About the position
Our client, a leading mining company is looking to appoint a Senior Project Engineer to join their team based in Johannesburg for a 2-year project.
The Senior Project Engineer takes accountability for technical oversight and assurance of the company's Growth projects, serving as the company's technical representative to ensure all engineering aspects align with the owner's strategic objectives and technical standards.
The Senior Project Engineer is responsible to ensure:
- Review consultant's engineering designs, reports, and drawings to ensure compliance with project technical specifications and owner's standards
- Develop an integrated technical oversight plan incorporating all stakeholders and technical functions, with specific emphasis on integration with project controls
- Establish required quality control elements covering the full project lifecycle from concept through to commissioning
- Monitor technical deliverables, reporting progress, variance to plan, root causes and corrective actions
- Monitor the greater environment to identify potential technical and regulatory risks to the project
- Manage engineering consultants, ensuring contract compliance, performance standards, and on-time delivery
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in Mining Engineering, Civil Engineering, or related engineering discipline.
- Professional registration (Pr.Eng) with ECSA or eligibility for registration.
- Minimum 10 years of experience in mining project development and engineering.
- Proven experience in feasibility studies and concept development phases.
- Postgraduate qualification in Engineering or Project Management. Preferred
- Previous experience as an Owner's Engineer. Preferred
- Experience with PGM or iron ore mining projects. Preferred
- Qualification in Project Management (e.g., PMP). Preferred
- Experience with project controls systems and methodologies. Preferred
- Mining and related operations environment (underground and open pit). Technical areas - Geology, Mining, Metallurgy, Engineering disciplines.
- 10+ years' experience in the following:
- Mining project development and feasibility studies
- Engineering design review and quality assurance
- Construction / Engineering Project Management environment
- Consultant and contractor management
- Owner's engineering and technical oversight
- Knowledge of South African mining regulations and environmental standards.
- Understanding of project controls, scheduling, and cost management principles.
Duties & Responsibilities:
Performance and Delivery
Technical Oversight and Quality Assurance
- Review and approve consultant's engineering designs, reports, and drawings against technical specifications and owner's standards
- Conduct technical due diligence on feasibility study deliverables, ensuring accuracy, reliability, and comprehensive risk assessment
- Implement and enforce quality assurance protocols for all engineering deliverables produced by consultants
- Ensuring alignment with Group Engineering Standards for each project phase
- Conduct constructability and operability reviews with input from operational teams to ensure designs are practical and cost-effective
- Review and ensure delineation of technical responsibilities to ensure owner's interests are sufficiently protected
Scope and Change Management
- Ensure actively monitor and manage the engineering consultant's scope of work to prevent scope creep
- Ensure assistance with the development and validation of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
- Ensure integrity of data between Scope, WBS, Schedule, and technical deliverables
- Ensure initiate formal change process where applicable and maintain oversight of technical change control
- Review and approve technical change requests from consultants, assessing impact on project scope, cost, and schedule
- Identify technical variance and analysis of root causes
- Review options to remedy causes and/or recover schedule impacts
Consultant Management
- Ensure assist in the selection of engineering consultants and managing contracts to ensure terms are met
- Ensure regularly track consultant's progress, performance, and compliance with project schedule and budget
- Ensure address any deviations or underperformance promptly through formal performance management processes
- Ensure serve as primary point of contact for consultants, providing clarification on owner requirements and strategic direction
- Review and approve invoices from engineering consultants based on progress achieved and contract terms
- Support development of commercial contracts to understand risks to technical delivery and treatment strategies
- Ensure quality-assured consultant data collection and deliverable production processes
Integration and Coordination
- Ensure seamless integration between engineering consultants and other parts of the owner's team (geology, project controls, operational readiness, environmental)
- Facilitate exchange of information and data between owner's organization and consultants
- Liaise frequently with Project Controls team to understand schedule conflicts, resource constraints, and time constraints
- Coordinate with procurement and contracts teams on technical specifications and requirements
- Establish required tools and techniques to ensure ongoing data integrity (auditable) and alignment
- Ensure effective (audience-focused) communication of key technical messages to stakeholders
Risk Management and Reporting
- Identify technical risks associated with consultant's designs and study deliverables
- Ensure propose mitigation strategies and escalate significant risks to the Project Manager
- Monitor the greater environment to identify potential risks to technical delivery and project objectives
- Prepare and present regular technical reports to Project Manager and stakeholders, summarizing consultant progress, risks, and key findings
- Provide technical support to other departments as requested to ensure operational efficiency
- Conduct project technical evaluations as initiated by the business to assess feasibility and viability
Regulatory Compliance
- Work with consultants to ensure all engineering plans and studies comply with South African mining regulations, environmental standards, and permit requirements
- Maintain awareness of regulatory changes and ensure project compliance
- Support environmental and social impact assessment processes
- Enforce compliance requirements and ensure consultant adherence to legal policies and corporate governance principles
Stakeholder Engagement & Support
- Maintain appropriate stakeholder relationships, enhancing the corporate profile and fostering collaboration
- Provide relevant technical support to applicable stakeholders, ensuring their needs are met effectively
- Maintain internal and external relations, including interactions with consultants, contractors, and regulatory authorities
- Ensure collaborate with project managers and project controls to identify and manage technical risks throughout the project lifecycle
- Enforce compliance requirements and ensure team adherence to legal policies and corporate governance principles.
- Assist in developing and implementing cost control strategies and best practices across projects.
Stakeholder Engagement & Support
- Maintain appropriate stakeholder relationships, enhancing the corporate profile and fostering collaboration.
- Provide relevant financial support to applicable stakeholders, ensuring their needs are met effectively.
- Maintain internal and external relations, including interactions with external providers or other functions responsible for meeting business needs and achieving employee satisfaction.
- Collaborate with project managers to identify and manage financial risks throughout the project lifecycle.
Desired Skills:
- Project Engineer
- Mining
- Owners Team
- Feasibility Studies
- PMP
- PrEng
Desired Work Experience:
