Job Information

Job Title: Masterbatch Factory Manager
Department: Manufacturing and Operations
Reporting To: General Manager / Managing Director
Location: [Bani Swaf, Egypt]
Employment Type: Full-time
Seniority Level: Mid-to-Senior Management

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Masterbatch Factory Manager to lead the operations of a manufacturing facility producing filler masterbatch, color masterbatch, calcium carbonate compounds, and related plastic compounds.

The Factory Manager will be responsible for achieving production, quality, cost, safety, maintenance, and delivery objectives. The role requires strong practical knowledge of plastic compounding and extrusion, particularly the processing of calcium carbonate with PE, PP, PVC, pigments, additives, and other polymer systems.

The successful candidate will manage production planning, extrusion operations, raw-material consumption, quality coordination, equipment performance, workforce productivity, and continuous-improvement initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

1. Production Management

• Manage daily factory operations to achieve production plans safely, efficiently, and on schedule.

• Convert monthly sales forecasts and confirmed orders into weekly and daily production plans.

• Monitor production output by line, shift, product, grade, and batch.

• Ensure compliance with approved formulations, processing parameters, and operating procedures.

• Coordinate production priorities with sales, planning, procurement, warehouse, quality, and logistics teams.

• Ensure accurate production reporting and timely entry of manufacturing data into the company’s ERP system.

• Investigate production delays, capacity limitations, and operational bottlenecks and implement corrective actions.

2. Extrusion and Compounding Operations

• Supervise single-screw and twin-screw extrusion lines, depending on the factory’s equipment.

• Control feeding, mixing, compounding, extrusion, cooling, pelletizing, sieving, packing, and finished-product handling.

• Monitor critical processing parameters, including:

  • Extruder temperature profile

  • Screw speed and torque

  • Feeding and dosing rates

  • Melt pressure and temperature

  • Vacuum and venting conditions

  • Cooling-water performance

  • Pelletizer speed and cutting quality

  • Line output and energy consumption

• Ensure correct machine setup and process conditions during grade changes and production start-ups.

• Reduce start-up losses, color-change waste, contamination, black specks, inconsistent pellets, and unplanned stoppages.

• Support troubleshooting of dispersion, agglomeration, moisture, feeding, pressure, pelletizing, and processing problems.

3. Masterbatch and Compound Production

• Supervise the production of:

  • Calcium carbonate filler masterbatch

  • PE- and PP-based filler masterbatch

  • Color masterbatch

  • White and black masterbatch, where applicable

  • PVC compounds

  • Calcium carbonate-based plastic compounds

  • Recycled plastic compounds, where applicable

• Ensure accurate weighing and dosing of calcium carbonate, polymers, pigments, waxes, processing aids, coupling agents, dispersing agents, and other additives.

• Control formulation changes and ensure that unauthorized substitutions are not made.

• Work with technical and quality teams to improve dispersion, processability, loading level, pellet quality, and product consistency.

• Support industrial trials, product development, scale-up, and customer-specific production requirements.

4. Quality Management

• Coordinate closely with Quality Control and Technical teams to ensure compliance with approved product specifications.

• Ensure proper sampling, batch identification, traceability, testing, release, and retention-sample procedures.

• Review quality results such as:

  • Melt Flow Index

  • Calcium carbonate or ash content

  • Moisture

  • Density and bulk density

  • Color strength and color difference

  • Pigment and filler dispersion

  • Pellet size and uniformity

  • Black specks and contamination

  • Mechanical and processing performance, where applicable

• Investigate rejected batches, customer complaints, production deviations, and repeated quality problems.

• Implement corrective and preventive actions and verify their effectiveness.

• Ensure nonconforming materials are clearly identified, isolated, and controlled.

5. Maintenance Coordination

• Coordinate preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance with the maintenance team.

• Monitor the condition of extruders, gearboxes, screws, barrels, feeders, mixers, pelletizers, cooling systems, compressors, dust collectors, and packing machines.

• Analyze equipment failures and repeated downtime using root-cause analysis.

• Plan maintenance activities to minimize disruption to customer orders.

• Ensure critical spare parts are identified and available.

• Monitor equipment condition and recommend repairs, upgrades, or capital investments when justified.

6. Cost Control and Waste Reduction

• Monitor production cost per kilogram or metric ton.

• Control polymer, calcium carbonate, pigment, additive, packaging, energy, and labor consumption.

• Compare actual material consumption against approved bills of materials and standard consumption.

• Reduce raw-material losses, off-specification batches, reprocessing, packaging waste, and production scrap.

• Improve line productivity, production yield, and energy efficiency.

• Identify and implement cost-saving initiatives without compromising product quality or safety.

• Prepare regular variance reports covering output, consumption, waste, downtime, and production cost.

7. Inventory and Material Control

• Coordinate raw-material requirements with procurement and warehouse teams.

• Maintain appropriate stock levels for critical polymers, minerals, additives, pigments, and packaging materials.

• Ensure proper storage and handling of calcium carbonate, polymers, pigments, additives, and finished products.

• Apply FIFO or FEFO principles where appropriate.

• Prevent material contamination, incorrect identification, moisture exposure, and unauthorized use.

• Participate in stock counts and investigate production-related inventory variances.

8. Team Leadership

• Lead production supervisors, shift leaders, operators, helpers, and other factory personnel.

• Establish clear responsibilities, shift structures, and performance expectations.

• Assess workforce requirements based on production plans and equipment capacity.

• Train employees on operating procedures, quality requirements, safety practices, and good housekeeping.

• Evaluate employee performance and recommend training, development, recognition, or corrective action.

• Build a culture of accountability, teamwork, discipline, problem-solving, and continuous improvement.

• Ensure effective communication between shifts and departments.

9. Health, Safety, and Housekeeping

• Enforce company health, safety, environmental, and housekeeping requirements.

• Ensure safe handling of powders, pigments, additives, polymers, hot surfaces, rotating machinery, and electrical equipment.

• Ensure the correct use of personal protective equipment.

• Control dust emissions and ensure ventilation and dust-collection systems operate effectively.

• Participate in risk assessments, incident investigations, safety inspections, and emergency drills.

• Ensure machine guards, emergency stops, fire-protection systems, and material-handling equipment remain operational.

• Maintain factory areas according to 5S and good manufacturing practices.

10. Continuous Improvement and Reporting

• Apply continuous-improvement tools to enhance output, quality, safety, and cost performance.

• Use root-cause analysis, Pareto analysis, 5 Why, OEE, 5S, and other appropriate manufacturing tools.

• Standardize successful processing conditions and best operating practices.

• Prepare daily, weekly, and monthly factory performance reports.

• Present production results, challenges, corrective actions, and improvement plans to senior management.

• Support capacity planning, equipment selection, production-line expansion, and factory-development projects.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Production Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Polymer Engineering, Materials Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related discipline.

• Technical postgraduate studies, an MBA, or professional manufacturing certification would be an advantage.

• Good command of written and spoken English.

• Good computer skills, including Microsoft Excel and ERP or manufacturing-management systems.

Required Experience

• Minimum 8–20 years of relevant manufacturing experience, preferably in plastics compounding, masterbatch, or extrusion.

• Minimum 3–5 years in a production-management, operations-management, or factory-management position.

• Proven experience managing production teams and shift-based manufacturing operations.

• Practical experience with filler masterbatch, color masterbatch, calcium carbonate compounds, PE/PP compounds, PVC compounds, or recycled plastic compounds is highly preferred.

• Experience in an export-oriented or quality-certified industrial company is an advantage.

Technical Skills

The preferred candidate should demonstrate knowledge of:

• Plastic extrusion and compounding processes

• Single-screw and twin-screw extruders

• Gravimetric and volumetric dosing systems

• High-speed mixers and material-blending systems

• Strand and underwater pelletizing systems, where applicable

• PE, PP, PVC, recycled polymers, and related carrier resins

• Calcium carbonate, coated calcium carbonate, pigments, waxes, dispersants, and processing additives

• Masterbatch formulations and bills of materials

• Pigment and filler dispersion

• Color matching and color-difference control

• Extrusion troubleshooting and process optimization

• Production planning and capacity utilization

• Preventive maintenance coordination

• Quality-control procedures and batch traceability

• Material-consumption analysis and cost control

• Lean manufacturing, 5S, OEE, and root-cause analysis

• ERP/MRP systems; experience with Odoo is an advantage

Leadership and Management Skills

• Strong leadership and team-management ability

• Practical, hands-on manufacturing approach

• Effective planning and prioritization

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

• Ability to make timely operational decisions

• Cost awareness and commercial understanding

• Effective communication across technical and nontechnical departments

• Ability to manage pressure, changing priorities, and urgent customer orders

• Strong discipline in documentation, reporting, and follow-up

• Ability to coach, train, and develop production personnel

Preferred Industry Background

Candidates with experience in one or more of the following sectors will be given preference:

• Filler masterbatch

• Color masterbatch

• Calcium carbonate compounds

• Plastic extrusion and compounding

• PE or PP masterbatch

• PVC compounds

• Cable compounds

• Injection- or blow-molding compounds

• Plastic recycling and recycled compounds

• Industrial mineral processing

• Polymer additives or pigment manufacturing

Personal Characteristics

• Responsible, disciplined, and results-oriented

• Visible and engaged on the factory floor

• Detail-focused without losing sight of overall business objectives

• Ethical and consistent in applying company procedures

• Calm and decisive when handling production problems

• Proactive in identifying operational risks

• Committed to safety, product quality, and customer satisfaction

• Capable of building a stable, accountable production team