Team Leader Natural Surfactant

About the job

Unilever Oleochemical Indonesia is looking for a passionate and results-driven Team Leader Natural Surfactant to lead and oversee safe, efficient, and high-quality manufacturing operations across our Natural Surfactant production area.

This role is responsible for providing frontline leadership during shift operations, ensuring adherence to safety standards, operational discipline, production targets, and product quality requirements. The successful candidate will play a key role in driving operational excellence, supporting continuous improvement initiatives, and fostering a high-performance culture within the manufacturing team.

Working closely with Production, Engineering, Quality, SHE, and Supply Chain teams, this position will contribute to delivering reliable plant performance while maintaining the highest standards of safety, quality, and compliance.

Responsibilities

• Lead and supervise day-to-day shift manufacturing operations within the Natural Surfactant production area.

• Ensure compliance with all safety procedures, operating standards, and regulatory requirements.

• Drive a strong safety culture by promoting proactive hazard identification, risk management, and safe work behaviors.

• Coordinate and monitor production activities to achieve agreed safety, quality, productivity, and operational performance targets.

• Oversee specialized manufacturing processes, including Amidoamine production, Betaine production, distillation processes, and loading or dispatch operations.

• Ensure effective execution of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and operational controls across all shift activities.

• Conduct routine operational and safety inspections, ensuring timely resolution of identified issues.

• Lead incident response activities, reporting investigations, and follow-up corrective and preventive actions.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to resolve operational challenges and improve plant reliability.

• Provide coaching, guidance, and performance feedback to operators and production personnel.

• Support continuous improvement initiatives aimed at enhancing safety, efficiency, quality, and cost effectiveness.

• Ensure accurate shift documentation, production records, and communication during shift handovers.

Accountabilities

• Deliver safe and efficient manufacturing operations while maintaining compliance with company and regulatory standards.

• Achieve production targets while ensuring product quality and operational reliability.

• Maintain a strong safety culture and ensure adherence to HSE requirements across all shift activities.

• Ensure timely escalation and resolution of operational issues that may impact production performance.

• Develop and strengthen team capability through coaching, engagement, and effective people leadership.

• Drive operational excellence through continuous improvement and disciplined execution of manufacturing processes.

• Ensure accurate reporting and effective communication of operational performance and key shift activities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or other relevant Engineering disciplines from a reputable university.

• Minimum 3 years of experience in chemical, oleochemical, petrochemical, or manufacturing plant operations.

• Experience in shift operations, production supervision, or team leadership roles within a manufacturing environment.

• Strong understanding of process operations, preferably including distillation, surfactant production, or amidoamine manufacturing processes.

• Good knowledge of safety management systems, risk assessment, and HSE compliance requirements.

• Strong problem-solving, analytical, and decision-making capabilities.

• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

• Fluent in English, both written and spoken.

• Willing to be based in Sei Mangkei, Simalungun Regency, North Sumatra.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in oleochemical, specialty chemical, surfactant, or related process manufacturing industries.

• Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, TPM, Continuous Improvement, or Operational Excellence methodologies.

• Experience leading frontline production teams in a 24/7 manufacturing environment.

• Familiarity with process troubleshooting, production planning, and plant performance optimization.

• Demonstrated capability in driving safety culture and operational performance improvement initiatives.

• Experience working with SAP, manufacturing execution systems, or production reporting tools.