OPERATIONAL TRANSFORMATION SPECIALIST – DURBAN

Position Purpose

The Operational Transformation Specialist is a field-based resource embedded within the Engineering function at our client. The role supports the transformation of client’s engineering operations towards industry best practice, with the objective of delivering sustainable improvements in terminal availability and reliability.

The Operational Transformation Specialist is a field-based transformation resource supporting the Straddle Carrier Fleet Recovery Program and wider terminal operating model improvements . The role is not a traditional HR or corporate change-management role. It requires a practical industrial, maintenance, factory, or port operations profile capable of driving shop-floor discipline, redesigning workflows, implementing new operating routines, and physically pushing execution on the ground. The role covers the full scope of Engineering, including but not limited to maintenance management, equipment reliability, procurement processes for spares and services, civil and infrastructure maintenance, and the operating model that governs how engineering resources are planned, deployed and held accountable.

The purpose is to help convert current improvement initiatives, from a temporary intervention into permanent change in the way the company plans, executes, and control its engineering operations. The end state is a terminal engineering function that meets international port industry standards for availability, reliability, and operational discipline.

2.Key Accountabilities

• Operate on the shop floor, workshop, yard, and operational interfaces to understand how work is actually being performed and where discipline breaks down.
• Drive daily operating routines such as shift handovers, recovery stand-ups, defect triage, work order follow-up, equipment release discipline, and action close-out cadence.
• Translate recovery-program objectives into practical behaviours and routines that supervisors, planners, artisans, operators, and procurement teams can execute consistently.
• Hold the line on agreed standards when operational pressure, legacy practices, or local workforce dynamics risk diluting the change objective.
• Escalate persistent blockers with clear facts, owners, consequences, and proposed corrective action rather than allowing issues to remain informal or unresolved.
• Map current-state workflows across straddle carrier maintenance, operations handover, breakdown response, spares availability, procurement follow-up, and return-to-service processes.
• Design and implement target-state workflows, standard operating routines, visual controls, RACI matrices, escalation paths, and practical work instructions.
• Convert consultant recommendations and management decisions into field-level implementation plans, including who does what, by when, and how compliance will be verified.
• Embed standard work in daily management practices so that new routines survive beyond the initial recovery period.
• Identify unnecessary hand-offs, delays, unclear ownership, and procedural gaps that contribute to equipment downtime or weak accountability.
• Engage supervisors, planners, artisans, operators, procurement users, and other front-line stakeholders directly and consistently to build adoption of new routines.
• Anticipate resistance and practical barriers in a unionised operational environment, and respond with clear operational logic, consistency, and respectful firmness.
• Support leaders in setting expectations, running operating meetings, following up actions, and reinforcing performance standards.
• Ensure communications are practical, operational, and grounded in the reality of terminal work rather than generic change-management messaging.
• Work with HR and labour-relations resources where needed, but remain focused on operational execution, workflow discipline, and sustained adoption
• Support the transformation of the straddle carrier (SC) and ship-to-shore (STS) crane fleet management model from reactive breakdown response to structured reliability, planning, and preventive routines.
• Coordinate with Maintenance, Engineering, Operations, Procurement, and Finance to ensure fleet recovery actions are prioritised, sequenced, and followed through.
• Track implementation of agreed recovery actions, including maintenance procedure changes, planning improvements, procurement follow-ups, and equipment availability initiatives.
• Help identify operational practices that undermine fleet availability, including weak defect reporting, poor handover quality, unclear repair prioritisation, or delayed spares escalation.
• Support the design of a sustainable target operating model for SC & STS fleet maintenance and operational support.
• Work as an integrated transformation team with the Process Engineering & Analytics Specialist: analytics identifies where intervention is needed; this role helps implement change on the ground.
• Use data on downtime, defects, work orders, spares, procurement lead times, cost drivers, and operational bottlenecks to focus implementation effort on the highest-impact opportunities.
• Validate whether data-driven recommendations are practical in the field, and provide feedback where data definitions or assumptions do not match operational reality.
• Support benefit tracking by confirming whether new routines are being applied and whether they are producing measurable improvements in reliability, cost, safety, and execution discipline.
• Maintain a practical transformation action tracker showing priorities, responsible owners, due dates, blockers, decisions required, and implementation status.
• Report weekly to the Head of Engineering, with alignment to the COO / SC Recovery Program Lead where required, on adoption, workflow redesign, action close-out, material blockers, and risks to sustainable implementation.
• Develop adoption KPIs for key routines such as handover completion, preventive maintenance adherence, defect close-out, spares escalation, and recovery meeting discipline.
• Capture lessons learned and convert them into simple operating standards, routines, and governance mechanisms for ongoing use by management.

3.Key Relationships

• Head of Engineering – Primary reporting line. Engineering priorities. Workstream direction. Decision escalation and approval of technical / engineering transformation deliverables.
• Chief Operating Officer / Operations Department – Operational dependency and execution interface. Alignment with yard, vessel, shift, equipment deployment, and terminal performance priorities.
• SC – STS Recovery Program Lead / Recovery Programme Team – Programme cadence. Recovery priorities. Action close-out. Target operating model alignment and benefit tracking.
• Engineering / Maintenance Leadership – Workflow redesign. Maintenance discipline. Reliability routines. Breakdown and return-to-service process implementation.
• Operations Managers / Shift Leadership – Daily operating routines. Yard and equipment interfaces. Shift handovers. Adoption of new standards.
• Process Engineering & Analytics Specialist – Integrated transformation team. Data-driven prioritisation. Bottleneck validation. Benefits tracking.
• Procurement / Supply Chain Spares availability workflows. Procurement follow-up. Lead-time escalation. Inventory and vendor interface routines.
• Finance / Commercial Support – Cost-driver understanding. Budget-impact tracking. Prioritisation of initiatives with financial consequences.
• HR / Labour Relations Support on workforce and labour-relations interfaces where operational changes require structured engagement.
• Consultants / Group Support – Conversion of recommendations into local implementation routines. Progress tracking. Sustainability handover.
• Front-Line Workforce / Shop Stewards Practical engagement on new routines, workflow discipline, adoption barriers, and safe execution of operational change.

4.Qualifications & Experience

• ESSENTIAL – South African citizen – mandatory for this recruitment process.
• ESSENTIAL – Relevant qualification in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical / Electrical Engineering, Operations Management, Maintenance Management, Production / Manufacturing, or equivalent practical operational experience.
• ESSENTIAL – Minimum 5 years experience in industrial, maintenance, factory, port, logistics, mining, heavy equipment, or similar operational environments, with credible shop-floor exposure.
• ESSENTIAL – Demonstrated track record implementing operational routines, standard work, workflow discipline, performance cadence, and practical process changes in the field.
• ESSENTIAL – Strong understanding of maintenance / operations interfaces, including breakdown response, preventive maintenance, planning, handovers, spares escalation, and action close-out.
• ESSENTIAL – Experience working in complex or unionised operational environments, with the confidence to influence front-line teams and supervisors without relying on formal authority.
• ESSENTIAL – Strong execution discipline: able to convert broad management intent into practical routines, owners, timelines, controls, and follow-through.
• PREFERRED – Experience in container terminals, ports, stevedoring, fleet maintenance, heavy mobile equipment, or straddle carrier operations.
• PREFERRED – Lean, Six Sigma, TPM, RCM, 5S, visual management, or similar continuous-improvement exposure.
• PREFERRED – Experience in a transition-phase, turnaround, recovery, start-up, post-acquisition, or newly privatised operating environment.
• PREFERRED – Familiarity with CMMS, ERP, maintenance planning, equipment reliability, procurement workflows, or operational dashboard reporting.
• PREFERRED – Comfortable preparing concise executive updates and practical field implementation materials; Zulu-speaking candidates preferred.

5.Key Competencies

• Visible, practical, and credible with supervisors and front-line teams. Understands how work is actually done and can influence behaviour in the field.
• Converts plans into routines, owners, deadlines, controls, and measurable follow-through. Does not allow unresolved blockers to drift.
• Operates with consistency under pressure from operational urgency, legacy practices, and workforce dynamics. Maintains standards respectfully and firmly.

6.Conditions of Employment

• This position is subject to a satisfactory criminal background check, qualification verification, citizenship verification, and reference checks prior to appointment.
• The appointee must be a South African citizen and must satisfy access, security, safety, and site induction requirements before commencement of field work.
• The role is primarily on-site and field-based, with regular presence required in operational areas, workshops, yards, and programme meetings.
• After-hours, weekend, or shift-interface availability may be required during critical recovery milestones or urgent operational interventions.
• The appointee must comply with company policies, confidentiality requirements, safety rules, and applicable terminal access procedures.
• Travel to other group terminals or external sites may be required for benchmarking, training, or transformation support.