Construction & Maintenance Manager – Greenfield Food Plant

About the role

The role combines construction management of a new greenfield food manufacturing plant with subsequent responsibility for plant maintenance and reliability. You will lead the end‑to‑end delivery of civil, MEP, utilities and process line works, ensure safe and on‑budget completion, and later oversee the upkeep of assets, utilities and production equipment.

Key responsibilities

• Manage the full construction lifecycle of the greenfield site, including civil, MEP, utilities and process line installation, in line with PepsiCo specifications and budget.
• Coordinate site mobilisation, contractor deployment, construction sequencing, logistics and statutory licence applications.
• Drive quality assurance (QA/QC), snag resolution and EHS compliance to achieve zero‑harm standards.
• Lead engineering commissioning of buildings and utilities before hand‑over to manufacturing.
• Recruit, onboard and develop the maintenance and utilities team ahead of plant commissioning.
• After hand‑over, act as Maintenance Manager responsible for a $4‑5 MM annual VMOH budget, $1 MM R&M budget and $3‑5 MM plant CAPEX.
• Design and implement a maintenance system that maximises reliability, efficiency and output while meeting sustainability targets (IGBC Gold/Platinum, ZLD, renewable energy).
• Report weekly and monthly on construction progress, spend, safety and operational KPIs.

Required profile

• Proven experience managing large‑scale greenfield construction projects in the food or industrial sector.
• Strong background in civil, MEP and process line engineering, with hands‑on knowledge of utilities and infrastructure.
• Demonstrated ability to lead multi‑disciplinary teams, handle statutory approvals and manage contractor performance.
• Experience overseeing plant maintenance, reliability engineering and large operational budgets.
• Commitment to safety, quality and sustainability standards.

Required skills

• Civil engineering
• MEP engineering
• Process line engineering
• Construction project management
• Maintenance engineering
• Reliability engineering
• Quality assurance (QA/QC)
• Health & Safety (EHS) compliance