Experience: 20+ Years

Industry: Agrochemicals Pesticides Specialty Chemicals

Reporting to: Plant Head Unit Head COO

Role Purpose

Lead and manage the complete production function at the Dahej manufacturing facility, ensuring safe, efficient, cost-effective and timely manufacturing of agrochemical products while maintaining high standards of quality, EHS, regulatory compliance and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Production & Operations

- Lead end-to-end production operations for agrochemical/pesticide manufacturing processes.
- Ensure achievement of production targets as per the annual operating plan and customer requirements.
- Optimize plant capacity utilization, batch cycle time, yields and productivity.
- Ensure adherence to approved manufacturing processes, SOPs, batch records and operating procedures.
- Monitor production performance and take corrective actions for deviations, delays and bottlenecks.
- Coordinate with Production Planning, QA/QC, Maintenance, Engineering, R&D; and Supply Chain functions.

Process & Productivity Improvement

- Drive initiatives for improving process yields, throughput, productivity and overall equipment effectiveness.
- Identify opportunities for reduction in raw-material consumption, solvent losses, energy consumption and manufacturing costs.
- Lead process optimization, debottlenecking and capacity-enhancement initiatives.
- Implement Lean Manufacturing, Kaizen, 5S and other operational excellence initiatives.

EHS & Process Safety

- Ensure strict compliance with company EHS standards and statutory requirements.
- Provide strong leadership for process safety management, particularly for hazardous chemical operations.
- Ensure safe handling, storage and processing of hazardous chemicals, solvents and intermediates.
- Drive HAZOP recommendations, MOC, PSSR, risk assessments and process safety improvement initiatives.
- Ensure effective implementation of emergency response, fire safety and occupational safety systems.
- Develop a strong safety culture with zero tolerance for unsafe operating practices.

Quality & Compliance

- Ensure production operations comply with quality standards and approved specifications.




- Work closely with QA/QC to minimize batch failures, deviations, reprocessing and customer complaints.
- Ensure proper documentation and traceability of manufacturing activities.
- Support regulatory, customer and statutory audits.

People & Team Leadership

- Lead a large production team comprising Production Managers, Shift In-charges, Engineers, Officers, Operators and contract manpower.
- Build a performance-oriented culture with clear KPIs and accountability.
- Develop second-line leadership and succession plans.
- Identify training requirements and ensure technical, safety and operational competency development.
- Manage manpower productivity and optimize shift deployment.

Cost Management

- Prepare and monitor the production budget.
- Drive manufacturing cost reduction without compromising safety or quality.
- Monitor key cost parameters including raw materials, utilities, solvents, consumables, manpower and reprocessing.
- Establish production KPIs and review performance against targets.

Maintenance & Reliability

- Coordinate with Maintenance and Engineering teams to ensure maximum equipment availability.
- Support preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
- Identify recurring equipment/process-related issues and drive root-cause analysis.
- Participate in plant modification, expansion and current-project implementation.

New Product Scale-up

- Support technology transfer and scale-up of new agrochemical products/processes from R&D; or pilot scale to commercial production.
- Work with R&D;, Process Development and Engineering teams on commercialization.
- Ensure successful commissioning and stabilization of recent processes and equipment.

Key Performance Indicators

- Production volume and plan adherence
- Capacity utilization
- Batch cycle time
- Yield and productivity




- Manufacturing cost per MT
- OEE equipment utilization
- Batch rejection and reprocessing
- Solvent/raw-material recovery
- Energy and utility consumption
- Safety incidents process safety compliance
- Customer complaints related to manufacturing
- Manpower productivity
- Successful implementation of debottlenecking and cost-reduction projects

Candidate Profile

Education

- B.E./B.Tech in Chemical Engineering preferred.
- M.Tech/MBA/PG qualification would be an added advantage.

Experience

- 20+ years of relevant manufacturing experience, with substantial experience in a senior Production/Manufacturing leadership role.
- Mandatory experience in Agrochemicals Pesticides Crop Protection Chemicals.
- Experience in batch chemical manufacturing and hazardous chemical processes is essential.
- Should have handled a sizeable manufacturing plant and a large production workforce.
- Experience in plant expansion, capacity enhancement, commissioning and technology transfer would be preferred.

Technical Competencies

- Agrochemical/pesticide manufacturing processes
- Batch process operations
- Process optimization and scale-up
- Process safety and HAZOP
- Manufacturing cost optimization
- Production planning and scheduling
- Root Cause Analysis CAPA
- Lean Manufacturing Operational Excellence
- EHS and statutory compliance
- ERP/SAP-based production systems

Leadership Competencies

- Strong plant-floor leadership and decision-making ability
- Ability to manage production under pressure and meet delivery commitments
- Robust cross-functional coordination
- Data-driven approach to productivity and cost improvement
- Excellent people-management and communication skills
- Ability to develop and retain a strong second line
- Strong safety and compliance orientation

Ideal Candidate The ideal candidate should currently be working as Head/GM/VP Production, Plant Head, or Senior Production Head in an established agrochemical, pesticide or crop-protection chemical manufacturing company, with approximately 2025+ years of experience and proven experience managing a complex chemical manufacturing operation.

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