Senior Physical Asset Manager

Senior Physical Asset Manager | Johannesburg, Gauteng | Permanent Own the reliability, performance and lifecycle of critical engineering assets across a busy regional operation. This role is ideal for a seasoned maintenance and asset professional who enjoys turning data, plans and standards into real-world uptime and efficiency. Reporting to the Regional Engineering Executive, you will act as the custodian of maintenance strategies, tactics and standards for all engineering assets in the region. You will build and maintain a high-integrity SAP master data structure, develop efficient maintenance plans, and drive asset lifecycle decisions that balance cost, risk and performance. You will also oversee the coordination and communication of critical maintenance activities, ensuring minimal disruption to operations while protecting asset health. The role carries a strong analytical and planning focus: you will consolidate planned and unplanned maintenance, manage changes to plans, perform root cause failure analysis, and feed asset lifecycle insights into capital investment planning. You will work closely with maintenance, facilities and operations teams to ensure that asset care is proactive, structured and continuously improving. Our client is a large, asset-intensive organisation with a significant engineering and facilities footprint. They operate in a safety-critical, highly regulated environment and rely on robust maintenance strategies, data-driven decision-making and disciplined execution to support production and service delivery. You will join a professional engineering team that values technical depth, operational reliability and continuous improvement. What You’ll Do Create and maintain an accurate, high-integrity regional asset register Develop and maintain maintenance strategies and tactics for all key assets in the region Build, optimise and govern maintenance plans, scopes of work and condition records in SAP Continuously improve asset monitoring, inspection and condition reporting Analyse asset performance and drive improvements in asset lifecycle and total cost of ownership Consolidate planned and unplanned maintenance requirements and process changes to work plans Complete root cause failure analyses and develop mitigation plans to prevent repeat failures Provide input into capital investment planning based on asset lifecycle, risk and condition Report regularly on asset status, maintenance execution and asset care KPIs Support broader maintenance engineering activities and projects as delegated from time to time What You Bring BTech, BSc or BEng in Engineering Candidate PrEng or Candidate PrTech; GCC Factories advantageous Minimum 10 years’ experience in maintenance and asset engineering, ideally in an asset-intensive environment At least 5 years’ experience in facilities management Strong grounding in maintenance engineering, physical asset management and maintenance tactics Solid working knowledge of SAP for maintenance, including master data and maintenance planning Good Microsoft Office skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) Sound understanding of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and general health and safety requirements Proven ability to plan, organise and prioritise across multiple sites and stakeholders Strong problem analysis, root cause and decision-making skills Effective written and verbal communication with the ability to influence and build relationships at all levels Resilience, independence and the ability to deliver under pressure What Success Looks Like A complete, accurate and well-maintained regional asset register and SAP master data Maintenance strategies and plans that improve reliability and extend asset life at optimal cost Clear, timely coordination of critical maintenance with minimal operational disruption Root causes of failures understood, addressed and prevented from recurring Asset health, downtime and maintenance performance reported clearly, with trends and insights Asset lifecycle insights visibly influencing capital planning and prioritisation Strong collaboration with maintenance, facilities and operations teams and recognition as a trusted asset custodian in the region