Factory Manager

Job Description:

The Role

Full accountability for delivery of the MES production plan — on time, to specification, at planned cost. The role combines production planning and control with shop-floor management.

This is a builder's role. The Factory Manager is expected to set up systems personally, then manage using them. Minimum 60% of working hours on the shop floor — a contractual, measured requirement.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and own the master production schedule, loading all work against welding capacity as the plant constraint.
• Calculate delivery dates for every Work Order from capacity and standard hours. No date committed to a client without this calculation.
• Establish and maintain standard man-hours per panel type per process stage; revise monthly against actuals.
• Own the Work Order release gate — verify drawing completeness, BOM issue and material availability before release; return incomplete Work Orders to Sales or Design.
• Install and run the shop-floor control system: job cards, reason codes, visual production board, and three formal quality gates.
• Chair the daily production meeting at the board; deliver the weekly performance pack to the General Manager.
• Manage material flow and Stores — reorder levels, kit staging, shortage escalation.
• Develop the supervisory layer — appoint, train and manage four Leadmen; set written targets for every supervisor and leadman.
• Own factory cost, safety, housekeeping and ISO 9001 process conformity.

Essential Requirements

• Degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Production, Manufacturing or Electrical Engineering.
• 8+ years in manufacturing, including 4+ years managing a shop floor of 25 or more staff.
• Demonstrable record of building a production planning and control system from a low base — able to describe what was installed, in what order, and the measured result. Candidates who have only operated existing systems will not be considered.
• Engineer-to-order or make-to-order background — switchgear, electrical panels, sheet metal fabrication, steel structures or industrial equipment.
• Hands-on planning capability: capacity modelling, standard time setting, constraint-based scheduling and material planning. Able to read GA drawings, single line diagrams and bills of materials; strong Excel.
• Fluent English with clear, direct verbal communication to a predominantly South Asian workforce. Communication ability is assessed directly and is disqualifying if weak.
• Willing to manage from the shop floor, not an office.

Desirable: LV/MV switchgear or panel manufacturing; ERPNext, SAP or Odoo implementation experience; Lean, Six Sigma or Theory of Constraints with applied evidence; working Hindi or Urdu; UAE or GCC experience.

Measured On

On-time delivery against calculated dates (≥85%)  ·  Man-hour efficiency (≥80%)  ·  Rework hours (≤5%)  ·  Welding utilisation (75–85%)  ·  Work Orders released through a complete gate (≥90%)  ·  Supervisor retention  ·  Time on shop floor (≥60%). Baselines to be established within 30 days.