Heavy Mobile Lifting Equipment Foreman at Lotus Africa

Job Description

Job Summary

The Heavy Mobile Lifting Equipment Foreman is responsible for the installation, maintenance, inspection, and repair of various mobile lifting systems, including 35 Ton to 200 Ton Cranes,20ton Manitou’s, Cherrypickers, Crane trucks (crawler, mobile), hoists, and industrial material handling equipment. They ensure the safety, compliance, and operational efficiency of this equipment, and logistic. The Lifting Equipment Foreman is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the Lifting Equipment, personnel, and maintenance activities of mobile Lifting equipment. This role ensures that all work is completed safely, efficiently, and in accordance with company standards, and regulatory compliance. The Lifting Equipment Foreman provides leadership, technical support, and operational oversight to ensure service continuity, asset reliability, and team performance. This position requires strong decision-making, logistical planning, and the ability to manage resources and priorities sections and their workforce.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

Planning and Scheduling include but are not limited to:

• Task Scheduling: Schedule daily, weekly, and monthly job orders based on priority, client needs, and asset criticality. Integrate planned preventive maintenance, corrective works, and urgent call outs into the schedule. Balance workload across the team to minimize overtime and travel inefficiencies. Provide input on shutdown planning and coordinate execution of major maintenance events. Assign and prioritize daily work activities to artisans as required, based on job urgency and resource availability. Ensure adequate planning and availability of permits, materials, tools, and labour for all scheduled tasks.
• Resource & Equipment Allocation: Ensure vehicles, tools, and materials are prepared and allocated per the job schedule. Track mobile asset availability and schedule service downtime accordingly. Coordinate deliveries or staging of larger equipment to remote locations as needed.
• Coordination with Other Departments: Liaise with EMS Planning department to align schedules and resources. Communicate clearly with Planning and Superintendent regarding maintenance tasks
• Use of Planning Tools and Systems: Utilize a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) or job scheduling software to Track work orders and task progress, manage asset history and recurring job plans, generate reports and adjust plans in real-time.
• Contingency & Adjustments: Monitor daily progress and adjust schedules in response to weather, access issues, or breakdowns. Maintain flexibility to dispatch resources for high-priority or emergency works. Build contingency time into schedules for unforeseen issues or delays.
• Performance Monitoring: Review completed work against schedule performance (planned vs. actual). Identify trends in delays or resource constraints and implement corrective actions. Provide weekly/monthly reports to management on schedule adherence and productivity.

Maintenance Strategy include but are not limited to:

• Preventative Maintenance: To reduce breakdowns, extend equipment life, and improve service reliability. Develop and enforce PM schedules for mobile plant, utility section, tools, and required materials. Ensure teams complete checklists, inspections, and servicing as per OEM and site standards. Align PM frequency with asset criticality, usage patterns, and environmental conditions
• Corrective Maintenance: To restore functionality quickly and safely in the event of failures or defects. Implement rapid-response protocols for high-priority breakdowns. Empower field teams to carry commonly used spares and diagnostics to resolve issues on-site. Record root causes and initiate follow-up improvements or training where repetitive failures occur.
• Predictive Maintenance: Anticipate failures before they occur using data, reducing reactive work. Use diagnostic tools, mobile app reports, telemetry (if available), and service history to monitor asset trends. Train teams to identify early signs of wear, inefficiency, or abnormal operation during routine work. Apply condition-based triggers to schedule interventions only when truly necessary.
• Maintenance Planning & Coordinating: Optimize labour and other resources to minimize downtime and avoid site disruptions. Use a CMMS or scheduling tool to plan, assign, and track maintenance work. Coordinate with site managers and stakeholders to schedule non-disruptive service windows. Ensure parts, tools, and documentation are pre-staged for efficiency.
• Compliance & Safety: Meet all statutory, environmental, and workplace safety standards. Ensure RCD testing, test and tag, pressure vessel inspections, and fire safety systems are maintained per regulations. Monitor license and training compliance for field electricians, mechanics, HVAC, etc. Ensure all maintenance activities comply with WHS and environmental risk controls.
• Continues Improvement: Drive efficiency and reduce costs through feedback and data analysis. Review job history, downtime reports, and asset performance regularly. Identify high-cost or high-failure equipment and develop improvement plans (e.g., redesign, retraining). Promote field-level feedback to refine procedures, checklists, and training needs. Carry out post-repair inspections to ensure all work meets company and regulatory standards. Lead fault-finding activities and provide technical input for root cause analysis (RCM / 5-Why). Identify opportunities to improve reliability and performance of equipment.
• Materials: Maintain optimal stock levels of critical materials & parts and ensure proper storage and issue records. Enforce strict housekeeping and organizing skills to store, ease of access for routine fitness inspections & stock take sessions and storing in a safe manner not to create any form of risks (e.g. fire hazards, falling objects from shelves etc.).

Work Order Job Card Compliance include but are not limited to:

• Ensure all team members understand and execute work order compliance correctly.
• Validate that job cards include accurate fault descriptions, time taken, materials used, and corrective actions performed.
• Conduct routine audits of job card data for accuracy and completeness.
• Provide feedback to the team based on job card analysis to drive performance improvement.
• Ensure all details are captured on the job card, signed off and returned to the Supervisor.

Educational Qualifications, Experience, & Skills Required

• MSCE Certificate or equivalent or Higher Education.
• Qualified Diesel Mechanic Trade Certificate or equivalent from a recognised institution.
• Minimum of 10 years’ experience in a Lifting equipment & mining environment and 5 years in a Mechanical Supervisor role.
• Previous track record of managing a Lifting equipment section
• Valid driver’s license.
• Consistent demonstration of Lotus Core Values.
• Performance Orientation, strongly motivated, leads by example and maintains a high work standard.
• Advanced communications, supervisory, mentoring and training skills.
• Decisive leader, who collaborates actively
• Strong conceptual thinking ability.
• Resilience and Resourcefulness.
• High level of interpersonal and negotiating skills.

Application Procedure

Interested applicants should submit an application, copies of certificates, and a CV with contact details for at least three professional referees to [email protected] or submit by hand at Lotus Africa Limited offices at Kayelekera Mine. Applicants must include their name and the position they are applying for in the title of all documents.

The deadline for receiving applications is April 24, 2026. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Lotus Africa is an equal opportunity employer; therefore, women are encouraged to apply.