Background information about the job or company

The Production Manager will lead Savanna Premium Chocolate production team to deliver efficient, high-quality manufacturing performance. They will manage and develop the team, ensuring the team meet and exceed performance expectations while maintaining a culture of accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.

A key part of this role is to guide and support the team, ensuring the production team is motivated, well trained, and consistently performing to a high standard. The Production Manager will be hands on, spending time on the factory floor to remove barriers, solve problems, and enable the team to perform at their best.

This role requires energy, adaptability, and strong leadership to drive operational excellence while fostering a positive, solution focused environment aligned with Savanna’s ethics and values. The role is based in Lusaka.

Responsibilities or duties

1. Leadership & Team Development

• Manage, motivate, coach and develop the chocolate production team.
• Assign daily tasks and production stations to employees.
• Keep the team productive, organized and on schedule throughout the workday.
• Train team members on proper production techniques and procedures.
• Build a culture of teamwork, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Be a visible, hands-on leader who leads from the front and work hands-on alongside the team.

2. Operational Excellence

• Manage and oversee the day-to-day chocolate production team.
• Create and organize daily and weekly production schedules based on inventory needs and upcoming orders.
• Achieve production plans, targets, quality standards and deadlines.
• Ensure recipes, formulas and production procedures are followed accurately.
• Monitor chocolate roasting, winnowing, refining, tempering, molding, cooling, storage and other processes.
• Troubleshoot common chocolate and confectionery production issues.
• Monitor ingredient and packaging inventory and communicate upcoming purchasing needs before items run out.
• Ensure company procedures and manufacturing standards are consistently followed.

3. Performance & Continuous Improvement

• Monitor KPIs, productivity and production efficiency.
• Monitor product quality, appearance, weight, consistency and finished yields.
• Track production progress against planned targets and deadlines.
• Help establish and maintain clear production SOPs and batch procedures.
• Identify opportunities to improve workflow and production efficiency as the company continues to grow.
• Drive continuous improvement in production processes, quality and team performance.

4. Health, Safety & Compliance

• Maintain high standards of food safety, hygiene, product quality, health and safety.
• Ensure the production space remains clean, organized and food safe.
• Ensure employees consistently follow established hygiene, safety and manufacturing procedures.
• Monitor production processes to ensure compliance with company quality and manufacturing standards.

5. Collaboration & Communication

• Communicate production delays, quality concerns, staffing issues and ingredient needs directly to the founder.
• Communicate upcoming ingredient & packaging purchase requirements in advance.
• Coordinate production schedules and priorities based on inventory availability and upcoming orders.
• Keep the leadership team informed of production progress, operational challenges and opportunities for improvement.
• Work collaboratively with the team and relevant colleagues to ensure production targets, quality standards and deadlines are achieved.

Qualifications or requirements

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• 3+ years of proven experience in a manufacturing or food production management role (ideally within confectionery, bakery, or FMCG).
• Strong leadership & people management skills, with the ability to coach and develop others.
• Demonstrable success in driving team performance and achieving KPIs.
• Hands-on experience with Continuous Improvement and Lean methodologies.
• Excellent problem-solving, planning, and organizational abilities.
• Confident communicator able to collaborate effectively across departments.
• Adaptable, pragmatic, and capable of leading change in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong understanding of food safety, health & safety, and compliance in a manufacturing setting.
• Positive, energetic, and proactive approach to work.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

• Approachable and supportive leader who leads by example.
• Calm under pressure, with strong decision-making skills.
• Detail oriented, yet commercially aware.
• Passionate about ethical, sustainable food manufacturing.
• Collaborative and driven by continuous improvement.

Any other provided details

Please submit the below exercise with your application

Production Planning Challenge

Task:

You have 5 production employees and need to produce 5,000 chocolate bars over the next 5 working days. You have limited machine capacity, existing customer orders and several production stages that must be completed in sequence.

Create a 5-day production plan showing:

Daily production targets

People allocation

Machine utilization

Quality checks

Packaging requirements

Key risks and contingencies

Submit: 1-page production schedule + 1-page explanation. (AI RESPONSES WILL BE REJECTED)

• Manage, motivate, coach and develop the chocolate production team.
• Assign daily tasks and production stations to employees.
• Keep the team productive, organized and on schedule throughout the workday.
• Train team members on proper production techniques and procedures.
• Build a culture of teamwork, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Be a visible, hands-on leader who leads from the front and work hands-on alongside the team.
• Manage and oversee the day-to-day chocolate production team.
• Create and organize daily and weekly production schedules based on inventory needs and upcoming orders.
• Achieve production plans, targets, quality standards and deadlines.
• Ensure recipes, formulas and production procedures are followed accurately.
• Monitor chocolate roasting, winnowing, refining, tempering, molding, cooling, storage and other processes.
• Troubleshoot common chocolate and confectionery production issues.
• Monitor ingredient and packaging inventory and communicate upcoming purchasing needs before items run out.
• Ensure company procedures and manufacturing standards are consistently followed.
• Monitor KPIs, productivity and production efficiency.
• Monitor product quality, appearance, weight, consistency and finished yields.
• Track production progress against planned targets and deadlines.
• Help establish and maintain clear production SOPs and batch procedures.
• Identify opportunities to improve workflow and production efficiency as the company continues to grow.
• Drive continuous improvement in production processes, quality and team performance.
• Maintain high standards of food safety, hygiene, product quality, health and safety.
• Ensure the production space remains clean, organized and food safe.
• Ensure employees consistently follow established hygiene, safety and manufacturing procedures.
• Monitor production processes to ensure compliance with company quality and manufacturing standards.
• Communicate production delays, quality concerns, staffing issues and ingredient needs directly to the founder.
• Communicate upcoming ingredient & packaging purchase requirements in advance.
• Coordinate production schedules and priorities based on inventory availability and upcoming orders.
• Keep the leadership team informed of production progress, operational challenges and opportunities for improvement.
• Work collaboratively with the team and relevant colleagues to ensure production targets, quality standards and deadlines are achieved.

• Strong leadership & people management skills, with the ability to coach and develop others.
• Demonstrable success in driving team performance and achieving KPIs.
• Hands-on experience with Continuous Improvement and Lean methodologies.
• Excellent problem-solving, planning, and organizational abilities.
• Confident communicator able to collaborate effectively across departments.
• Adaptable, pragmatic, and capable of leading change in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong understanding of food safety, health & safety, and compliance in a manufacturing setting.
• Positive, energetic, and proactive approach to work.
• Approachable and supportive leader who leads by example.
• Calm under pressure, with strong decision-making skills.
• Detail oriented, yet commercially aware.
• Passionate about ethical, sustainable food manufacturing.
• Collaborative and driven by continuous improvement.

• 3+ years of proven experience in a manufacturing or food production management role (ideally within confectionery, bakery, or FMCG).