Director of Maintenance
Posted 14 hours 37 minutes ago by Confidential Global Company
About the Role
We are seeking an experienced Maintenance Director with a proven track record in hypermarket, supermarket, or large-format food retail operations. This is a senior leadership role with full accountability for cold chain integrity, refrigeration and frozen food infrastructure, facility systems, and overall asset reliability across a large-scale retail operation.
The ideal candidate currently works - or has recently worked - within a hypermarket chain, supermarket group, or major food retail operator, and brings deep technical expertise in maintaining the critical systems that keep fresh, chilled, and frozen food environments running without interruption.
This role demands a strong engineering leader who combines cold chain technical depth, team leadership, preventive maintenance strategy, vendor management, and operational discipline in a high-volume food retail setting.
About the Role
We are seeking an experienced Maintenance Director with a proven track record in hypermarket, supermarket, or large-format food retail operations. This is a senior leadership role with full accountability for cold chain integrity, refrigeration and frozen food infrastructure, facility systems, and overall asset reliability across a large-scale retail operation.
The ideal candidate currently works - or has recently worked - within a hypermarket chain, supermarket group, or major food retail operator, and brings deep technical expertise in maintaining the critical systems that keep fresh, chilled, and frozen food environments running without interruption.
This role demands a strong engineering leader who combines cold chain technical depth, team leadership, preventive maintenance strategy, vendor management, and operational discipline in a high-volume food retail setting.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the full maintenance strategy and execution across hypermarket / supermarket operations, with particular emphasis on cold chain reliability and frozen food infrastructure
- Oversee preventive, corrective, and emergency maintenance programs for all store-critical systems
- Manage and optimise performance of core food retail assets including:
- Refrigeration systems (display cases, cold rooms, walk-in coolers)
- Frozen food systems (freezer cabinets, frozen storage rooms, blast freezers)
- Chillers and temperature-controlled environments
- HVAC / air conditioning systems
- Generators and electrical infrastructure
- Mechanical, plumbing, and general facility systems
- Ensure uninterrupted cold chain compliance, including temperature monitoring, alarm response protocols, and alignment with food safety and HACCP-related maintenance obligations
- Maintain bakery, butchery, fishmonger, and fresh produce department equipment to full operational standard
- Build and lead high-performing maintenance teams across large-format stores or multi-site operations
- Manage external contractors, OEM service providers, refrigeration specialists, and supplier relationships
- Drive cost control, maintenance budgeting, asset lifecycle planning, and CAPEX / OPEX efficiency
- Improve maintenance KPIs including equipment uptime, response times, energy efficiency, and cold chain performance metrics
- Ensure full compliance with safety, technical, and operational standards
- Partner closely with store operations and senior management to protect the customer experience and minimise commercial losses from equipment downtime
Candidate Profile:
We are specifically targeting candidates from the hypermarket, supermarket, and food retail sector. The right person will meet the following criteria:
- 15+ years of maintenance / engineering experience, with significant time spent in hypermarkets, supermarkets, large food retail chains, or temperature-controlled food environments
- Currently or recently employed by a hypermarket chain, supermarket group, or major food retail operator
- Strong engineering background - Mechanical, Electrical, Electromechanical, Refrigeration Engineering, or related discipline
- Deep hands-on expertise in:
- Refrigeration and cold chain systems
- Frozen food storage and display infrastructure
- HVAC / AC systems
- Chillers, freezers, cold rooms, and blast freezers
- Generators, electrical distribution, and backup power
- Facility and technical infrastructure in large retail formats
- Proven senior leadership experience - managing maintenance teams, budgets, and contractor networks at scale
- Fluent or professional-level Portuguese is mandatory
- Africa experience is highly preferred; strong willingness to relocate to Angola is essential
- Strong leadership, problem-solving, planning, and stakeholder management skills