General Manager

JOB DESCRIPTION

General Manager – Projects & Operations

Industry: Oil & Gas Equipment Manufacturing / Engineering

Location: Vadodara / Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Reporting To: Owners / Directors

Employment Type: Full-Time

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced General Manager – Projects & Operations to take complete responsibility for the execution and delivery of oil & gas equipment work orders from order receipt through engineering, procurement, outsourced manufacturing, inspection, quality documentation, testing, and final dispatch.

The company operates on an asset-light / outsourced manufacturing model, where manufacturing and fabrication activities are executed through approved third-party vendors and specialized fabrication facilities. The General Manager will therefore act as the overall project owner and face of the company for execution, ensuring that every order is delivered on time, within budget, and in accordance with applicable engineering, quality, and customer requirements.

The position requires strong experience in metal equipment fabrication, pressure vessels, oil & gas equipment, ASME/API standards, project execution, vendor management, quality documentation, procurement coordination, and customer-facing project management.

---

Key Responsibilities

1. End-to-End Work Order Execution

- Take ownership of all work orders from order receipt to final delivery.

- Review purchase orders, technical specifications, drawings, scope of supply, quality requirements, delivery schedules and contractual requirements.

- Prepare and maintain a detailed project execution plan and schedule for each order.

- Coordinate engineering, procurement, fabrication, inspection, testing, documentation and dispatch.

- Monitor project progress against committed delivery dates.

- Identify delays, technical issues, procurement constraints and manufacturing bottlenecks and take corrective action.

- Ensure complete and timely closure of each project.

2. Engineering & Technical Coordination

Manage and coordinate the internal technical team consisting of:

- Mechanical Draughtsman

- Technical Process / Proposal Engineer

- Purchase Manager

- Project Coordinator

Responsibilities include:

- Review and coordinate preparation of GA drawings, fabrication drawings, BOMs and technical documentation.

- Coordinate engineering clarifications with customers and vendors.

- Review technical specifications and applicable codes/standards.

- Ensure drawings and technical documents are released to vendors in a controlled manner.

- Coordinate design changes, deviations and customer comments.

- Ensure engineering deliverables are aligned with manufacturing and inspection requirements.

3. Outsourced Manufacturing & Vendor Management

The candidate will be responsible for managing the company's complete outsourced manufacturing network.

- Identify, evaluate and develop suitable fabrication and manufacturing vendors.

- Allocate work orders to appropriate vendors based on capability, capacity, quality and delivery requirements.

- Coordinate with fabrication shops, machining vendors, heat-treatment suppliers, NDT agencies, coating/painting vendors and other specialist suppliers.

- Ensure vendors understand drawings, specifications, quality plans and delivery requirements.

- Conduct regular vendor follow-ups and progress reviews.

- Monitor manufacturing progress through visits, inspections, photographs, reports and physical verification.

- Resolve manufacturing, dimensional, material and quality issues.

- Develop long-term relationships with reliable manufacturing partners.

- Maintain an approved vendor base and vendor performance records.

4. Pressure Vessel & Metal Fabrication Knowledge

The candidate should have practical experience in fabrication/manufacturing of equipment such as:

- Pressure vessels

- Separators

- Filters

- Scrubbers

- Process skids

- Piping/manifold assemblies

- Oil & gas production equipment

- Storage/process vessels

- Structural and fabricated equipment

- Other engineered mechanical equipment

The candidate should understand practical fabrication processes including:

- Plate cutting and forming

- Rolling

- Welding and welding procedures

- Fit-up and dimensional control

- PWHT

- NDT

- Hydro / pneumatic testing

- Machining

- Surface preparation and coating

- Pressure testing

- Final inspection and dispatch preparation

5. ASME / API / Quality Standards

Strong working knowledge of applicable ASME and API standards is required.

The candidate should be capable of understanding and coordinating requirements related to:

- ASME Section VIII

- ASME Section IX

- ASME B31.3

- API standards applicable to oil & gas equipment

- Welding procedures and qualifications

- WPS / PQR / WPQ

- Material Traceability

- MTC / material certificates

- NDT reports

- Inspection & Test Plans (ITP)

- Quality Control Plans

- Hydrostatic / pressure test reports

- Dimensional inspection reports

- Calibration certificates

- NCR / deviation management

- Final manufacturing records

- MDR / Manufacturing Data Book

- Customer inspection requirements

- Third-party inspection coordination

Experience with API 6A / wellhead and oilfield equipment would be an advantage.

6. Quality Assurance & Documentation

Ensure that every project is delivered with complete and properly controlled documentation.

Responsibilities include:

- Review project quality requirements.

- Coordinate with internal and third-party inspectors.

- Ensure material traceability throughout manufacturing.

- Monitor welding and NDT documentation.

- Ensure inspection stages are completed as per approved ITP.

- Review vendor quality documentation.

- Ensure NCRs and punch points are closed before dispatch.

- Coordinate preparation of final Manufacturing Data Book / Quality Dossier.

- Ensure customer documentation requirements are fully complied with.

7. Procurement & Material Coordination

Work closely with the Purchase Manager to ensure timely procurement of:

- Raw materials

- Plates, pipes and forgings

- Flanges and fittings

- Valves and instruments

- Bought-out components

- Welding consumables

- Special components

- Inspection and testing services

The GM will monitor procurement against project schedules and ensure that material availability does not delay manufacturing.

8. Customer & Project Interface

The General Manager will be the primary execution interface between the company and the customer after order receipt.

Responsibilities include:

- Participate in project kick-off meetings.

- Communicate project progress to customers.

- Handle technical and commercial execution-related discussions.

- Coordinate customer inspections and approvals.

- Manage customer comments and technical clarifications.

- Provide realistic delivery commitments and progress updates.

- Handle execution-related escalations professionally.

- Ensure customer expectations are aligned with actual project status.

9. Management Reporting

The General Manager will report directly to the Owners / Directors.

He/she will provide regular updates covering:

- Order status

- Engineering progress

- Procurement status

- Manufacturing progress

- Vendor performance

- Quality status

- Inspection status

- Documentation status

- Project delays / risks

- Cost overruns

- Customer issues

- Expected delivery dates

- Cash / material requirements where relevant

A structured weekly project review and MIS system will be expected.

---

Team Management

The candidate will directly manage and coordinate the following team:

Position| Primary Responsibility

Mechanical Draughtsman| Drawings, BOM, fabrication documentation

Technical Process / Proposal Engineer| Technical proposals, process requirements, specifications

Purchase Manager| Procurement and supplier coordination

Project Coordinator| Project tracking, documentation, follow-ups and scheduling

The GM will be responsible for setting priorities, allocating work, reviewing performance and ensuring that the team works together toward project delivery.

---

Candidate Profile

Education

Preferred:

- B.E. / B.Tech / Diploma in Mechanical Engineering

- Mechanical / Production / Manufacturing Engineering background

Experience

8–15+ years of relevant experience in:

- Oil & gas equipment manufacturing

- Pressure vessel fabrication

- Process equipment manufacturing

- Heavy fabrication

- EPC / engineering project execution

- Oilfield equipment

- Mechanical equipment manufacturing

Candidates with strong practical fabrication and project execution experience will be preferred over candidates with purely design or office-based experience.

---

Mandatory Skills

The candidate should have:

- Strong knowledge of metal fabrication and pressure equipment manufacturing

- Practical understanding of ASME codes and API standards

- Experience with pressure vessel fabrication

- Strong vendor/subcontractor management experience

- Experience handling multiple projects/work orders simultaneously

- Strong understanding of QA/QC documentation

- Knowledge of welding, NDT, PWHT and pressure testing

- Experience with customer/third-party inspections

- Strong procurement coordination skills

- Ability to read and understand engineering drawings

- Strong project planning and execution skills

- Excellent communication and negotiation skills

- Ability to independently resolve execution problems

- Strong commercial awareness and cost-control mindset

- Ability to work in an outsourced manufacturing environment

---

Critical Requirement – Outsourced Manufacturing Model

The candidate must be comfortable operating without a conventional captive manufacturing plant.

The company will execute projects through a network of approved external manufacturing and fabrication facilities.

Therefore, the candidate must be capable of:

Customer PO → Project Planning → Engineering → Procurement → Vendor Allocation → Material Control → Fabrication → Inspection → Testing → Documentation → Final Inspection → Dispatch

The GM will be responsible for controlling this entire chain and ensuring that the customer receives a complete, compliant and properly documented product, even though manufacturing is performed by third-party facilities.

---

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Performance will primarily be measured against:

1. On-time project delivery

2. Project execution within approved budget

3. Vendor delivery performance

4. Engineering turnaround time

5. Procurement/material availability

6. Manufacturing quality

7. Reduction in rework and NCRs

8. Successful inspection clearance

9. Completeness of final documentation

10. Customer satisfaction

11. Effective utilization and performance of outsourced vendors

12. Successful execution of multiple simultaneous work orders

---

Desired Personal Attributes

We are looking for a hands-on execution-oriented manager, not only an administrative manager.

The ideal candidate should:

- Take ownership of problems rather than pass them to others.

- Be comfortable visiting fabrication shops and suppliers regularly.

- Have strong follow-up and negotiation abilities.

- Be technically strong enough to challenge vendors.

- Be commercially conscious.

- Be organized and documentation-oriented.

- Be comfortable dealing with customers, inspectors and suppliers.

- Be capable of working independently with limited supervision.

- Have strong leadership and decision-making skills.

- Maintain professional relationships while enforcing delivery and quality commitments.

Ideal Candidate

An ideal candidate would be someone who has previously worked as a:

Project Manager / Project Head / Operations Manager / Plant Head / General Manager – Projects / Senior Project Engineer

in an oil & gas equipment, pressure vessel, process equipment, EPC or heavy fabrication company, and has personally managed vendors, fabrication, inspections, documentation and customer delivery.

The role is best suited to a technically strong, execution-focused professional who can effectively operate as the company's "single point of responsibility" for converting customer orders into completed and delivered projects