Plant Manager – Drobonso, Ghana

Nordic Carbon is scaling biochar production in West Africa, and we're looking for a Plant Manager to take operational ownership of our Drobonso facility in Ghana's Ashanti Region.

The plant is commissioning in Q2 2026 with an annual production target of ~10,000 tonnes of biochar from FSC-certified plantation residues sourced from the adjacent Miro Forestry plywood mill. The biochar is deployed back into Miro's plantations as a soil enhancer and generates verified carbon removal credits. This is one of the largest dedicated biochar projects in West Africa.

As our Plant Manager you'll lead through our ramp-up to full capacity, expand the operational team on the ground, and shape how Nordic Carbon runs its plants as we expand across Africa.

This is a full-time, on-site role based in Drobonso. Relocation, accommodation, and comprehensive medical cover (including medical evacuation) are provided.

What you'll do

Run the plant. You'll have full responsibility for safe, efficient, continuous operation of the pyrolysis line — from feedstock intake through biochar production, storage, and onward deployment into the Miro Forests. The target is consistent quality output at ≥80% production efficiency.

Build and lead the team. You'll manage a workforce of around 20 to start (shift supervisors, FEL operators, maintenance team, raw material supervisor), growing as production scales. Recruiting, training, evaluating, and developing local Ghanaian staff is a core part of the role — including building the operational culture, training manuals, and SOPs that the plant runs on.

Own maintenance and reliability. Set up and run the CMMS, asset register, preventive maintenance programme, and spare parts management. Plan and execute shutdown maintenance.

Run safety, environment, and compliance. Hazard identification, risk assessments, PPE, emergency preparedness, fire prevention, emissions monitoring, EPA Ghana compliance, and incident reporting all sit with you.

Protect carbon credit integrity. Biochar carbon credits depend on rigorous data — weighbridge tickets, moisture meters, pyrolysis control logs, lab samples, application records, and audit trails. You'll be the operational owner of MRV data quality, working with our verification partners and ensuring SOPs are followed by every operator on every shift.

Manage feedstock and logistics. Maintain the working relationship with Miro on feedstock supply, manage inbound and outbound logistics, oversee the truck and FEL fleet, and coordinate biochar deployment to plantation sites with full traceability.

Report up. Daily, weekly, and monthly reporting on safety, production, quality, budget, and people to senior leadership in Denmark.

Who we're looking for

You've run an industrial production facility before — ideally pyrolysis, gasification, biomass processing, charcoal, cement, mining, or similar continuous-process heavy industry. Biochar/biomass experience is a plus but not required; operational discipline is.

You're hands-on. This is not a desk job. You'll be on the plant floor, in the workshop, and in the field with the deployment team.

You're prepared for rural Ghana. We have a great plant manager residence building on our site, but Drobonso is still a remote location in Ghana's Ashanti Region, where infrastructure is limited, and the nearest large town is a couple of hours away. You're genuinely drawn to that kind of environment rather than tolerating it, and you're comfortable living and working there long-term.

You navigate cultural differences well. You've worked across cultures before, you lead with curiosity and respect rather than imposing how things were done elsewhere, and you build trust with local staff, community leaders, traditional authorities, and government officials.

You've built and led teams in demanding operational environments. African or emerging-market experience is a strong advantage.

You're structured. You think in SOPs, KPIs, maintenance schedules, and audit trails — and you know that carbon credit projects live or die by data quality.

You're proactive and self-directed. You'll need to solve problems on the ground rather than wait for headquarters.

Your written and spoken English is at a high professional level. You'll be writing SOPs, audit responses, board-level reports, and verification documentation; clarity and precision in English are non-negotiable.

Engineering or technical background (mechanical, chemical, process, or industrial engineering) is preferred.

About Nordic Carbon

Nordic Carbon produces biochar — a high-impact, durable carbon removal solution that permanently stores biogenic carbon while improving soil health and agricultural resilience.

We are a fast-growing company led by an experienced senior team. The Drobonso plant is our first commissioned facility, with further sites in development across Africa. Our culture combines high performance with collaboration and a strong sense of purpose.

To apply

Send your CV and a short note on why this role interests you to Jacob Lennheden, Regional Director, Africa via the link below.

Apply with QuickApply on Jobindex.