Mechanical Engineer Team Leader

Mechanical Engineer Team Leader, Epping Mill, Cape Town

Job posting closing date: 24th July, end of day

As a person, you’re a learner, a natural leader, and someone who is always looking for ways to make things better while bringing others along with you. You live your life in alignment with the highest standards of integrity, safety, and quality, ensuring that your responsibilities deliver sustainable long-term results. In this role, you’ll help us deliver better care for billions of people around the world. It starts with YOU.

In this role, you will:

• Ensure manufacturing assets operate safely, reliably and efficiently, maximizing equipment availability, product quality and production performance.
• Maintain assets in a “Safe to Operate” condition at all times while promoting safe working practices and supporting all plant safety and housekeeping objectives.
• Lead and support mechanical resources to ensure effective execution of planned, preventive, predictive and breakdown maintenance activities.
• Develop, implement and continuously improve maintenance strategies and reliability programs to improve asset performance, reduce downtime and increase MTBF.
• Troubleshoot complex mechanical equipment issues, conduct Root Cause Analysis (RCA), and implement sustainable corrective actions.
• Provide engineering expertise and technical leadership in resolving daily plant operating and equipment reliability issues.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on safety, quality, waste reduction, OEE improvement, efficiency and cost optimization.
• Lead or support equipment modification, modernization, CAPEX and reliability improvement projects, including installation, commissioning and start-up activities.
• Manage contractors, suppliers and service providers, ensuring compliance with safety, quality and engineering standards.
• Ensure effective use of SAP PM and other digital tools to maintain accurate maintenance data, asset history and reliability reporting.
• Analyse equipment performance, maintenance trends, downtime losses and operating data to identify improvement opportunities and improve asset life-cycle performance.
• Manage spare parts requirements and support maintenance budgeting, cost control and inventory optimization initiatives.
• Work closely with Operations and Engineering teams to improve equipment performance, process stability and manufacturing efficiency.
• Coach, develop and support technicians and operators in equipment care, troubleshooting, maintenance best practices and continuous improvement.
• Ensure compliance with all K-C regulatory, governance and control requirements while driving accountability and engineering excellence across the asset base.
• Support and implement change management processes, new technologies and engineering best practices to deliver sustainable business results.
• Lead and develop the Shift Process Technician team, building technical capability, equipment knowledge and problem-solving skills to ensure timely and effective support to the production lines.
• Identify training and development opportunities for Shift Process Technicians through coaching, mentoring, on-the-job training and knowledge sharing.
• Ensure effective collaboration between the Shift Process Technician team and the Asset Team to support operational excellence, asset reliability, process stability and continuous improvement initiatives.

About Us

Huggies®. Kotex®. Poise®. Depend®.

You already know our legendary brands—and so does the rest of the world. In fact, millions of people use Kimberly-Clark products every day. We know these amazing Kimberly-Clark products wouldn’t exist without talented professionals, like you.

At Kimberly-Clark, you’ll be part of the best team committed to driving innovation, growth and impact. We’re founded on more than 150 years of market leadership, and we’re always looking for new and better ways to perform – so there’s your open door of opportunity. It’s all here for you at Kimberly-Clark.

Led by Purpose. Driven by You.

About You

You perform at the highest level possible, and you appreciate a performance culture fueled by authentic caring. You want to be part of a company actively dedicated to sustainability, inclusion, wellbeing, and career development.

You love what you do, especially when the work you do makes a difference. At Kimberly-Clark, we’re constantly exploring new ideas on how, when, and where we can best achieve results.

In this manufacturing role, you’ll focus on winning with consumers and the market, while putting safety, mutual respect, and human dignity at the center.

You are a hands-on Mechanical Engineer with strong maintenance and reliability experience in a high-speed FMCG manufacturing environment. You enjoy solving complex equipment problems, driving technical improvements, implementing equipment modifications, and developing effective maintenance strategies that maximize equipment performance, safety, quality, and production efficiency. You thrive in a collaborative environment, working closely with Operations, Process, Electrical, and Engineering teams while championing continuous improvement and engineering excellence.

To succeed in this role, you will need the following:

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or equivalent tertiary education.
• Completed Fitter Trade Test (N4 or higher) with demonstrated hands-on maintenance and equipment troubleshooting experience.
• Minimum of 3 - 5 years previous engineering and maintenance experience in FMCG environment.
• Excellent knowledge of manufacturing equipment within Family Care or Personal Care operations, including installation, setup, maintenance, troubleshooting and reliability improvement.
• Lean manufacturing and process improvement experience (Lean Six Sigma problem solving). LSS – Green Belt - advantageous.
• Project Management skills, including equipment upgrades, CAPEX projects, commissioning and start-up activities.
• Prior experience working with a Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS), preferably SAP PM.
• Excellent maintenance, reliability improvement, root cause analysis, equipment design modification and continuous improvement experience.
• Has demonstrated good leadership qualities in line with K-C policies and practices, including contractor and stakeholder management.
• Experience in implementing change management processes and maintaining compliance with safety and operational standards.

Total Benefits

Here are just a few of the benefits you’d enjoy working in this role for Kimberly-Clark.

For a complete overview, see www.mykcbenefits.com.

South Africa:

As part of your Total Rewards package, you will be entitled to a comprehensive set of benefits. Some of these are listed below:

• Reward and recognition – to attract and retain the best talent we offer competitive pay. We reward excellence and high performance through annual performance related increases and employee recognition awards.
• Great support for good health – we value good health, and to support you, you will have various options for medical insurance with a 50% employer contribution and Gap cover.
• Planning for the future – Being a member of the Provident fund will provide you with savings to provide an income after retirement.
• Protection for you and your family in case of illness or injury – for peace of mind you will have Life cover, disability insurance and Funeral benefit.
• Learning and growth – our employees value the opportunities for professional and personal growth that we offer. A wide range of training is available with Study bursaries for external courses and an opportunity to apply for School fee bursaries for your children.
• Employee Wellbeing – our Thrive program covers Physical, Emotional, Mental and Financial wellbeing to help you be at your best, and our