Reporting to: Head of Strategy and Special Projects

Location: Western Cape or Johannesburg

About the Libstar Wet Condiments Category:

The Wet Condiments Category is part of the Libstar Ambient Products Category, with business sites located in Montagu, Cape Town, and Johannesburg. We operate within a dynamic, forward-thinking organization dedicated to driving innovation, fostering growth, and creating a supportive, inclusive work environment. As part of the broader Libstar team, our goal is to grow our food brands and category solutions in a sustainable and profitable manner. We prioritize building strong relationships with our customers and aim to be South Africa’s leading producer and distributor of high-quality products and brands. To achieve this, we believe that our people are our greatest asset, and we are committed to investing in their development and well-being.

Purpose of the Role:

An exciting opportunity has become available for a Category Improvement Manager to join our dynamic team in a fast-paced FMCG environment. This pivotal role will drive a culture of continuous improvement across all sites within the Wet Condiments Category, ensuring alignment, standardisation, and excellence in operational practices.

The purpose of the role is to lead and implement improvement initiatives, optimise processes, reduce costs and waste, and ensure effective implementation of projects that support food safety, quality, and health & safety standards.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and coordinate improvement initiatives across sites within the Wet Condiments Category.
• Identify, scope, and deliver cost-saving and waste-reduction projects with measurable impact.
• Develop and manage technical, analytical, monitoring and reporting frameworks with supporting systems and databases.
• Oversee category-wide project planning and execution, ensuring milestones and deadlines are met.
• Partner with site teams to strengthen competence through training, knowledge sharing, and embedding best practices.
• Drive validation studies and process optimisation projects.
• Standardise and improve operating methods across multiple sites.
• Champion food safety culture excellence throughout the category.
• Conduct and support internal audits, with knowledge of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 55000 and ISO 45000 being advantageous.

Behavioural Competencies:

• Highly analytical, with strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Proven project management expertise, able to manage complex, multi-site initiatives effectively.
• Strong self-starter, resilient and independent, with the ability to work with minimal supervision.
• Ability to inspire and lead change, motivating teams to adopt new ways of working.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and relationship-building skills.
• Results-driven, agile, and adaptable with high personal standards.
• Clear, confident communicator with strong presentation and reporting skills.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience:

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in continuous improvement, process optimisation, or project management within FMCG or manufacturing.
• Strong project management experience, with a track record of delivering results across multiple stakeholders.
• Engineering degree or equivalent qualification.
• Advanced training in Food Safety Systems advantageous.
• Solid technical knowledge of food manufacturing processes, standards, and systems.

Additional Information:

This role requires regular travel between all sites in the Wet Condiments Category. You may occasionally be required to perform tasks outside your normal responsibilities, depending on the operational needs of the company.

Application:

Please e-mail your CV to aneesac@naturalvinegar.co.za; with a motivation highlighting why you should be considered for the position.
Application deadline: 14 October 2025
If you have not received a response within two weeks of the closing date for applications, kindly consider your application unsuccessful.

Please note that you may on occasion be required to perform tasks that are not part of your normal daily duties, but may be necessary due to the operational requirements of the Company.

NOTE:
To consider any application for employment, we will have to process your personal information. The Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 (POPIA), provides that when one processes another’s personal information, such collection, retention, dissemination and use of that person’s personal information must be done in a lawful and transparent manner.

To give effect to the above, we are required to provide you with information regarding the processing of your personal information. This information is recorded under the HR Processing Notice, which can be accessed and viewed on the Company website at https://www.libstar.co.za/legal/.