Ubuntu Sawmill is establishing an integrated eucalyptus
operation on the Tzaneen escarpment in Limpopo: harvesting, sawmilling, kiln drying, thermal
modification, finishing and packaging on one site. We are opening the register for the eleven
functions that will run it.
Read this before you apply
These are not vacancies with a start date. The operation is in its
funding phase, and appointments follow financial close. What we are doing now is building a
register of the professionals who will run this mill, so that the people are identified before
any equipment is procured, if and when the project reaches financial close, rather than after.
We would rather tell you that plainly than advertise a job that does
not start yet. We review the register before we advertise or approach
anyone for a function, and we will tell you where the project stands whether or not there is a post
for you. Registration does not guarantee contact, an interview or an appointment, and we will not
pretend otherwise.
These are the functions costed in the
operating model. The model deliberately costs responsibilities rather than inventing a headcount,
so each entry below is a function to be filled, not a fixed number of posts. If your capability is
material to a mill of this kind but is not one of the eleven, say so on the form and we will record
it separately.
01
Mill manager
Sawmill and management
You will run the mill: production plan, recovery, grade, safety and the people. The operating model is built on a target recovery that the mill manager and the forester manage jointly.
What we need to see
Substantial experience in a hardwood sawmill, including time leading mill operations or an equivalent level of responsibility. A recovery figure you have personally achieved and can defend. Equivalent experience will be considered, and experience commissioning or re-laying a line is a strong advantage.
02
Registered forester
Forestry and harvesting
You will own the standing volume: the enumeration, the compartment schedule, the harvest plan and the joint cruise. The plan names the forester as the owner of that evidence.
What we need to see
A forestry degree or diploma, or professional forestry registration such as SAIF membership, stating the body and your registration number. Eucalyptus plantation experience in South Africa is preferred, and comparable plantation experience elsewhere will also be considered. You have signed off a cruise, that is a measurement of standing volume, and stood behind the number.
03
Head sawyer, primary breakdown
Sawmill and retort
Breaking down eucalyptus grandis and the grandis-saligna hybrid to a 38 mm primary at 42 mm wet, in 102, 114 and 152 mm widths, at 3.3 m standard.
What we need to see
Proven on a hardwood headrig or bandsaw. You read a log, you know what eucalyptus does when it is released, and your recovery holds when the timber fights back.
Blades, knives and tooling. In a hardwood mill the saw doctor decides the recovery as much as the sawyer does.
What we need to see
Trade tested or time served in saw doctoring: levelling, tensioning, swaging, grinding, and the discipline to keep a maintenance record nobody has to chase.
05
Kiln and thermal modification operator
Kiln and thermal
Kiln schedules targeting a final moisture content of 10 to 12 per cent, and the thermal modification line: heat and steam only, colour through the section, no chemicals.
What we need to see
Kiln drying experience on hardwood, schedules you wrote yourself, and moisture results you can show. Thermal modification experience is rare in South Africa and is a strong advantage, not a requirement.
06
Timber grader
Packaging and finishing
Grading to rule, pack by pack, and standing behind the grade when the pack reaches Rotterdam.
What we need to see
Grading tickets or documented mill training, hardwood experience, and the willingness to reject your own mill's timber.
07
Millwright or maintenance technician
Workshop and gasifier
Keeping the line running: mechanical, electrical, hydraulic. The gasifier and the energy plant sit in this function too.
What we need to see
Trade tested millwright, electrician or fitter. Sawmill or heavy process plant experience. Biomass, boiler or gasifier exposure is an advantage.
08
Harvesting and transport supervisor
Forestry, harvesting and drivers
Getting the log from the compartment to the mill deck: crews, contractors, loads and the paperwork that ties each load to the compartment it came from.
What we need to see
Harvesting supervision on plantation eucalyptus, contractor management, and a demonstrated record of accurate and auditable load documentation. A Code 14 licence and a professional driving permit are an advantage.
09
Health, safety and environment officer
Across all functions
A sawmill is a dangerous place and this project will not start without this function filled properly. Legal appointments, risk assessments, incident investigation and the environmental conditions on the licence.
What we need to see
SAMTRAC or equivalent, and mill, plantation or heavy industry experience. You have run a real safety system, not a file of forms.
10
Production and data clerk
Admin and data
Every log in, every pack out, every moisture result and every compartment reference. The traceability we intend to offer European buyers will stand on this record.
What we need to see
Meticulous with numbers, comfortable in a spreadsheet and a production system, and stubborn about a record being right rather than finished.
11
Site security supervisor
Security
Timber walks. Yard control, access, gate discipline and the load-out check.
What we need to see
PSIRA registered, grade B or higher, and experience on an industrial or agricultural site.
