Head of Technical - (Senior Technical & Scientific Authority)

Pay

ZAR 83000 - 100000 Monthly

Type

Permanent

Sector

Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing, Chemical, Petrochemical, Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical Sector, Scientific, Research & Development

Closes

in 30 days

Recruiter

Fourier Recruitment · All jobs at Fourier Recruitment

About the role

My Client that develops, Manufactures, and Supplies a wide range of Feed additives, Biosecurity, and Hygiene solutions for the feed, Livestock, and Food industries. As a South African manufacturer, they combine science, innovation, and care to strengthen food safety, productivity, and operational performance across Africa and parts of Asia. There proprietary Universal Dosing System (BUDS) sets them apart, integrating formulation expertise with precision application technology for their customers. There area of expertise is food safety, which is woven right through the ‘farm to fork’ chain.

The Opportunity: Head of Technical - An expert in Technology, Equipment, Manufacturing, R&D, Quality.

We are looking for a Head of Technical to serve as the senior technical and scientific authority for the company. This is a pivotal, hands-on leadership role for someone who can take our products from laboratory formulation, through scale-up and commercial manufacture, and ultimately into successful application at our customers’ sites. As Head of Technical, you will be the critical link between R&D, manufacturing and field operations, taking technical ownership of the product life cycle from initial formulation and development through pilot production, process scale-up, industrialisation and commercialisation, while ensuring products can be manufactured consistently, perform reliably and deliver the intended results in real-world customer applications.

This is not a desk-based technical leadership position. We are looking for someone who is pragmatic, decisive and technically accomplished, with the ability to move comfortably between the laboratory, production environment and customer site. Whether you are troubleshooting a formulation in the laboratory, resolving a scale-up challenge on the production floor, reviewing validation protocols, supporting a commercial manufacturing trial, or solving a technical application issue at a customer site, you will be expected to take ownership and drive solutions through to completion. If you are a hands-on technical leader who combines strong scientific capability with practical manufacturing expertise and a passion for turning great formulations into reliable commercial products, this could be your ideal next role.

Key Accountabilities

Technical leadership, governance and risk management.

R&D, Scale-Up & Commercialisation (The "Lab-to-Plant" Bridge)

• Translate approved product concepts and laboratory formulations into safe, reproducible, and commercially viable manufacturing processes.
• Lead technical transfer activities across the entire lifecycle: Laboratory → Pilot → First Commercial Production → Routine Manufacturing.
• Provide hands-on process development and optimisation for key unit operations, including mixing, dispersion, reaction, dilution, heating/cooling, filtration, transfer, filling, and process control.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance product quality, reliability, yield, and manufacturing cost-efficiency.

Manufacturing technology, equipment and facility technical oversight.

• Continuous improvement of manufacturing processes, equipment, product quality, reliability, yield and cost.
• Product Stewardship, Quality & Regulatory Governance
• Act as the senior technical authority for product safety, regulatory compliance, and formulation governance across the full product portfolio.
• Provide technical oversight of the Quality Assurance department, including audit support, change control, deviation management, and structured root-cause investigations.
• Lead CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Action) initiatives to resolve complex technical issues and prevent recurrence.
• Own and maintain all technical documentation and controlled manufacturing standards to ensure full regulatory traceability.

What they're looking for

Education & Experience

• Masters or PhD in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Biochemistry, Food Science, Industrial Chemistry, or a closely related discipline.
• 8+ years of progressive, practical experience in chemical formulation, manufacturing, process development, scale-up, and commercial industrialisation (experience in regulated industries highly preferred).
• An expert in Technology, Equipment, Manufacturing, R&D, Quality.

Technical Expertise

• Deep, hands-on knowledge of industrial unit operations, including mixing technologies, dispersion, heat transfer, filtration, and automated process control.
• Proven track record in technical risk assessment, validation protocol design, and manufacturing process capability analysis.
• Strong working knowledge of quality systems, change control, and regulatory compliance frameworks (e.g., ISO, GMP, or relevant regional standards).

Leadership & Mindset

• A pragmatic, decisive leader who can bridge the gap between scientific rigour and commercial reality.
• Comfortable moving seamlessly between the R&D laboratory, the manufacturing plant floor, and the customer's operational environment.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills with a structured approach to root-cause analysis and deviation management.