Hands-on Production Manager – Soap Manufacturing

About the role

We are looking for a hands‑on Production Manager to lead daily operations at our soap manufacturing plant in Angola. The role combines strong shop‑floor leadership with practical technical expertise to ensure safety, quality, and efficiency.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and control daily soap production to meet volume, quality, cost and efficiency targets.
• Manage shift schedules, manpower allocation and production planning.
• Enforce strict safety rules (PPE, LOTO, safe isolations) and quality standards.
• Be present on the shop floor: open/close and isolate valves and lines, manage process flow, support start‑up/shutdown and routine checks.
• Perform first‑level troubleshooting and coordinate repairs with technicians.
• Plan and execute preventive maintenance to minimise downtime.
• Monitor KPIs (output, downtime, waste, rejects, efficiency) and implement corrective actions.
• Maintain accurate documentation: production reports, maintenance logs, incident reports and SOP compliance.
• Train, coach and enforce discipline with operators and technicians.

Required profile

• Proven experience as Production Manager, Production Supervisor or Plant Supervisor in soap, detergent, personal‑care or chemical process manufacturing.
• Strong hands‑on technical mindset with comfort handling industrial piping, valves, pumps, tanks and process lines.
• Solid knowledge of basic mechanical troubleshooting and preventive maintenance routines.
• Demonstrated leadership and accountability in a factory environment.
• Fluent in Portuguese and English for reporting and interviews.
• Willingness to work full‑time on‑site in Angola.

Required skills

• Industrial piping
• Valves and pumps operation
• Mechanical troubleshooting
• Preventive maintenance
• Fault finding
• TPM (Total Productive Maintenance)
• Kaizen
• 5S
• Continuous improvement
• Utilities handling (steam, hot water, compressed air, basic instrumentation)