Plant Engineering Manager

Reference: Rec000383-JG-1

Our client is a well-established South African OEM that designs, manufactures, tests and commissions mineral processing equipment and plants for the mining industry.

They operate an ISO 9001 (TÜV SÜD) certified quality system and follow a concurrent engineering approach across business development, engineering, projects and fabrication. Duties & Responsibilities The lead Plant Engineer functions as an integrated project-delivery team on large, complex, long-duration mineral processing plant projects.

You will take engineering ownership from tender and concept, through detailed engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction support, to commissioning, performance testing and final handover.

You will report to the Director: Group Technical & Business Development and Group CEO and oversee the Plant Project Engineers, Process Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, E&I resources and Draughting/Design staff.

Key responsibilities

• Lead multidisciplinary engineering (process, mechanical, piping, structural/civil, E&I and draughting) on major plant projects
• Set up the engineering execution plan, design basis, deliverables register, schedule and resource plan
• Review and approve calculations, specifications, datasheets, drawings, layouts, P&IDs and equipment selections
• Lead design, constructability and gate reviews, design freezes and technical approvals
• Control scope changes, deviations, concessions, RFIs, TQs, NCRs and vendor documentation
• Manage engineering budgets, planned hours and resource loading across concurrent projects
• Support commissioning, performance testing, punch-list close-out, as-builts and technical handover
• Act as senior technical interface with clients, consultants, suppliers, site teams and internal departments
• Drive design standardisation, lessons learned, risk management and ISO 9001 / SHERQ compliance
• Present designs, costs and progress to EXCO and clients; manage the testing facility
• Coach, develop and set KPIs for the engineering team

Minimum requirements

• BEng / BSc Mechanical Engineering
• Registered International Professional Engineer with ECSA (Int PE)
• 10+ years' engineering experience in mineral processing, mining or heavy industrial plant projects
• 5+ years delivering multidisciplinary plant or EPC/EPCM-type projects
• 3+ years in an engineering leadership or management role
• Proven competency in MS Office (incl. MS Project) and Inventor, Solid Edge and/or SolidWorks

Advantageous

• Additional degree in Process, Chemical or Metallurgical Engineering
• Experience across the full cycle: design, procurement, fabrication/construction, commissioning and handover
• Finite Element Analysis and/or MATLAB

The right person will be

• Strong estimating and costing of engineering hours
• Excellent report writing and communication
• Decisive, detail-oriented and deadline-driven
• Health and safety conscious
• Willing to support site commissioning