Plant Maintenance Lead

We're Hiring | Plant Maintenance Lead Thai Union Group PCL — Ambient & Packaging Manufacturing & Supply Chain

Thai Union Group is seeking an experienced and technically strong Plant Maintenance Lead to drive engineering and maintenance excellence across our Ambient & Packaging manufacturing plants. This is a newly created leadership role with significant scope — overseeing a team of 7 direct reports and more than 450 indirect headcount across three plant sites.

The Role

Reporting to the Plant Lead, you will own the full Engineering & Maintenance function at plant level — from strategic maintenance planning and OEE optimisation to capital project coordination and team capability development. You will operate within Thai Union's Ambient E&M framework and work closely with Group-level engineering governance to standardise practices across Plants

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Direction

• Propose and manage plant maintenance KPIs, targets, and budget for maintenance, repairs, overhauls, and E&M operations
• Provide input on E&M initiatives, technology roadmap, and engineering solution design

Effective Maintenance

• Drive planned maintenance, repairs, and overhauls across production areas, utilities, civil, and facilities
• Manage manpower and workload planning for effective maintenance execution
• Oversee spare parts management, vendor coordination, and production line set-up
• Drive Maintenance Excellence and TPM initiatives in line with Ambient E&M guidance
• Control and reduce utility costs in alignment with plant and BU strategies

Engineering Standards

• Support engineering audits and compliance with Group-level standards
• Contribute to standardisation of Work Instructions (WI), Standard Maintenance Procedures (SMP), and maintenance management software

Capital Project Management

• Propose and coordinate capital projects with Ambient E&M
• Support execution of BU-led CapEx projects and ensure compliance with quality, safety, and regulatory requirements

People and Leadership

• Lead, develop, and build succession plans for the plant maintenance team
• Foster a culture of continuous learning, performance, and employee engagement within the top quartile

Key Performance Indicators

Maintenance and utilities budget adherence, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF), Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), and employee engagement score.

What We're Looking For

Mandatory Requirements

• Minimum 10 years of experience in engineering and maintenance, with demonstrated plant-level leadership
• Strong technical proficiency in engineering principles, maintenance practices, project management, and equipment design
• Proven ability to lead, motivate, and develop a large plant-level maintenance team
• Experience managing maintenance budgets, spare parts, and capital project coordination
• Hands-on experience with planned maintenance, overhauls, and utility management
• Solid knowledge of TPM and Maintenance Excellence frameworks
• Proficient in English — both written and spoken
• Ability to manage internal and external stakeholders across technical and management levels

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in food, seafood, FMCG, or consumer goods manufacturing
• Experience with maintenance management software or CMMS
• Exposure to CapEx evaluation and capital project management
• Experience working within an MNC or Group-level engineering governance structure

Key Competencies

Strategic thinking with hands-on execution, strong analytical and problem-solving skills, excellent communication across technical and senior management levels, cross-functional collaboration, and long-term people leadership with a focus on succession planning.

Career Growth

This role offers a clear progression path toward Senior Plant Maintenance Lead or Ambient E&M leadership roles within Thai Union Group, with direct exposure to Group-level engineering governance, TPM programmes, and capital project management.

About Thai Union

Thai Union Group PCL is one of the world's largest seafood companies, operating across 50+ countries. We are committed to building a sustainable future through our SeaChange 2030 strategy — driving innovation, responsible sourcing, and operational excellence across our global manufacturing network.