Specialty Gases Facility Manager at Air Liquide

The Specialty Gases Facility Manager is responsible for all aspects of Speciality Gases production to meet customer demand, within the agreed lead time, specification and cost. The Facility Manager will lead the Specialty Gases team by giving direction, developing competencies, and monitoring achievements. The Facility Manager is wholly accountable for safety, reliability, quality and efficiency of the facility

• Plan and supervise production of all gas mixtures; Ensure gas mixtures are prepared on time and adhere to Air Liquide standards.
• Ensure adherence of the speciality gas production to the relevant regulatory requirements.
• Apply safety and quality procedures as laid out in the Air Liquide Management System in accordance with the Industrial Management System and industry standards (e.g. ISO, FSSC, GMP, etc).
• Organise resources to optimise the operation of the facility, to achieve productivity targets.
• Speciality Gas Production Cost control (raw materials, overtime, maintenance, etc).
• Investigate means to reduce costs and improve quality (continually re-engineer operations/organisation).
• Maintain the SANAS accreditation of the Specialty Gases laboratory to ISO 17025.
• Complete audit root cause analyses and corrective and preventive actions.
• Complete incident root cause analyses and corrective and preventive actions.
• Implement continuous improvement methods (Daily Performance Management, 5S, VSM, etc).
• Monitor and maintain an auditable system/list  for critical raw materials.
• Implement a maintenance management plan to guarantee permanent equipment availability preventing production downtime. This includes the FFSG, Haskel pumps, cryogenic pumps, vacuum pumps, scales, weights, detectors, gauges, analysers, buildings, etc.
• Maintain a high level of safety and housekeeping.
• Train and maintain an up to date qualification table.
• To create redundancy in operation, ensure that each production facility can be operated by more than one operator.
• Control documentation regarding servicing and calibration of instruments.
• To submit a monthly production report for the area of responsibility.
• Ensure that production posting in Navision is done daily.
• Manage buy-in products.
• Manage cylinder rentals of buy-in products, raw materials and calibration standards.
• Manage raw material and accessories inventories to guarantee daily production and permanent capacity to supply market needs.
• Establish a management plan to guarantee traceability of the entire production process. 
• Establish management plans to assure minimum storage of products.

Educational requirements

• Education: BSc Chemistry or BSc Chemical Engineering

Experience

• 5 years operational management experience in a production environment
• 1-2 years Project Management experience

Knowledge and Know-how specific to the job

• Familiar with Occupational Health and Safety Act of South Africa
• HSE and Risk Management methods
• Knowledge of analytical instruments
• Sound knowledge of gases and their interactions with other gases, liquids, solids, vapours and metals.
• Must have solid leadership skills and proven ability to manage a team of semi skilled and skilled employees.