Group Operations Manager

The Operations Manager is responsible for multiple production facilities, covering a daily throughput of approximately 4,000 MT material – metal and non-metals. The role covers inbound receiving, processing, and outbound shipping, and carries accountability for how each stage is organized, performed, and continuously improved across all sites. The role is built on 3 operational disciplines of equal importance. Standardization, Efficiency, and Capacity Utilization.

This is a field-based role that requires regular personal presence across all facilities. The quality of operations at this scale is best assessed and improved through direct supervision and engagement, not through remote reporting. The right candidate brings the technical depth to assess what they see, the interpersonal credibility to influence how teams work, and the leadership maturity to drive sustained improvement across a complex, multi-site network.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership

The Operations Manager leads Processing Team Leaders and their teams of processing supervisors across all sites. Building capable, accountable, and improvement-oriented teams at every level is a defining and continuous dimension of the role.

Standardization

A consistent standard operating model is the foundation on which efficiency and capacity utilization are built. Without clearly defined and enforced standards across all yards, each site tends toward its own working practices, and inconsistency at scale is where operational performance is lost before it can be measured or improved.

Efficiency

Operational efficiency is the measure of how material moves through each stage of the cycle, from receiving at the gate to dispatch from the yard. Unnecessary handling steps, avoidable delays, poor staging decisions, and rework at any stage reduce the value of the work performed without contributing to output. The Operations Manager is responsible for identifying these losses systematically and eliminating them from the operational model across both streams and all yards.

Capacity Utilization

Capacity Utilization measures how much of the available capacity, in equipment, machinery labors, and transportation, is being productively used. Closing the gap between what the assets can produce and what they actually produce through operational planning, scheduling discipline, and resource deployment management is a central accountability of this role.

Commercial Interface

The Operations Manager serves as the primary link between the operational network and the commercial team through 2 way effective communication that translates commercial demand into operational planning, while feeding operational performance and capacity data back into commercial decision-making.

Safety Compliance

The Operations Manager ensures that all operational activities across the receiving, processing, and shipping cycle comply fully with applicable safety standards, and that safe working requirements are embedded as an integral part of the standard operating model at every stage.

Education, Skills & Experience

Education

A recognised qualification + proven experience is a key requirement.

Experience

10 years or more in a senior operations management in a bulk material processing, heavy manufacturing, or commodity handling environment.

Technical Knowledge

Working knowledge of bulk material processing equipment to assess utilization, identify workflow inefficiencies, and engage productively with maintenance and equipment teams. Familiarity with shift scheduling design as a tool for improving equipment and labor utilization across a multi-site network. Understanding of OEE principles and their application in an industrial processing environment. Experience with ERP or operational management platforms for production scheduling, capacity planning, and performance monitoring. Practical application of Lean, Six Sigma, or equivalent continuous improvement methodologies across multiple sites, with demonstrated impact on efficiency or utilization outcomes. Experience with multi-modal outbound logistics, truck, and container, with demonstrated improvement in load utilization across a dispersed network. Familiarity with commodity trading dynamics and the relationship between operational decisions and their commercial implications.