, and embedding learnings into standard routines with production teams.
• Expert level of understanding of installed equipment and processes

• Improvement of processes as measured against a base.

• Identify and implement ideas to improve and develop processes and equipment to ensure cost and process efficiency.
• Take part in multi-functional teams to share expert knowledge to improve and optimise processes.
• Investigate identified opportunities to determine the potential for improvement or optimisation of plant processes.
• Implement and monitor approved initiatives for confirmation of desired outcomes.
• Investigate and resolve all external client queries within a reasonable time.

Research and Development of Plant Processes:

• Input into developing and testing new growth ideas for viability in preparation to be taken through the various project phases.

• Conformance to growth strategy targets.
• Metallurgical integrity of projects.

• Provide metallurgical input to project teams to ensure metallurgical integrity is maintained.

Management and execution of projects:

• Ensure that the necessary preparation activities are done before commencement, such as conducting an in-depth investigation to determine the project's scope & alternatives and make recommendations to achieve project success.• Successful project outcomes and delivery.
• Timeliness of project completion.
• Accuracy of cash flow forecast.
• SHE performance of contractors and employees.

• Monitor and manage project contractors to ensure conformance to the Mine's requirements, safety regulations and standards when performing their work.
• Execute projects based on well-established project management principles, i.e. cost management.

Sustainability and Social:

• Support implementation of site sustainability requirements within the discipline by coordinating assigned initiatives, actions and deliverables.
• Identify and escalate discipline-related environmental and social risks, and support mitigation actions through controls, procedures and work practices.
• Monitor and report progress against agreed sustainability actions and compliance requirements, highlighting deviations, risks and corrective actions.
• Promote team awareness of sustainability expectations through toolbox talks, coaching and inclusion in planning and review routines.
• Support consistent sustainability messaging in stakeholder engagements by providing technical inputs and participating in engagements as required.

People and Teams:

• Support the integration of a purpose-led, high-performing culture within teams, embodying company values, inclusivity, and diversity through active engagement, implementation of effective team processes, reinforcement of culture through discipline-specific systems and behaviours, leadership in day-to-day communications, and the implementation of robust employee and contractor management processes.

Compliance:

• Ensure comprehensive compliance management within the work area, encompassing adherence to external local requirements, Anglo American compliance standards, and governance protocols.

 

This role is in the Processing (PRO) Department at a band 6/12. (D4/D5) The role reports to the Manager Processing.

• B Engineering /BSc Engineering or BTech in Metallurgical/ Chemical Engineering or equivalent on NQF7
• SA Drivers Licence

Technical Knowledge

• 6-8 years of experience, including post-graduate training in plant and production, and 3 years in a supervisory/management position.
• Metallurgical expertise in plant design and operation, beneficiation technology optimisation, and technical input for producing saleable products.
• Production accounting standards.
• Metallurgical Process modelling (both steady state and dynamic).
• Basic understanding of TSF operation and management standards.
• Chemistry (For non-chemists: an essential awareness of chemistry, its applications, and the value it adds to their sub-discipline).
• Proficiency in research methodologies and conducting studies.
• Technical knowledge of process evaluation, plant audits, feasibility studies, and ad hoc projects.
• Project management standards and techniques.
• Mineralogy (For non-Mineralogists: an essential awareness of Mineralogy, its applications, and the value it adds to their sub-discipline).

Who we are?

Anglo American is a global diversified mining business. Our portfolio of world-class mining operations provides the metals and minerals that make modern life possible. We use innovative practices and the latest technologies to discover new resources and mine.

We work together with our key partners and stakeholders to unlock the sustainable value that those resources represent for our shareholders, the communities and countries in which we operate and for society at large. Anglo American is re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives.

How we are committed to your safety

Nothing is more important to us than ensuring you return home safely after a day’s work. To make that happen, we have the most rigorous safety standards in the industry. Not only that, we’re also continually investing in new technologies – from drones to data analytics – that are helping to make mining safer.

Inclusion and Diversity

Anglo American is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to promoting an inclusive and diverse workplace where we value and respect every colleague for who they are and provide equality of opportunity so that everyone can fulfil their potential.

How to apply

To apply for this role, please complete our online application form. You will have the opportunity to upload your CV and other relevant documentation as part of this process.