Regulatory & Compliance Lead

Job Overview:

The Regulatory & Compliance Lead is responsible for the development, implementation, and coordination of the Project Regulatory & Compliance (R&C) framework, ensuring compliance with Mozambican regulatory requirements, permit conditions, and applicable international standards. This is a Lead/ Principal-level role, providing technical and coordination leadership within the R&C team. The role supports the Project Director and Interface Manager by contributing to regulatory strategy, project execution decisions, and stakeholder alignment across the project lifecycle. The position operates within a multi-location, multi-disciplinary EPC environment, requiring effective collaboration across project offices, site operations, and global execution centers.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities:

Regulatory Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and maintain the Regulatory & Compliance Plan
• Provide regulatory input to project leadership on strategy, risk, and decisions
• Provide technical leadership and coordination within the R&C team

Permitting & Compliance Management

• Coordinate the full permitting lifecycle (identification to approval)
• Maintain the Permit Register and compliance trackers
• Ensure compliance with permit conditions
• Coordinate regulatory reporting and renewals
• Define and manage third-party support as required while retaining accountability for regulatory compliance outcomes

Regulatory Interface & Stakeholder Engagement

• Manage interactions with authorities, Government entities, and stakeholders, ensuring alignment and issue resolution
• Support engagement with Client and JV partners
• Coordinate permitting-related reviews, inspections, and audits

Compliance Integration & Execution

• Ensure consistent application of regulatory requirements across engineering, procurement, and construction, including site execution
• Coordinate alignment across project teams and locations

Monitoring, Assurance & Risk Management

• Maintain compliance data, tracking, and reporting systems
• Monitor changes in regulatory frameworks and assess potential impacts on project execution
• Provide compliance status updates to project governance and leadership forums
• Support audits, inspections, and compliance reviews, including follow-up of actions
• Identify, assess, and escalate regulatory risks and compliance issues
• Initiate escalation and support intervention, including suspension of activities where regulatory non-compliance is identified, in line with project governance
• Perform conceptual, FEED, and detailed analyses and design as per design basis, project specifications, design codes, and standards
• Apply in-depth skills and broad knowledge of the business to address complex problems and nonstandard situations
• Prepare clear and accurate detailed design calculations and analyses including design reports and - procedures
• Manage own time to meet objectives and (as Lead Engineer) forecast and plan resource requirements
• Communicate and explain difficult concepts and persuade others to adopt a point of view
• When acting as Lead Engineer, in addition:
  • Direct medium or large Engineering team as a Lead Engineer
  • Lead the Discipline engineering design of the assigned work area and completed it within planned schedule and budget, in accordance with standards, MDR, and project-specific procedures and to a high professional standard
  • Plan, organize, and direct all aspects of Discipline execution on the assigned project including scope, deliverables, schedule, and all manpower resources - agree allocations with the Discipline Manager
  • Ensure interfaces and deliverables are clearly identified
  • Maintain responsibility for progress and productivity, identifying any required corrective action
  • Act as project representative for the Discipline during meetings with the Project Team, Customer discipline lead, and relevant agencies such as certifying authorities, auditors, third parties, etc.
• Become fully familiar with the project scope of work, specifications, schedule, and all inter-discipline requirements; including identifying concerns as early as practicable and taking appropriate initiatives to address the issues
• Interpret contractual requirements as they relate to engineering execution
• Identify changes to scope and promptly raise change notifications, including providing any necessary supporting documentation and estimates
• Provide similar support for Variation Orders
• Interface with other departments to obtain input for Discipline designs and drawings, and to develop clash-free designs
• Prepare estimates for bid proposals, including technical query reviews, execution statements, and manhour estimates, identifying software requirements and any other project-specific requirements
• Prepare, review, and (as Lead Engineer) approve Discipline engineering design basis, philosophies, and technical specifications
• Participate in finalizing deliverables lists and deliverables, ensuring compliance with specifications and functional integrity
• Provide technical direction and review of Designers producing products related to Fire Protection & Safety Engineering
• Review project schedule and fabrication schedule about construction sequence, milestones, and engineering scope
• Attend project kickoff and review meetings, vendor meetings, and engineering meetings as required
• Assist procurement personnel in procuring Discipline equipment, materials, and services; ensuring that work produced complies with Customer objectives and procedures
• Procurement assistance includes preparing, reviewing, and (as Lead Engineer) approving requisitions, evaluating technical quotations, preparing queries, compiling bid tabulations and recommendations, preparing purchase requisitions, and coordinating with Procurement to expedite vendor documents, as directed by Discipline Lead Engineer
• Review and (as Lead Engineer) approve vendor and subcontractor submittals, checking for compliance with project specifications and providing comments as necessary
• Review and (as Lead Engineer) approve design verification through single-discipline check/ interdisciplinary check (IDC)
• Provide technical support to fabrication queries, including identifying defect/rectification requirements
• Keep the Discipline Manager and Project Management Team apprised of all activities and concerns, technical, budgetary, and manpower related
• Assist in providing inputs for actual, planning, and forecasting progress reports including associated productivity
• Present issues and problems to Customers promptly and assist the Lead Engineer in negotiating resolution by project and company requirements
• Perform (as required) Technical Quality Audit reviews by MDR Global Procedures
• Capture lessons learned and entered them into MDR's Lessons Learned system
• Guide less experienced engineers on Discipline procedures, standards, worksheets, design calculations, software, requisitions, technical bid evaluations, technical queries, etc.
• Monitor costs of own work processes
• Assist in the maintenance of departmental technical guidelines and standard calculation notes
• Participate in the development and maintenance of Global Procedures, Software, and Standards
• Develop communication and presentation skills (e.g., write technical papers, participate in conferences and/or seminars, present design solutions, and/or present topics at "lunch and learns"; etc.)
• Provide information on employee performance to the Discipline Manager
• Assist the Discipline manager in interviewing job applicants
• Prepare, review, and (as Lead Engineer) approve the following:
  • Design HSE & fire protection philosophies
  • Safety study scope of work specifications, requisitions, TBE, and purchase requisitions
  • Safety equipment lists
  • Firefighting equipment specifications and data sheets
  • Lifesaving and personnel safety equipment specifications and data sheets
  • Safety sign specifications and data sheets
  • Firewater demand and hydraulic calculation reports using PIPENET or equivalent software
  • Inputs to P&ID markups for Firewater ring main system and Deluge system including providing details of interconnection with hose reels, monitors, hydrants, and deluge valves /nozzles
  • Escape route and safety equipment layouts
  • Safety sign layouts
• Review and (as Lead Engineer) approve third-party safety study reports that comply with project specifications
• Participate and (as Lead Engineer) coordinate safety workshops (such as HAZID/HAZOP) and provide inputs to safety study consultants
• Prepare, review, and (as Lead Engineer) approve safety study close-out reports
• Participate in 3D model reviews, as necessary
• When acting as Lead Engineer, in addition:
  • Act as project-based Discipline point of contact in communications and meetings with Customer counterparts
  • Ensure substantive communications are documented
  • Prepare bids and projects Discipline engineering budget and execution plans, updating as required
  • Identify project staff needs based on knowledge of individual engineer's skill sets and provide requests to the Discipline manager
  • Plan, organize, and assign tasks, responsibilities, and manhour budgets to the discipline team, and verify tasks are completed within budgets
  • Plan Discipline Level 4 detail deliverable schedule/ register compliant with the overall execution plan
  • Prepare working forecasts identifying change management plans, corrective action, and real time schedule
  • Provide Discipline inputs for actual, planning, and forecasting progress reports including associated productivity
  • Alert the project team of any deviation from the scope or a need for a change order
  • Lead the Discipline team during project audits (internal, Customer, and third-party technical audits) and Design Reviews
  • Review comments from Customers & other agencies on documents and drawings produced by the team, and resolve and give guidance on their update and incorporation

Reports to:

Project: Lead Engineer, Project Engineering Manager or Project Manager,

Functional: Supervising Department Manager

Liaise with: All Engineering disciplines, Fabrication Group, Safety Dept, Project Management Team, Document Control, Project

Planner, Project Cost Controller, QC, and Certification Group, Procurement Group, Subcontractors and Vendors, and

Customers

Supervises: Senior Engineers, Engineers

Essential Qualifications and Education:

• Relevant academic qualification or equivalent professional experience in regulatory compliance, permitting, or related disciplines
• Typically 15-20 years’ experience in regulatory compliance, permitting, or certification within EPC/EPCM projects in the energy sector
• Demonstrated experience working with:
  • Regulatory authorities and approval processes
    • Certification bodies and compliance frameworks
    • Multi-discipline engineering and project execution
• Demonstrated experience or working knowledge of Mozambican regulatory frameworks, including petroleum legislation, environmental and social compliance, and permitting regimes
• Proven ability to provide technical leadership and coordination across multi-disciplinary and geographically dispersed teams
• Strong organisational, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills
• Experience coordinating and managing third-party service providers in support of regulatory or compliance activities
• Ability to operate effectively in an international project environment with flexibility to travel as required
• Preferably Registered Professional Engineer or member of professional engineering society as applicable
• Detailed knowledge of design techniques and analysis methods, and detailed knowledge of the theory, content, and application of standards, codes, and guidelines as applicable
• Knowledgeable in project coordination and execution skills