RECRUITMENT
Job Description: Plant Head
Reports to
Executive Director
Function
Operations / Manufacturing
Annual salary band
₹15–18 Lakh
Purpose of the Role
NSTL is scaling production of rubber oil seals (double lip, double leap, valve stem) across OEM and aftermarket channels, with a confirmed FY 2026-27 growth plan and an active strategy development engagement underway. The Plant Head will take end-to-end ownership of manufacturing operations — rubber mixing, moulding, metal ring treatment, finishing and dispatch — currently overseen across separate Production, Metal Ring Treatment and Quality Assurance heads, providing a single point of accountability for output, quality, cost and on-time delivery as the plant scales toward its FY 2026-27 sales plan.
Key Responsibilities
- Leads the Production, Quality, Purchase and PPC teams in the plant
- Own daily production planning and execution across all process stages (rubber mixing, moulding, metal ring treatment, finishing) to meet the monthly sales plan, coordinating directly with Sales on order priority.
- Drive OEE improvement across rubber mixing, moulding and finishing lines, and reduce phosphating-related downtime, working with the interim external phosphating supplier arrangement pending the 2028 in-house decision.
- Own the plant's contribution to the FY 2026-27 KPI set agreed,: Rubber Mixing OEE, Moulding OEE, Finishing OEE, Production Plan vs Actual, Order vs Dispatch.
- Manage plant headcount, shift planning and manpower allocation, attrition, training and the incoming SAP transition.
- Own plant-level cost control: raw material yield, wastage, and manufacturing cost as a share of revenue, in line with the 5-year P&L assumptions being finalised for the strategic plan.
- Act as the plant-side owner for SAP go-live readiness — supporting creation of accurate material master, BOM and route master data, and the dual-running transition plan.
- Partner with Quality Assurance on rejection/rework reduction and closing open customer non-conformances.
- Support capacity planning and validation of the plant's stated production capacity, and provide the operational input needed for the 3-year capex and headcount ask still outstanding in the strategic plan.
- Report plant performance monthly into the leadership KPI review .
Key Interfaces
- Sales & Marketing : order priority and dispatch planning
- Quality Assurance : rejection/rework, customer NCs
- Purchase & PPC : raw material availability, incoming stores
- HR : headcount, shift planning, attrition
- CFO
Candidate Requirements
- Diploma or degree in Mechanical/Production/Industrial Engineering, or equivalent hands-on experience in rubber component or automotive component manufacturing.
- 15+ years in a plant/production leadership role, ideally in rubber, elastomer, or precision automotive-component manufacturing.
- Demonstrated experience managing OEE, production planning, and cost control in a multi-process manufacturing environment.
- Working familiarity with quality systems relevant to automotive component supply (ISO 9001 / IATF 16949 exposure preferred, given NSTL's OEM customer base) — candidate need not hold formal certification, but should show working knowledge.
- Comfortable working with, or learning, SAP PP/MM modules as NSTL's SAP implementation proceeds.
- Strong people-management skills; able to lead a ~70+ person plant workforce and work cross-functionally with Sales, Quality, Supply Chain and HR.
Success Measures (First 12 Months)
- Plant meeting or exceeding its share of the FY 2026-27 monthly sales plan, with visible improvement in OEE across mixing, moulding and finishing.
- Measurable reduction in phosphating-related downtime and rejection/rework rates.
- Plant-side SAP master data (material master, BOM, route masters) delivered on the agreed timeline.
- Full, current participation in the monthly leadership KPI review with no persistently overdue open items.
Pay: ₹100,000.00 - ₹150,000.00 per month
Work Location: In person
