Job Description

Location: Nestlé Estcourt

Company: Nestlé SA

Qualification: Diploma/BTech in Engineering or equivalent experience

Experience: Minimum of 3 years’ experience in a technical maintenance, engineering planning or manufacturing environment, preferably within food manufacturing or FMCG, with practical exposure to planned maintenance, work order management and digital maintenance systems.

Closing Date: 10 September 2026

Job Description:

Foods you love. Brands you trust. And a career that empowers you to grow.

At Nestlé, we are all working towards the same goal: to delight and deliver for our consumers. With a rich portfolio of trusted brands, including Nescafé, Ricoffy, Milo and Nestlé Hot Chocolate, we have a unique opportunity and responsibility to be there for every moment in our consumers’ lives.

Joining Nestlé means becoming part of an inclusive workplace that inspires innovation, encourages strategic thinking and creativity, and celebrates your achievements. No matter where you work within the organization, you are empowered to challenge the status quo, embrace risk-taking, and pioneer new ideas. Our supportive and collaborative environment encourages bold ambitions and continuous learning so that everyone can grow and thrive. We are now looking for a Maintenance Planner to be based at Estcourt Factory.

In this role, you will enable reliable, safe and cost-effective manufacturing by ensuring that maintenance activities are planned, scheduled and ready for execution in an optimised way. The role will consider production requirements, manpower availability, asset criticality, spare parts readiness, tools, contractors, safety, food safety, energy, water and the severity of potential failures. The Maintenance Planner will be a key driver of a modern maintenance system by using AMM/SAP PM, AMM Mobile, digital work order management, maintenance dashboards and data-driven insights to improve schedule compliance, work order quality, technical feedback, planned maintenance execution, cost control and equipment reliability. The role will connect Engineering, Production, Technical Stores, SHE, Quality and external service providers to ensure that maintenance work is prioritised, prepared and measured effectively.

A day in the life of a Maintenance Planner:

• Plan and optimise maintenance execution - Build and maintain integrated maintenance plans that balance production windows, resource availability, asset criticality, safety requirements, spare parts and contractor readiness.
• Drive AMM/SAP PM work order discipline - Create, schedule, review and govern work orders, task lists, maintenance plans and technical feedback to improve planned maintenance quality and execution discipline.
• Use digital tools to improve performance - Use AMM Mobile, maintenance dashboards, reports and data trends to improve visibility of work, reduce paperwork, strengthen technician feedback and support faster decision-making.
• Improve reliability and maintenance cost - Support TPM, planned maintenance, predictive maintenance and breakdown analysis by using work order history, maintenance trends and cost data to reduce unplanned stoppages and optimise maintenance spend.
• Link maintenance planning with technical stores - Ensure that spare parts, BOMs, kitting, stock accuracy and critical spares are aligned with planned maintenance requirements to improve readiness and reduce delays.
• Protect safety, food safety and compliance - Ensure maintenance plans consider SHE, food safety, environmental, statutory, energy and water requirements, including high-risk work and asset integrity controls.

What will make you successful?

• Diploma, BTech or Degree in Engineering, Maintenance Management or equivalent technical experience.
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in a technical maintenance, engineering planning or manufacturing role, preferably in food manufacturing, FMCG or an automated manufacturing environment.
• Practical experience with CMMS, AMM/SAP PM or similar systems, including work order creation, scheduling, task lists, maintenance plans, asset master data and KPI reporting.
• Strong planning, analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to use maintenance data, dashboards and trends to improve reliability, schedule compliance and maintenance cost.
• Good understanding of TPM, planned maintenance, predictive maintenance, breakdown analysis, 5W+1H task development, technical stores management and maintenance KPI governance.
• Ability to work cross-functionally with Production, Engineering, SHE, Quality, Technical Stores, contractors and external service providers.
• Recommended participation in basic SHE, Food Safety and maintenance excellence training.
• Experience in equipment start-up, commissioning or maintenance preparation for new production lines will be advantageous.