Maintenance Planner

Purpose of the role:

The role will coordinate and manage maintenance planning, scheduling, maintenance forecasting, parts readiness, work order management, work-in-progress (WIP) control, and job closure activities for HCMZ Kansanshi maintenance operations.

The role will also ensure maintenance activities are effectively planned, resourced, and executed by proactively aligning maintenance requirements with labor, tooling, materials, component availability, and customer maintenance plans.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

The Maintenance Planner will be required to perform the following tasks:

1.    Maintenance Planning & Scheduling

• Develop weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual maintenance plans.
• Prepare maintenance work packs for planned maintenance and repair activities.
• Schedule preventative maintenance inspections, shutdowns, repairs, and component replacement programs.
• Coordinate manpower, tools, workshop resources, service exchange components, and contractor requirements.
• Monitor maintenance schedule compliance and maintenance backlog performance.

2.    Forecasting & Parts Readiness

• Develop short-term, medium-term, and long-term maintenance forecasts.
• Forecast parts, consumables, and service exchange component requirements.
• Coordinate with Stores, Supply Chain, Procurement, and Parts departments.
• Monitor critical spares availability and supply lead times.
• Identify and mitigate stock-out risks and supply chain constraints.
• Ensure materials and components arrive on site before scheduled maintenance activities.
• Improve maintenance readiness through proactive planning and forecasting.

3.    Work Order & WIP Management

• Create, release, track, and manage maintenance work orders.
• Monitor work order progression throughout the maintenance lifecycle.
• Manage all maintenance Work-in-Progress (WIP) activities.
• Monitor aged work orders and implement actions to ensure timely closure.
• Ensure labor, parts, and service transactions are accurately recorded.
• Maintain complete maintenance records and planning documentation.
• Ensure all paperwork and supporting documentation are completed for job closure.

4.    Customer & Operational Coordination

• Participate in customer maintenance planning meetings.
• Act as the planning interface between HCMZ and Kansanshi Mine maintenance teams.
• Communicate maintenance forecasts, schedules, shutdown plans, and readiness status.
• Align customer maintenance requirements with HCMZ operational capabilities.
• Coordinate closely with Maintenance Supervisors, Technical Coordinators, Technical Advisors, and Reliability personnel.
• Support execution of maintenance plans with minimal operational disruption.

5.     Maintenance Readiness & Resource Coordination

• Ensure labor, equipment, tooling, materials, permits, and support services are available prior to execution.
• Coordinate contractor services required for maintenance activities.
• Review job scopes to ensure ready-made requirements are identified and addressed.
• Eliminate planning-related delays affecting maintenance execution.
• Support effective utilization of workshop and field service resources.

6.     Reporting & Maintenance Administration

• Prepare maintenance schedules, forecasts, readiness reports, and planning dashboards.
• Track planning KPIs, backlog performance, WIP status, and downtime trends.
• Produce daily, weekly, and monthly planning reports.
• Maintain accurate maintenance planning records.
• Support customer reporting requirements and business reviews.
• Ensure planning data integrity within maintenance management systems.

7.    Stakeholder Coordination

• Coordinate planning activities with Operations, Maintenance, Technical Services, Parts, Procurement, Supply Chain, and Finance.
• Maintain productive relationships with customer planning and maintenance personnel.
• Facilitate communication regarding schedule changes, resource requirements, and maintenance priorities.
• Escalate planning risks and constraints affecting service delivery.

8.    Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve planning effectiveness and maintenance readiness.
• Support maintenance reliability and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Contribute to backlog optimization activities.
• Improve forecasting accuracy and work management discipline.
• Support implementation of OEM planning standards and best practices.
• Participate in structured problem-solving activities to eliminate recurring planning constraints.

9.    Health, Safety, Environment & Compliance

• Ensure maintenance plans comply with HCMZ, FQM, and statutory safety requirements.
• Support safe maintenance execution through proper planning and risk consideration.
• Adhere to OEM maintenance standards and procedures.
• Promote compliance with environmental and workplace safety requirements.
• Support safety audits, inspections, and corrective actions where required.

10. Required Knowledge, Skills & Competencies

• Maintenance planning and scheduling principles.
• Heavy mobile mining equipment maintenance practices.
• Preventive and predictive maintenance methodologies.
• Maintenance forecasting and backlog management.
• Work order lifecycle management.
• WIP management and job closure processes.
• Parts planning and inventory management.
• Mining equipment reliability principles.
• ERP and maintenance management systems (PRONTO, SAP, D365 or equivalent).
• Maintenance KPI reporting and data analytics

11. Qualifications & Experience

• Diploma or Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Maintenance Management, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Project Management, or related discipline.
• Trade Qualification with relevant planning experience will be considered.
• Minimum 5 years' experience in heavy equipment maintenance environments.
• Minimum 3 years' experience in maintenance planning, scheduling, maintenance administration, or reliability support roles.
• Experience using maintenance management systems such as PRONTO, SAP, D365, JDE, Ellipse, or equivalent.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and maintenance planning tools.

How to Apply

Apply by emailing: recruitment-hcmz@hcmaf.com