Plant Manager - Aluminium Extrusion

Role PurposeThe ideal candidate is the first senior hire of a greenfield aluminium extrusion programme and carries the technical and operational leadership of two new plants on one site. The role starts as the owner's process authority during design, procurement and construction, leads the hot commissioning and ramp-up of eight extrusion presses and a billet cast house, and then runs both plants safely, at budgeted cost per tonne, and to certified quality.We are looking for an extrusion professional who knows presses, dies and billet from the shop floor upwards, and who has already taken a plant from an empty site to stable production.Responsibilities1.1 Design, procurement and constructionAct as the owner's process authority for extrusion, die shop, cast house, ageing, finishing and material handling, and approve layouts and material flow before design freeze.Review supplier engineering deliverables, including layouts, energy schedules, foundation loads and utility requirements, and close technical gaps before contract signature.Define performance guarantees for each line: output per press, billet-to-profile recovery, dimensional tolerances, energy consumption and availability.Witness factory acceptance tests for presses, billet furnaces, pullers, quench, stretchers, saws, ageing ovens, cast house and finishing lines.Coordinate with civil, MEP and utilities contractors on press pits, foundations, crane runways, substation, gas PRMS and cooling water so that installation runs to programme.Specify the initial die stock, spare parts and consumables, and set up the die design, ordering and approval process with die makers.Finalise the plant organisation, recruit the leadership team and shift crews, and run the training plan with supplier commissioning engineers.Prepare operating procedures, the quality plan, the maintenance system and the production requirements for MES and ERP before the first press runs.1.2 Commissioning and ramp-upLead hot commissioning, performance tests and acceptance of every line against the contract guarantees.Deliver the production ramp-up plan year by year and raise recovery from start-up levels to the steady-state target.Establish die trial, correction and nitriding practice, die life tracking and a die library shared between the two plants.Bring the cast house into production: melting, holding, degassing, filtration, DC casting, homogenising and spectrometer control, with billet quality matched to the 12 inch presses and a controlled scrap charge mix.Obtain product and system certifications and the first customer approvals: EN 755, EN 12020, ASTM B221, Qualicoat, Qualanod, ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001.1.3 Steady-state operationsOwn the safety performance of both plants, with particular control of molten metal, press, crane, gas and chemical hazards.Plan and load eight presses across both plants, allocating profiles by section size, alloy and die availability.Hold conversion cost per tonne, recovery, energy per tonne and die cost per tonne within budget, and report monthly to the CEO.Run continuous improvement through OEE, TPM, SPC and lean methods, with clear ownership at shift level.Work with Head Office functions for procurement, finance, HR, HSE and central maintenance support.Develop Saudi talent into supervisory and technical roles and build a succession plan for every key position.Qualifications2.1 Education and experienceBachelor's degree in Mechanical, Metallurgical, Materials or Production Engineering.At least 15 years in aluminium extrusion, including at least 5 years as Plant Manager or Operations Manager of a multi-press plant.Has led at least one greenfield plant or major new press line from layout through installation, hot commissioning and stable production.Has run presses of 9 inch or larger, 35 MN or above.Experience with an in-house cast house, or close working knowledge of billet production and billet quality.2.2 Technical knowledgeExtrusion: presses, containers, billet furnaces and hot log shears, pullers, quench systems, stretchers, saws, stacking and ageing ovens; isothermal extrusion and exit temperature control.Dies: solid, hollow and porthole dies, die design review, correction, nitriding, die ovens and die life management.Billet and metallurgy: 6060, 6063, 6005A, 6061 and 6082 alloys, homogenising, grain refinement, inclusion control and the effect of billet quality on surface and productivity.Cast house: melting and holding furnaces, degassing and filtration, DC casting, spectrometer control and scrap charge management.Finishing: working knowledge of powder coating and anodizing lines and their quality standards.Systems: EN, ASTM and ISO product and management standards, MES and ERP, OEE, TPM, SPC and lean.2.3 Leadership and personal attributesBuilds teams from nothing and develops people who have not worked in extrusion before.Hands on in the plant, comfortable on the press floor and in the cast house.Commercially aware: understands cost per tonne and how process decisions drive it.Firm with suppliers and contractors on scope, schedule and guarantees.Fluent English. Arabic is an advantage. GCC or Saudi operating experience is an advantage.