Manufacturing Engineering Director

ExecutivePlacements.com

Recruiter

C3 Resources

Job Ref

JHB000157/NS

Date posted

Monday, June 1, 2026

Location

Cape Town, South Africa

Salary

Circa R1.5m pa CTC

SUMMARY

Engineering, Maintenance & Toolroom Leadership

ð Cape Town – Northern Suburbs

ð° Circa R1.5 Million Total Cost to Company

Engineering Leadership for a World-Class Manufacturing Environment

Our client is seeking an experienced Manufacturing Engineering Director to lead the Engineering, Maintenance, and Toolroom functions within a highly technical manufacturing operation.

This is an engineering-first leadership role for a senior professional who understands how manufacturing engineering, product support, asset reliability, tooling, machining, and technical governance integrate to deliver operational excellence on the factory floor.

This is not a production, operations, project engineering, or maintenance-only role.

We are looking for a technically credible engineering leader who is equally comfortable shaping engineering strategy, leading technical teams, driving manufacturing improvement, and engaging directly with factory-floor execution.

The Opportunity

Reporting into executive leadership, you will be responsible for the overall engineering capability of the business, ensuring that manufacturing processes, engineering systems, maintenance practices, tooling resources, and technical governance support a safe, efficient, and globally competitive manufacturing operation.

You will lead Engineering, Maintenance, and Toolroom teams while driving continuous improvement, reliability, asset performance, manufacturing support, and engineering excellence across the business.

POSITION INFO

Key Responsibilities

Engineering & Manufacturing Systems Leadership

Lead the Manufacturing Engineering function across machining, fabrication, assembly, and production support activities
Ensure robust engineering governance, technical standards, and manufacturing support systems
Maintain and improve BOM structures, routings, manufacturing documentation, and engineering master data
Drive process optimisation, industrialisation, capacity improvement, and manufacturing efficiency initiatives
Support new product introduction and ongoing product engineering requirements
Ensure alignment between product engineering requirements and manufacturing capability

Maintenance & Reliability Leadership

Lead maintenance and reliability strategies to maximise equipment availability and manufacturing performance
Drive preventative and predictive maintenance programmes
Improve asset reliability, lifecycle management, and engineering support processes
Ensure compliance with machinery, safety, and statutory engineering requirements

Toolroom & Machining Leadership

Provide leadership to toolroom and machining support functions
Ensure tooling capability supports production requirements, quality standards, and operational efficiency
Drive continuous improvement within machining and tooling environments
Support precision manufacturing and assembly operations through effective tooling strategies

Strategic Engineering Leadership

Lead, mentor, and develop engineering managers, maintenance managers, and technical teams
Drive engineering CAPEX planning and implementation
Build a culture of accountability, ownership, technical excellence, and continuous improvement
Partner with operational leadership to ensure engineering solutions support business objectives
Establish engineering systems and governance capable of supporting sustainable growth

What We're Looking For

Essential Qualifications & Experience

BEng or BTech in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline
10–15 years' experience within manufacturing environments
Minimum 5 years' experience in senior engineering leadership roles
Proven experience leading engineering managers, maintenance managers, and multidisciplinary technical teams
Strong understanding of:

Manufacturing Engineering
Engineering Governance & Systems
Asset Reliability & Maintenance
BOM and Routing Management
CAPEX Planning & Implementation
Continuous Improvement
Production Support Engineering

Manufacturing Environment Experience

We are particularly interested in candidates from:

Automotive Manufacturing
Defence Manufacturing
Precision Engineering
Heavy Fabrication
Industrial Equipment Manufacturing
Engineered Products Manufacturing
Similar discrete manufacturing environments

You should have exposure to one or more of the following:

Machining environments
Toolroom operations
Fabrication and assembly
Precision manufacturing
High-volume manufacturing
Engineered products manufacturing

Advantageous

GCC (Government Certificate of Competency)
SAP experience
Experience in globally competitive manufacturing environments
Exposure to defence, aerospace, automotive, or other technically demanding industries

The Ideal Candidate

You are a practical, hands-on engineering leader with strong technical credibility and a genuine understanding of factory-floor execution.

You have successfully led engineering functions beyond maintenance alone and understand how engineering systems, manufacturing processes, tooling, reliability, and production support work together to drive operational performance.

You are comfortable balancing strategic leadership with practical implementation and are recognised for ownership, accountability, and technical leadership.

Please Note

This role is not suited to:

Pure Operations or Plant Managers
Production-focused leaders without engineering depth
Maintenance-only professionals
FMCG or process manufacturing specialists without discrete manufacturing experience
Utilities or facilities engineering leaders
Project or Design Engineering professionals
Technical specialists without leadership scale and team leadership experience

If you are an engineering leader who thrives in technically demanding manufacturing environments and enjoys building high-performing engineering organisations, we would like to hear from you.