Plant Manager

Company Description

Sika is a speciality chemicals company with a globally leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protection in the building sector and industrial manufacturing. Sika has subsidiaries in 102 countries around the world and, in over 400 factories, produces innovative technologies for customers worldwide. In doing so, it plays a crucial role in enabling the transformation of the construction and transportation sector towards greater environmental compatibility. With more than 34,000 employees, the company generated sales of CHF 11.76 billion in 2024.

Job Description

Job Purpose

The Plant Manager is responsible for the overall leadership, performance, and operational excellence of the plant. The role ensures that production, maintenance, quality, warehousing, and HSE activities are managed safely, efficiently, and in accordance with Sika standards, legal requirements, customer expectations, and agreed business objectives.

The Plant Manager has overall accountability for achieving the plant’s targets relating to safety, quality, service, cost, productivity, people development, and continuous improvement while ensuring effective coordination with all relevant functions.

Key Responsibilities

Plant Operations and Performance

• Lead and manage the overall plant operations, including production, maintenance, quality control, warehousing, and HSE activities.
• Translate business requirements and demand plans into effective plant production and resource plans.
• Ensure achievement of agreed targets for production output, product quality, cost, productivity, service level, and on-time delivery.
• Monitor plant performance through established KPIs, identify performance gaps, and implement timely corrective and preventive actions.
• Ensure the effective use of plant capacity, equipment, materials, labor, and other operational resources.
• Maintain effective coordination between all plant departments to ensure operational continuity and efficient workflow.

Health, Safety, and Environment

• Demonstrate visible leadership and accountability for health, safety, and environmental performance across the plant.
• Ensure compliance with Sika HSE standards, local legal requirements, permits, and applicable environmental regulations.
• Promote a proactive safety culture in which risks, unsafe conditions, and incidents are identified, reported, investigated, and effectively addressed.
• Ensure that appropriate risk assessments, emergency response arrangements, safety training, and preventive controls are implemented and regularly reviewed.
• Support the achievement of plant HSE objectives and continuous improvement of safety performance.

Quality and Customer Satisfaction

• Ensure that all products manufactured at the plant meet Sika quality standards, approved specifications, and customer requirements.
• Ensure compliance with applicable quality management systems, procedures, and internal controls.
• Work closely with Quality, Technical, Sales, and Supply Chain teams to address quality concerns and customer complaints.
• Ensure effective root-cause analysis and the implementation of corrective and preventive actions for quality and operational issues.
• Maintain the plant’s readiness for internal, corporate, customer, certification, and regulatory audits.

Financial and Cost Management

• Prepare, manage, and control the plant’s operating budget in coordination with Finance and senior management.
• Monitor production costs, material consumption, labor utilization, energy consumption, maintenance expenses, and operational losses.
• Identify and implement opportunities to improve cost efficiency, productivity, and resource utilization without compromising safety, quality, or service.
• Lead initiatives to reduce waste, process losses, downtime, and non-value-adding activities.
• Provide accurate forecasts and regular updates regarding plant costs, operational risks, and expected performance.

People Leadership and Development

• Lead, coach, and develop the plant’s department heads, supervisors, and employees to build a capable, accountable, and performance-oriented team.
• Establish clear objectives and performance expectations in line with Sika’s performance management process.
• Conduct regular performance reviews, provide constructive feedback, and support individual development plans.
• Promote teamwork, employee engagement, operational discipline, and effective communication across the plant.
• Work closely with HR on workforce planning, recruitment requirements, succession planning, employee development, attendance, disciplinary matters, and employee relations.
• Ensure that employees receive the required technical, quality, safety, and compliance training.

Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence

• Lead continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives to enhance plant safety, productivity, quality, reliability, and cost effectiveness.
• Promote the effective implementation of 5S, problem-solving, root-cause analysis, and other applicable continuous improvement methodologies.
• Encourage employees at all levels to identify improvement opportunities and participate in operational improvement activities.
• Benchmark plant performance and share good practices with other Sika operations, where applicable.

Maintenance and Asset Management

• Ensure the implementation of effective preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance programs.
• Monitor equipment reliability, breakdowns, downtime, and maintenance performance.
• Ensure that plant assets, utilities, machinery, and infrastructure are maintained in safe and efficient operating condition.
• Review critical spare-parts requirements and ensure appropriate controls are in place to support operational continuity.

Capital Investment and Plant Development

• Identify and evaluate requirements for equipment, capacity expansion, plant upgrades, automation, and infrastructure improvements.
• Prepare and support capital expenditure proposals, including operational justification, expected benefits, costs, risks, and implementation requirements.
• Coordinate approved investment projects with Engineering, Procurement, Finance, HSE, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Ensure that projects are implemented safely, within approved budgets and timelines, and in accordance with Sika requirements.

Compliance, Governance, and Reporting

• Ensure full compliance with applicable laws, regulatory requirements, Sika policies, internal procedures, and management systems.
• Maintain the plant’s readiness for governmental inspections, certification audits, internal audits, and corporate assessments.
• Ensure that required licenses, permits, records, and operational documentation are valid, complete, and properly maintained.
• Report plant performance, major risks, operational challenges, incidents, and improvement actions to senior management in an accurate and timely manner.
• Escalate significant HSE, quality, operational, financial, or people-related risks through the appropriate management channels.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Sales, Supply Chain, Procurement, Finance, HR, Quality, Technical, and other functions to align plant activities with business and customer requirements.
• Participate in demand, capacity, inventory, and production-planning discussions.
• Support new product introduction, product transfers, process changes, and business growth initiatives.
• Build effective working relationships with suppliers, contractors, service providers, authorities, and other relevant external stakeholders.

Key Performance Indicators

Performance may be measured against the following indicators:

• HSE performance and incident reduction
• Production output and schedule adherence
• On-time and in-full delivery
• Product quality and customer complaints
• Overall equipment effectiveness and plant utilization
• Equipment downtime and maintenance performance
• Production cost and budget adherence
• Material yield, waste, and process losses
• Inventory accuracy and stock control
• Productivity and labor efficiency
• Audit findings and closure of corrective actions
• Employee engagement, development, and turnover
• Continuous improvement and cost-saving achievements

Qualifications

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Production, or another relevant Engineering discipline.
• Postgraduate qualification in Business Administration, Operations Management, or a related field is an advantage.
• Typically, 8–12 years of progressive manufacturing experience, including at least 3–5 years in a plant management, production management, or comparable operational leadership role.
• Demonstrated experience managing a manufacturing plant or a large and complex production operation.
• Experience in chemicals, construction materials, cementitious products, admixtures, coatings, or a comparable process-manufacturing industry is highly preferred.
• Proven record of delivering measurable improvements in safety, quality, productivity, cost, and operational performance.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams, including production, maintenance, quality, warehouse, and HSE functions.
• Practical experience with budgeting, cost control, capital expenditure, workforce planning, and plant performance management.
• Experience with continuous improvement methodologies, including 5S, Lean Manufacturing, or structured problem-solving techniques, is preferred.

Technical Knowledge

• Strong knowledge of manufacturing operations, production planning, process control, and capacity management.
• Sound understanding of quality, environmental, and occupational health and safety management systems.
• Good knowledge of preventive maintenance, equipment reliability, utilities, and asset management.
• Understanding of applicable legal and regulatory requirements governing manufacturing operations.
• Ability to interpret and manage plant budgets, operational costs, forecasts, and performance indicators.
• Working knowledge of ERP and production management systems, preferably SAP or an equivalent system.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook.
• Knowledge of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 requirements is preferred.

Leadership Competencies

• Strong and visible leadership with the ability to build trust, accountability, and collaboration.
• Sound judgment and the ability to make timely, fact-based decisions under pressure.
• Strategic and operational thinking, with the ability to translate business priorities into practical plant actions.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Effective planning, prioritization, and resource-management skills.
• Ability to lead change and engage employees in continuous improvement.
• Strong coaching, delegation, performance management, and people-development skills.
• High level of integrity, ownership, discipline, and personal accountability.
• Strong commitment to health, safety, quality, compliance, and sustainability.
• Effective communication, influencing, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Fluent Arabic and strong written and spoken English.

Additional Information

We offer competitive salaries, aligned with local market benchmarks and the specific scope and responsibilities of each role. Compensation is determined based skills relevant to the position, education and/or training.  We are committed to fair and equitable pay practices in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

We offer competitive salaries, aligned with local market benchmarks and the specific scope and responsibilities of each role. Compensation is determined based skills relevant to the position, education and/or training.  We are committed to fair and equitable pay practices in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.