Overview:
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $79 billion in net revenue in 2021, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.
Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive (pep+). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability and human capital at the center of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people.
In South Africa (SA), you will find our products across the region at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. At the gym or on the field. In the office or on the go. We refresh, restore, and rejuvenate our consumers all day, every day with our key brands including Simba, Lay's, Liqui Fruit and Bokomo range of cereals. PepsiCo SA employs more than 13, 000 people across our three business divisions: Bakeries, Grains, Foods, Fruit, Snacks, Juice & Beverages. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.
Responsibilities:
What we're looking for: We're looking for a Maintenance Planner Based at our Upington Dried Fruit Plant to join our team.
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Coordinate and control all planned and corrective maintenance activities across the raisin manufacturing site, ensuring seamless execution and minimal disruption to operations.
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Plan, sequence, and schedule preventative, predictive, and statutory maintenance across processing, drying, packing, and utility areas to maximise asset reliability and plant availability.
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Drive compliance with food safety standards and engineering best practices while maintaining strict cost control and operational efficiency.
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Collaborate closely with Production, Engineering, and Stores to ensure alignment of maintenance plans with operational priorities.
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Ensure readiness of all maintenance activities by verifying work orders, labour allocation, tools, and material availability in advance.
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Maintain and govern CMMS (SAP) by ensuring accurate work order creation, execution tracking, and closure, enabling reliable data integrity.
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Capture and analyse maintenance data to support root cause analysis, performance tracking, and continuous improvement initiatives.
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Produce clear and actionable reports to support decision-making, improve equipment performance, and optimise maintenance strategies.
Accountabilities:
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Drive execution of maintenance strategies to achieve best-in-class plant reliability and availability, aligning with industry benchmarks.
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Develop and optimise maintenance work plans by implementing structured processes, incorporating root cause analysis (RCA) and lifecycle management principles.
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Design and implement equipment-specific maintenance schedules aligned with Food Safety, EHS requirements, sector best practices, and PEMM methodology.
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Monitor, analyse, and report on maintenance KPIs, trends, and the full engineering scorecard to support performance improvement.
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Contribute to maintenance budgeting by analysing historical data and applying zero-based budgeting principles to improve cost control.
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Ensure CMMS (SAP) data integrity by validating work orders, verifying artisan inputs, and maintaining strict document control standards.
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Manage and optimise the maintenance backlog, ensuring timely execution and closure of all work orders and job cards.
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Support reliability engineering initiatives by conducting and contributing to analysis such as RCA, and translating findings into actionable improvement plans.
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Train and support maintenance and production teams on maintenance procedures and effective utilisation of the CMMS system.
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Integrate maintenance plans with production schedules to minimise downtime and maximise operational efficiency.
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Lead forward planning activities (weekly, monthly, annual) for maintenance tasks, labour, and materials to ensure consistent and effective execution.
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Accurately scope and estimate maintenance work, including duration, priority, resource requirements, spares, tools, specialist services, and materials.
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Plan and coordinate contract labour to supplement internal resources and meet maintenance workload demands.
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Identify and manage critical equipment and spares through structured criticality assessments.
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Continuously review and improve maintenance strategies and tasks based on team feedback, plant changes, and evolving industry best practices.
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Maintain 95% SAP (CMMS) work order closure compliance by actively monitoring, managing, and driving timely completion and close-out of all maintenance job cards.
Maintenance Planning & Scheduling
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Develop, update, and optimise preventive and predictive maintenance programmes across production, packing, and utilities to ensure maximum equipment reliability.
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Build and execute detailed weekly and daily maintenance plans, including Maintenance Day Plans with defined scope, resources, durations, and lockout requirements.
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Lead pre-maintenance planning meetings to align Engineering, Production, and Contractors on scope, priorities, and execution strategy.
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Plan and coordinate major shutdowns, breakdown repairs, and seasonal maintenance activities, integrating maintenance with production schedules and cleaning cycles.
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Prioritise and release work orders in SAP PM, ensuring effective response to corrective and ad hoc maintenance based on risk, safety, food safety, and operational impact.
Materials, Spares & Services Coordination
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Determine and manage spares requirements through criticality assessments, ensuring availability of critical parts, tools, and equipment.
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Coordinate external service providers and statutory inspections (e.g., boilers, lifting equipment) to ensure compliance and operational readiness.
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Accurately estimate maintenance work scope, including labour, duration, skills, spares, tools, and specialist services.
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Plan and deploy contract labour to supplement internal resources during peak workloads and shutdown periods.
Execution Readiness & Governance
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Ensure execution readiness by defining clear job scopes, safety procedures, permit requirements, LOTO compliance, and food safety controls for all work orders.
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Govern work order quality in SAP CMMS by validating job card inputs, including time confirmations, materials usage, and technical completion notes.
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Chair post-maintenance reviews to assess execution quality, identify gaps, and track deferred or incomplete work.
Maintain- 95% SAP (CMMS) work order closure compliance, driving discipline in timely completion and accurate system updates.
Performance, Reliability & Continuous Improvement
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Monitor and report on maintenance KPIs, Asset Care indicators, backlog, and schedule adherence to drive performance improvements.
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Analyse equipment failures and losses using RCA, methodologies, translating insights into actionable reliability improvement plans.
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Continuously improve maintenance strategies by incorporating lifecycle management principles, audit findings, and industry best practices.
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Plan and track condition monitoring activities (e.g., vibration analysis, thermography) to proactively identify and mitigate equipment risks.
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Maintain engineering documentation and asset records, including drawings, P&IDs, OEM manuals, SOPs, and equipment history for audit and traceability purposes.
Stakeholder Management & Integration
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Collaborate daily with Engineering Managers, Technicians, Production Supervisors, Stores, and external vendors to align maintenance activities with operational priorities.
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Integrate maintenance plans with production schedules to minimise downtime and maximise plant efficiency.
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Train and support teams on maintenance procedures and effective use of SAP CMMS to strengthen process adherence and data quality.
Financial & Strategic Contribution
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Support maintenance budgeting and cost control through analysis of historical data and application of zero-based budgeting principles.
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Drive best-in-class plant reliability and availability, benchmarking performance against industry standards and continuously improving maintenance effectiveness.
Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications
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Certificate or Diploma Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial or equivalent).
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Trade Test qualification (advantageous).
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SAP PM / CMMS certification or formal training (advantageous).
Experience
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Minimum 3–5 years’ experience in maintenance planning, maintenance coordination, or engineering maintenance within a manufacturing or FMCG environment.
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Proven experience in maintenance planning and scheduling, including preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance.
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Experience working with CMMS systems (preferably SAP PM) for work order management, planning, and reporting.
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Demonstrated experience in shutdown planning, backlog management, and resource coordination.
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Exposure to food safety, EHS standards, and statutory compliance within a plant environment.
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Experience in working with automated production systems and modern plant equipment.
Technical Knowledge
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Strong understanding of:
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Maintenance planning and scheduling principles
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Root Cause Analysis (RCA) methodologies
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Reliability concepts (MTBF, MTTR, asset care strategies)
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Preventive and predictive maintenance techniques
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Lifecycle asset management
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Knowledge of spares management and criticality assessments.
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Understanding of condition monitoring techniques (e.g., vibration analysis, thermography).
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Familiarity with engineering documentation (P&IDs, OEM manuals, SOPs).
Key Skills
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Strong planning and organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
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Analytical and problem-solving ability with a data-driven approach to decision-making.
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High attention to detail, particularly in CMMS data integrity and reporting.
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Effective communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to coordinate across multiple departments.
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Ability to work under pressure and adapt to changing operational demands.
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Leadership and influencing skills to drive maintenance discipline and compliance.
Behavioural Competencies
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Proactive and results-driven mindset.
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Strong accountability and ownership.
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Commitment to continuous improvement and operational excellence.
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Strong focus on safety, food safety, and compliance.
“PepsiCo is an Equal Opportunity Employer in line with the Employment Equity Act"
