Plant Technical Manager

The Role

This is a hands-on technical leadership position. You will be the most senior person on-site day to day, responsible for keeping the plant running safely, efficiently, and in compliance with ISCC+ and grid operator requirements. Critically, you will also play an active role in commissioning, setting up, and troubleshooting the new Phase 1 equipment — this is not a desk job. We need someone who can read a wiring diagram in the morning and chair a grid operator liaison call in the afternoon.

Key Responsibilities

Plant Operations & Technical Oversight

• Full daily oversight of all plant operations across fermenters, gas conditioning, upgrading unit, compressor, and grid injection point.
• Monitor and interpret SCADA data; identify anomalies and direct corrective action before they become failures.
• Maintain fermenter parameters: temperature, pH, gas flow rates, and daily gas quality readings to ensure consistent biomethane output.
• Oversee and approve the planned preventive maintenance schedule for all critical equipment.
• Serve as primary on-call escalation point for night security and emergency situations outside normal hours.
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Electrical & Mechanical Hands-On Work

• Commission, wire, and set up all new Phase 1 equipment including electric boilers, external chopper pumps across all fermenter tanks, upgrading unit, high-pressure compressor, and associated instrumentation.
• Diagnose and repair electrical faults in plant equipment — motors, pumps, control panels, instrumentation, and process sensors — reducing reliance on external contractors.
• Work alongside the internal electrician on instrumentation, gas analyser calibration, and SCADA electrical maintenance; act as the technical authority when specialist decisions are required.
• Oversee the decommissioning and preparation for sale of existing CHP engines.
• Manage planned maintenance schedules for mixing pumps, digestate separators, pelletisation line, and drying equipment.

Regulatory & Certification

• Act as primary liaison with the national grid operator for grid access, metering data, approvals, and SCADA link integrity.
• Coordinate ISCC+ sustainability audits: ensure daily mass balance records, gas quality logs, and SCADA data meet auditor requirements.
• Support the feedstock and sustainability coordinator on technical aspects of chain-of-custody documentation.
• Ensure the plant meets all Serbian environmental and safety regulations applicable to a biomethane processing facility.

Team Leadership

• Lead and coordinate the on-site team across operations, logistics, maintenance, and security.
• Train and develop plant operators on biomethane-mode parameters and upgraded equipment.
• Plan and communicate shift schedules, ensuring adequate coverage and emergency response capability 24/7.

Feedstock & Supply Management

• Manage all incoming feedstock and raw materials: plan daily receipts, coordinate delivery schedules with suppliers, and ensure uninterrupted supply to the plant.
• Negotiate feedstock prices, volumes, and contract terms with suppliers; maintain and develop supplier relationships to secure competitive and reliable supply.
• Oversee daily feedstock receipt operations: verify quantities, quality, and documentation on arrival; ensure compliance with ISCC+ chain-of-custody and ABP category requirements.
• Maintain accurate records of feedstock intake, stock levels, and consumption to support mass balance reporting and sustainability audits.
• Identify and evaluate alternative or backup feedstock sources to mitigate supply risk and optimise input costs.
• Coordinate with the logistics team and site operators to ensure safe and efficient unloading, handling, and storage of incoming materials.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Degree or vocational qualification in electrical engineering, electromechanics, process engineering, or a closely related field.
• Minimum 5 years of hands-on experience operating or maintaining industrial process plant — biogas, wastewater, chemical, food processing, or similar continuous-process environments.
• Demonstrable electrical competence: able to read schematics, diagnose faults, wire equipment, and work safely on LV/MV systems (Serbian electrical safety standards).
• Experience with industrial SCADA/PLC systems — reading data, identifying trends, and basic configuration changes.
• Strong understanding of rotating equipment: pumps, compressors, agitators, and associated seals, bearings, and drive systems.
• Fluent Serbian; working knowledge of English sufficient to communicate with equipment suppliers and read technical manuals.

Strongly Preferred

• Direct experience with biogas or biomethane production: anaerobic digestion process knowledge (pH, temperature management, substrate loading).
• Familiarity with membrane gas upgrading units and high-pressure compression systems.
• Experience managing ISCC+, ISO, or equivalent sustainability/quality certification processes.
• Previous people management experience — leading a team of 5+ on an industrial site.
• Knowledge of Serbian regulatory environment for energy and environmental permits.

Personal Attributes

• Genuinely hands-on — comfortable picking up tools alongside the maintenance team, not just directing from the office.
• Methodical problem-solver: able to diagnose root causes rather than chasing symptoms.
• Calm under pressure: a 24/7 production environment will produce equipment failures at inconvenient times.
• Highly organised: able to juggle planned maintenance schedules, regulatory deadlines, and day-to-day operational demands simultaneously.
• Trustworthy and discreet: the role involves access to commercially sensitive financial and operational data.