Job Title: VPO Manager
Organisation: Nile Breweries Limited
Duty Station: Jinja, Uganda
About Organisation:
Nile Breweries Limited is a leading beverage company in Uganda and a subsidiary of SABMiller, the second largest brewing group in the world. We aim to provide for a variety of career paths and patterns of working, a good work-life balance and comprehensive employee benefits.
Job Summary: The key purpose of this role is to identify, co-operate and actively participate in strategic & systemic level value chain improvement initiatives and to provide leadership for the implementation of prioritised Strategic intents from the VPO Manufacturing Strategy for the Brewery.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
- Lead sustainability of the VPO (Voyager Plant Optimization)
- Ensures that Africa / Global standards have been implemented in the Plant
- Manage the VPO program via a structured VPO Steerco
- Ensure VPO Pillar Owner compliance
- Develop annual VPO plan and set short term plans to achieve these targets
- Monitor VPO progress across all pillars and provide feedback
- If Zone / Global standards have been adapted due to plant specifics these changes have been approved by Zone
- Serve as the brewery VPO subject matter expert and provide guidance to brewery Senior Management
- Primary VPO resource for the plant
- Facilitate the Plant 1year and 3-year planning process
- Manage MCRS
- Evaluate plant meetings and provide feedback to managers on meeting effectiveness and identify opportunities to improve structure and tool usage
- Actively participate and critique plant daily, weekly and monthly meetings and ensure VPO standards are fully implemented and sustained
- Assist Department Management teams in developing sustainability plans to identify and close gaps
- Lead and coach Managers on the correct use of the Management pillar tools and methodologies
- Conduct monthly Management Pillar department reviews and provide constructive feedback to departments on current status with recommendations to drive continuous improvement
- Coaches and guides all levels on the VPO Management Pillar in practice
- Ensure implementation of VPO and the adherence to VPO principles across all pillars
- Training
- Ensure that where training implementation is undertaken, it is done following AB Inbev policies and procedures.
- Interact with management teams to determine training needs.
- Where necessary, develop training material to address specific needs of shift based and engineering teams.
- Lead, facilitate and coach Problem Solving (5-Why, Ab-reports, PDCA, Gapa, ITF, Belts)
- Conduct problem solving training
- Facilitate problem solving teams
- Review progress and report on effectiveness of problem solving
- Support brewery achievement of Supply KPI targets and results
- Verify KPI results tracking for ZEP/WEP programs
- Support KPI training / education at all levels
- Ensure the accurate and timely submission of monthly VPO reporting info
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, or related field.
- 3-5 years in manufacturing/operations, with 2–3 years in VPO or similar methodologies.
- Knowledge of VPO, TPM, Lean, or Continuous Improvement.
- Experience in FMCG Industry would be advantageous.
- Strong data analysis and reporting capabilities.
- Familiar with PDCA/SDCA cycles and driving best practice adoption.
Key Attributes and Competencies:
- Demonstrated understanding of VPO principles
- Prior experience in applying varied industrial engineering related improvement techniques
- Project management capabilities to ensure delivery of initiatives from start-up through implementation to entrenchment, using appropriate communication milestones
- Ability to initiate improvement activities within a subsystem which would optimize the larger system in which it resides
- Ability to apply problem solving skills at all levels (shop-floor to exec teams)
- A good understanding of Change Management Processes Excellent skills and tools transfer capabilities (Train and coach others)
- Astute at reading interplays and subtleties between stakeholder groupings and individuals
- Excellent interpersonal skills –
- Clear capability and credibility to influence at all levels
- Ability to exert influence on technical teams
- Ability to mobilise teams during periods of varied operational stability
- 3-6 months on the job training Ideal – 6-9 months on the job training
How to Apply:
All interested candidates who meet the above specifications should apply at the link below.
Deadline: 25th September 2025
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Level of Education: Bachelor Degree
Work Hours: 8
Experience in Months: 36