About the Company

Our client is a newly established greenfield printing and packaging company, registered in 2024 to serve the Zambian market. The business forms part of a well-established African conglomerate with 40+ years of experience, operations in 5 African countries, and a workforce of 1,500+ employees.

The Role

This is a senior leadership role for a highly experienced, hands-on Production Manager – Flexo (UV Printing) who will establish, build, and manage the Flexo UV Printing Department from the ground up. The role combines strategic setup with day-to-day production leadership in a fast-growing start-up environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish all production systems, SOPs, KPIs, and workflows
• Lead machinery installation and commissioning
• Recruit, train, and manage production, prepress, QC, maintenance, and dispatch teams
• Oversee daily production planning, quality assurance, and on-time delivery
• Implement color management, preventive maintenance, and safety systems
• Drive continuous improvement (Lean, 5S, Kaizen)
• Collaborate with sales, finance, logistics, and senior management
• Support expansion planning and new production line development

Qualifications & Experience

• Degree in Printing Technology
• 10+ years hands-on experience in Flexographic UV Printing (labelling preferred)
• 5+ years in a leadership role
• Strong technical expertise across prepress, press, inks, substrates, plates, and color control
• Start-up or transformation experience highly desirable

Nice to Have

• ISO, HACCP, Food Safety
• Kaizen / Six Sigma
• ERP exposure (SAP S/4HANA or similar)

Candidate Profile

• Strong leadership and systems mindset
• Fluent in written and spoken English

• Establish all production systems, SOPs, KPIs, and workflows
• Lead machinery installation and commissioning
• Recruit, train, and manage production, prepress, QC, maintenance, and dispatch teams
• Oversee daily production planning, quality assurance, and on-time delivery
• Implement color management, preventive maintenance, and safety systems
• Drive continuous improvement (Lean, 5S, Kaizen)
• Collaborate with sales, finance, logistics, and senior management
• Support expansion planning and new production line development

• Strong leadership and systems mindset
• Fluent in written and spoken English
• Strong technical expertise across prepress, press, inks, substrates, plates, and color control
• Start-up or transformation experience
• ISO, HACCP, Food Safety (Nice to Have)
• Kaizen / Six Sigma (Nice to Have)
• ERP exposure (SAP S/4HANA or similar) (Nice to Have)

• Degree in Printing Technology
• 10+ years hands-on experience in Flexographic UV Printing (labelling preferred)
• 5+ years in a leadership role