Zambia Sugar AN ILLOVO SUGAR AFRICA COMPANY
TO BE A SAFE, HEALTHY AND RESPECTFUL WORKPLACE, A BEAUTIFUL ESTATE AND A DIVERSIFIED AGRIBUSINESS WHICH IS THE BEST AT SERVING CUSTOMERS
JOB ADVERTISEMENT
Zambia Sugar Plc. is the leading Sugar producer in Zambia. Its main activities are the growing of sugar cane, the production and marketing of sugar and other sugar downstream products.
The company invites applications from suitably qualified and experienced persons to fill the following positions under the Agriculture Department:
1. BUSINESS SYSTEMS AND PLANNING ANALYST – PERMANENT x 1 AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT (NAKAMBALA)
This position reports to the Agricultural Optimisation Manager and operates within the Agriculture function. The successful candidate will be responsible for implementing, maintaining and managing agriculture business systems for effective agriculture data analysis, with focus on components of the Planning, Forecasting and Reporting Systems.
Key performance areas
- Implement, maintain and manage agriculture business systems for effective agriculture data analysis, with focus on components of the Planning, Forecasting and Reporting Systems
- Support the spatial data requirements of grower agriculture and other estate functions
- Support site L&D team to develop GIS skills and application competence
- Set up and maintain key statistics necessary for the production of Strategic plans and Budget Revisions
- Support agricultural optimisation by driving a high level of data accuracy and integrity in agriculture reporting
- Perform data analysis to support optimisation
- Enable effective monitoring, reporting, benchmarking and decision making across the agriculture function in Country
- Promote a culture of continuous improvement in agriculture data management
- Decide estate optimization strategies through ongoing data analysis, research and development, and best practice scanning
- Decide the business systems to be implemented or upgraded
- Decide on data driven decisions to improve Agriculture growth
- Spatial tracking of day-to-day operations, where applicable
- Promote and adhere to ABF procedures, policies and guidelines, including, without limitation, those relating to SHERQ, Competition Law and Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABC)
Minimum Requirements
- Grade 12 School Certificate
- BSc Degree in Agriculture, Business, IT or equivalent
- Preferably 5 years’ experience managing or developing systems for agricultural businesses
- Ideally with some GIS experience
- Good business acumen and agricultural expertise, with ability to anticipate, interpret and respond to changes impacting on functional area
- A formal business/commercial qualification would be an advantage
- Strong analytical skills and agriculture data analysis skills
- Suitably qualified applicants must provide certificates which have been verified by the Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA)
2. GIS TECHNICIAN – PERMANENT x 1 AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT (NAKAMBALA)
This position reports to the GIS Specialist and operates within the Agriculture function. The successful candidate will be responsible for supporting the development of Geographic Information System (GIS) capability and understanding on site in close collaboration with GIS Specialist, Agric Optimization, Estate Surveyor, and Business Systems & Planning Analyst.
Key performance areas
- Acquire/process and present GIS data in a suitable format to enable precision agriculture in areas such as: Variable rate technologies, Drone imagery processing and analytics, Controlled traffic and auto-steered technology, Agriculture tech spatial data management
- Collaborate with and support GIS Specialist to codify GIS best practice into standardized work processes
- Collaborate with and support Crop Production and Optimization activity functions
- Facilitate data processing and interactions with the selected centralized data processing entity (where present)
- Manage data and user access on the chosen ABF cloud based spatial data repository
- Preparing spatial data for projects
- Preparing spatial user data for projects
- Assist in Improving the visualization of survey data for routine reporting
- Support the Optimization function in representing cost and productivity reporting in spatial formats
- Support the spatial data requirements of grower agriculture and other estate functions
- Support site L&D team to develop GIS skills and application competence
- Spatial tracking of day-to-day operations, where applicable
- Promote and adhere to ABF procedures, policies and guidelines, including, without limitation, those relating to SHERQ, Competition Law and Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABC)
Minimum Requirements
- Grade 12 School Certificate
- Bachelors degree/Diploma in GIS / Land Surveying / Agricultural Engineering / Agriculture
- Preferably 2 years’ experience with GIS
- Demonstrated competence in GIS, land surveying, sugarcane agriculture, drone pilot, agricultural machine control, computer programming, database management software, systems integration and agriculture data analytics
- Strong analytical skills
- Suitably qualified applicants must provide certificates which have been verified by the Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA)
3. PLANNER SCHEDULER – MATERIALS – PERMANENT x 1 AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT (NAKAMBALA)
This position reports to the Business Systems and Planning Analyst and operates within the Agriculture function.
Key performance areas
- Ensure the execution of these reports, vehicle costing, fuel usage, pests and disease, farm production and crop and soil nutrient status reports
- Submitting reports on the activities of the section/department as and when required
- Ensures effective risk mitigation measures are implemented to reduce quality incidents to Zero major or repeat findings in the business during audits and inspections
- Assist relevant managers on maintenance of Farm planners and further development of Farm Planners to facilitate timeous execution of farm activities
- Ensure maintenance plans are in place and aligned to achieve reliability goals
- Initiate process to add materials to the ‘material master’ in collaboration with Stores and Inventory
- Update job backlog status (order/notification/request)
- Account for supplier and material availability (external or internal) by interface with procurement, maintenance execution teams and third parties
- Recommend changes to routine maintenance and job plans and schedules to section managers
- Accurately state spares requirements to enable material resource planning by inventory team
- Develop and communicate job schedules in conjunction operations, Supervisors, other customers and Engineers in season and off crop
- Minimize schedule disruptions and facilitate longer term scheduling horizons
- Monitor spares availability to scheduled dates and adjust plans and schedules as required
- Escalate potential schedule breakers to allow for appropriate intervention
- Lead and manage planning reporting, materials coordinating with the Clerk ensuring that the interface between maintenance, inventory and operations is effective
- Promote and adhere to ABF procedures, policies and guidelines, including, without limitation, those relating to SHERQ, Competition Law and Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABC)
Minimum specifications / requirements
- Grade 12 Certificate
- Minimum Diploma in Engineering, Agriculture, Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, Human Resources, Business, Administration and / or any other business-related courses
- Preferably 3 years work experience in heavy industry or agriculture related farm enterprise
- Affiliated Member of professional body such EI Z, AIZ, ZIHRM, CIPS
- Suitably qualified applicants must provide certificates which have been verified by the Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA)
4. PLANNER SCHEDULER – MECHANICAL – PERMANENT x 1 AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT (NAKAMBALA)
This position reports to the Irrigation Engineer and operates within the Agriculture function.
Key performance areas
- Develop and communicate work packages for all maintenance initiatives in season and off crop consisting of technical data and specifications, required spares and tools, timing, manpower needs, potential risks, hazards and quality control required
- Monitor standards for setting, operating and maintaining equipment and adherence to the technical specifications and iAMP policy when planning jobs to ensure activities and materials are compliant
- Flag plant modification requirements based on works order information ahead of any release of any works or order modification
- Manage iAMP policy adherence to practices amongst maintenance teams, reducing rework and increasing plant reliability
- Ensure maintenance plans are in place and aligned to achieve reliability goals
- Group work orders (equipment or area) to make the execution step more efficient
- Use, enter and maintain job plans in CMMS job plan library
- Hold final review (prior to execution) with customer and maintenance supervision and notification validation regarding job cost and benefit. Decide on recommended priority, timing and maintenance plan
- Initiate process to add materials to the ‘material master’ in collaboration with Stores and Inventory
- Update job backlog status (order/notification/request)
- Account for supplier and material availability (external or internal) by interface with procurement, maintenance execution teams and third parties
- Recommend changes to routine maintenance and job plans and schedules to the Maintenance Engineer
- Accurately state spares requirements to enable material resource planning by inventory team
- Develop and communicate job schedules in conjunction operations, Supervisors, other customers and Engineers in season and off crop
- Minimize schedule disruptions and facilitate longer term scheduling horizons
- Monitor spares availability to scheduled dates and adjust plans and schedules as required
- Escalate potential schedule breakers to allow for appropriate intervention
- Lead and manage planning reporting, materials coordinating with the Clerk ensuring that the interface between maintenance, inventory and operations is effective
- Promote and adhere to Zambia Sugar procedures, policies and guidelines, including ABC
Minimum specifications / requirements
- Grade 12 Certificate
- Craft certificate in Engineering preferably with 5 years work experience in a heavy industry environment or bulk water pumping
- Diploma in Engineering preferably with 3 years work experience in heavy industry environment or bulk water pumping
- Member of EIZ
- Suitably qualified applicants must provide certificates which have been verified by the Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA)
5. ARTISAN WELDER – PERMANENT x 1 AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT (NAKAMBALA)
This position reports to the Maintenance Foreman/Supervisor. The successful incumbent will be responsible for organizing the day-to-day welding and fitting operations, optimize motor vehicles and machinery inspections, etc. by use of various welding processes.
Key Responsibilities
- Weld small and large components such as beams, and pipelines
- Making hand made goods which can be easily used
- Sourcing the materials to be used in the project
- Measuring and cutting materials to specifications
- Welding materials using the correct materials to join the metals
- Provide consultation on correct maintenance and preventive measures to machine or vehicle users
- Ensure that all defects identified during specific route/machine inspections are documented on the checklist feedback and immediately plan to mitigate significant risks for closure
- Maintain an in-depth knowledge of the condition of all welding equipment on a continuous basis and take responsibility for failures resulting from inadequate equipment specific inspection
- Ensure the Job Plan / Checklist on the WO is diligently followed as per the work-order tasks
- Contribute to the RCA process in your section possessing a positive mind set and elimination of failure
- Monitor own section’s KPIs, understand your contribution to them, contribute to solutions to resolve out of spec KPIs and maintain actions to sustain KPIs being within specification
- Identify personal learning and development needs and coach and mentor other maintenance workers
- Promotes and adheres to Illovo’s procedures, policies and guidelines, including, without limitation, those relating to SHERQ, Competition Law and Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABC)
Minimum specifications/Requirements
- Grade 12 Certificate
- Craft Certificate in welding
- Proven experience as a welder
- Aptitude in using various hand tools (e.g., Screwdrivers, hammers, etc.) and precision measurement tools (e.g., Callipers)
- Member of Engineering Institute of Zambia
- Preferably 2 years post experience in a robust plant environment
- Suitably qualified applicants must provide certificates which have been verified by the Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA)
How to Apply Should you be interested in applying for this role, please submit your detailed CV, copies of relevant qualifications, registrations and ID/Passport for the attention of HR Business Partner. Email: careers@zamsugar.zm indicating “Application – Position Title” in the subject line.
All internal employees are required to complete the Internal Application Form and obtain relevant signatures when applying for vacancies.
Closing date for applications is 13th March 2026.
Applicants shall be required to complete pre-employment checks (qualification, credit, security, background, and medical assessments) as part of the recruitment process where applicable.
Should you not hear from us within 4 weeks after the closing date, please accept that your application was unsuccessful.
HEAD OFFICE Nakambala Estate,
P.O. Box 670240,
Mazabuka, Zambia
Telephone: +260-21-3-230666 / 230696 / 231111 Mobile: +260-977640572/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 Fax: +260-21-3-230116