General Manager - Operations - Industrial Solar Salt

GM - Operations (TOP Management Professional) (10-25 yrs) - Leadership Role
Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Frequent travel to Uvinza)
Reporting To: Board of Directors (dotted line to Managing Director)
Role Overview:
We are seeking a dynamic and experienced General Manager - Operations to lead our industrial solar salt business in Tanzania. This is a senior leadership role with full P&L ownership, responsible for driving operational excellence, infrastructure development, financial performance, and sustainable growth across domestic and export markets.
The role oversees large-scale salt field infrastructure, underground brine-based solar salt production, processing plants, and commercial operations.
Key Responsibilities:
1. Strategy & Enterprise Leadership
- Define and execute short, medium, and long-term business strategy aligned with Board direction
- Translate strategic objectives into operational, financial, and commercial plans
- Lead growth, expansion, and diversification initiatives
- Drive long-term value creation through disciplined capital allocation
2. Salt Field Infrastructure, Manufacturing & Asset Stewardship (Critical)
- Oversee large-scale salt field infrastructure at Uvinza
- Provide leadership for refining, processing, and packing facilities
- Ensure assets are well-maintained, upgraded, safe, efficient, and scalable
- Institutionalize engineering standards, SOPs, and documentation
3. Operations Governance & Leadership
- Lead operations through the site GM at Uvinza with clear accountability
- Establish strong governance, review, and escalation mechanisms

- Conduct regular site reviews on infrastructure health, maintenance effectiveness, and capex execution
4. Financial & P&L Ownership
- Own full company P&L
- Approve operating budgets, capex plans, and cost structures
- Drive EBITDA improvement, cash flow optimization, and working capital discipline
5. Commercial Oversight & Market Expansion
- Provide strategic oversight to Sales & Business Development
- Approve and monitor domestic and export sales budgets
- Guide pricing strategy, customer mix, and channel development
- Support expansion into new geographies and institutional customers
6. Governance, Compliance & Risk Management
- Ensure compliance with Tanzanian regulations and statutory requirements
- Establish strong internal controls, audits, and risk management frameworks
- Ensure business continuity, disaster preparedness, and asset protection
7. Leadership, Organization & Culture
- Build and lead a high-performing leadership team across operations, engineering, sales, finance, supply chain, HR, and administration
- Drive a culture of safety, accountability, performance, and ownership
- Develop leadership succession and organizational depth
8. Stakeholder & External Management
- Act as primary interface with government authorities, regulators, customers, partners, and financial institutions
- Manage community and stakeholder relationships around Uvinza operations
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):
- Infrastructure & Asset Performance: Uptime, reliability, maintenance effectiveness, capex execution
- Operational Performance: Production efficiency, yield, cost per MT, safety & quality compliance
- Financial Performance: P&L, EBITDA, margins, cash flow, working capital
- Commercial Performance: Domestic and export sales growth, market diversification
- Leadership & Governance: Team stability, compliance outcomes, audit performance
Candidate Profile:
Education:
- Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering (preferred) or Mechanical / Process / Industrial Engineering
- MBA or postgraduate management qualification preferred
Experience:
- 5-10+ years of progressive leadership experience in industrial manufacturing
- Background in chemicals, salt, minerals, or process industries
- Proven track record managing asset-heavy operations with full P&L ownership
- Prior experience as GM, Business Head, Operations Head, or Plant Head
- Africa experience preferred (East Africa strongly desirable)
Other Requirements:
- Willingness to be based in Dar es Salaam with frequent travel to Uvinza
- Comfortable working in remote, large-scale industrial environments
- Valid passport and readiness for international travel