PROCESS ENGINEERING ANALYTICS SPECIALIST – DURBAN

2.Key Accountabilities

• Consolidate data required for the Straddle Carrier (SC) and Ship-to-shore (STS) crane Fleet Recovery Program, including equipment availability, downtime, defects, work orders, preventive maintenance compliance, procurement pipeline, spares status, budget tracking, consultant deliverables, and recovery action progress.
• Develop and maintain structured reports and dashboards using tools such as Power BI, Tableau, Excel, SQL, Python, or equivalent platforms, depending on available systems and data sources.
• Establish clear data definitions, reporting cadence, source ownership, and quality checks so that performance information is trusted and actionable.
• Translate operational data into concise executive narratives that explain what is happening, why it matters, and what decisions or interventions are required.
• Support reporting to management, head office stakeholders, and the recovery programme team.
• Map current-state processes across maintenance planning, breakdown response, defect reporting, spares requisition, procurement follow-up, equipment release, and operational handover interfaces.
• Use industrial engineering methods to identify bottlenecks, unnecessary hand-offs, queueing points, repeat failures, rework loops, and weak control points.
• Design target-state workflows, lean process improvements, decision flows, dashboards, and practical controls that support faster and more reliable operational execution.
• Conduct current-vs-target gap analysis and quantify expected impact where possible in terms of fleet availability, downtime reduction, cost reduction, productivity, and decision speed.
• Prepare process maps, swimlanes, visual workstreams, and implementation materials that can be used by operational teams and transformation resources.
• Support OPEX and CAPEX tracking for the SC recovery programme, including budget utilisation, committed costs, expected costs, variance analysis, and cost-to-complete visibility.
• Identify cost drivers linked to equipment downtime, repair strategy, contractor support, overtime, spares, procurement lead times, maintenance backlog, and reliability interventions.
• Build simple, transparent cost models to support prioritisation of recovery initiatives, spares decisions, capital interventions, repair-versus-replace considerations, and return-on-investment analysis.
• Work with Finance, Maintenance, Engineering, Procurement, and Operations to ensure operational decisions are supported by clear commercial logic.
• Prepare financial and operational scenarios that support management decision-making without over-complicating the analysis.
• Support the recovery programme cadence by maintaining action trackers, decision logs, issue registers, benefit trackers, and milestone dashboards.
• Help prioritise interventions based on operational impact, financial value, feasibility, dependencies, and implementation risk.
• Provide analytical support to weekly programme reviews, management updates, consultant engagements, and cross-functional problem-solving sessions.
• Use data to separate symptoms from root causes and to focus management attention on the constraints that materially affect fleet availability and terminal performance.
• Support the design of a sustainable target organisation and governance rhythm by identifying the recurring analysis, controls, and routines required after the recovery period.
• Work as an integrated transformation team with the Operational Transformation Specialist: this role identifies where intervention is required; the transformation role helps implement change on the ground.
• Provide evidence-based input to workflow redesign, operating routines, standard work, and performance cadence developed for maintenance and terminal operations.
• Validate analysis with front-line supervisors, planners, artisans, operators, and procurement users to ensure insights reflect operational reality.
• Track whether implemented changes deliver measurable benefits and refine analysis where the actual outcome differs from expectations.
• Document data sources, logic, assumptions, formulas, dashboard definitions, and ownership so that reporting can be sustained after the initial recovery programme.
• Identify opportunities to automate recurring reports, reduce manual spreadsheet dependence, and improve data capture at source.
• Support training or handover of dashboards, process maps, and performance routines to users as required.
• Maintain confidentiality, accuracy, and version control over operational and financial data used for management decision-making.

4.Qualifications & Experience

Requirement

• ESSENTIAL South African citizen – mandatory for this recruitment process.
• ESSENTIAL Bachelor degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical / Electrical Engineering, Operations Research, Data Analytics, Business Engineering, Finance, or a closely related quantitative discipline.
• ESSENTIAL Maximum 5 years relevant experience in operations analysis, industrial engineering, planning, business analysis, controlling, or process-improvement roles.
• ESSENTIAL Strong quantitative foundation and advanced Excel capability, with practical experience developing operational dashboards in Power BI, Tableau, or equivalent tools.
• ESSENTIAL Working knowledge of data processing using SQL, Python, Power Query, or comparable tools, or clear ability to build this capability quickly.
• ESSENTIAL Experience with process mapping, BPMN, value-stream mapping, swimlane mapping, gap analysis, or similar current-state / target-state process design methods.
• ESSENTIAL Demonstrated financial acumen, including OPEX / CAPEX budgeting, cost modelling, variance analysis, and cost-driver identification.
• ESSENTIAL Ability to convert complex data into clear executive-level narratives, visual materials, and decision-ready recommendations.
• PREFERRED Experience in container terminals, ports, logistics, fleet maintenance, heavy mobile equipment, manufacturing, mining, or other asset-intensive operations.
• PREFERRED Exposure to maintenance analytics, reliability improvement, CMMS / ERP data, procurement analytics, or equipment lifecycle cost analysis.
• PREFERRED Lean, Six Sigma, industrial engineering, or continuous-improvement training or certification.
• PREFERRED Experience supporting turnaround, recovery, start-up, post-acquisition, or transformation programmes.
• PREFERRED Familiarity with terminal operating systems, maintenance systems, procurement workflows, or operational reporting to head office / group stakeholders; Zulu-speaking candidates preferred.

5.Key Competencies

• Uses data carefully, challenges assumptions, checks quality, and converts analysis into clear operational and financial insight.
• Understands workflows, hand-offs, constraints, and controls. Designs practical improvements that can be implemented in a live terminal environment.
• Explains operational issues in cost, risk, and decision terms. Produces clear dashboards, executive narratives, and action-oriented recommendations.

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 port access, security, safety, and site induction requirements before commencement of site work.
• The role is primarily on-site , with regular engagement required with operational, maintenance, procurement, finance, and programme teams.
• After-hours or weekend support may be required during critical recovery milestones, urgent reporting cycles, or major management reviews.