Lead Engineer Water and Sanitation

SUMMARY:
Lead Engineer

POSITION INFO:

Description of role

As the Lead Engineer of the water/sanitation engineering discipline, you will be responsible for ensuring effective and successful project preparation and lead designs operations, provide project management services on the entire project life cycle, manage project budgeting and financial performance, and ensure effective project implementation (contract administration and construction supervision), champion engineering studies and planning projects. Manage procurement and supervision of contracted service providers, subconsultants and specialists.

You will be responsible for planning, executing, and evaluating projects according to predetermined timelines and budgets. Building and managing project teams, building relationships with clients, and ensuring quality control throughout project life cycles are central to this position.

Key responsibilities

• Lead project teams in strategic planning and resourcing efforts for water and sanitation projects.
• Drive the selection of appropriate engineering standards for the projects.
• Review and provide input to design documents as appropriate.
• Coordinate the interactions between the capital project construction and commissioning teams.
• Identity opportunities for improvement
• Make continuous improvement of the team’s KPI
• Prepare Capex business cases
• Ensure realisation of projects business cases
• Drive the proper contracting strategy for the project.
• Ensure all projects are completed within budget, schedule, and no incidents.
• Ensure that all sites operate within the scheduled start up duration.
• Take independent action, attempts to influence events to achieve results.
• Create and execute project work plans and services as appropriate to meet changing needs and requirements - scope change tools.
• Ensure Project Accounting/Management principles are applied according to the project methodology requirements.
• Assure the complete resolution of health, safety, environmental issues, using consultation with appropriate subject matter experts.
• Accountable for legal requirements on projects.
• Facilitate team and client meetings effectively.
• Responsible for effective communication to all stakeholders
• Identify opportunities for improvements and innovation and act accordingly.
• Hold the team leaders accountable for targets and goals.
• Mitigate team conflict, effectively utilize each team member to their fullest potential.
• Analyse and resolve problems and provide technical assistance as and when necessary.
• Work extensively with colleagues to produce results within a fast-paced and high-pressure environment.

• Ensure client engineering and technical execution strategies, standards and procedures are applied as required to assure technical hazard identification and risk assessment, integrity, incident prevention, human factors, inherent safety, and environmental sustainability in delivery.
• Ensure engineering and design work complies with regulatory, licenses and permits, industry standard and customer engineering and technical requirements.
• Ensure appropriate codes and standards are specified for the intended application when the client is the design authority.
• Ensure adherence to all statutory requirements during design and construction.
• Development and management of mentorship programme for junior engineers.

Qualifications and Experience

• BSc or BEng or BTech in Civil Engineering
• Registration as a Professional Engineer/Technologist (Pr.Eng / PrTechEng) with ECSA
• Minimum 10 years post registration relevant experience in water and sanitation projects design and construction management.
• Thorough working knowledge of specifications and Bills of Quantities (SANS 1200, project specific etc.) & Conditions of Contract (SAICE GCC, FIDIC, NEC).
• Proficient Microsoft Office skills required.

Key traits

• Strong leadership abilities with excellent oral, interpersonal & written communication skills.
• Well-developed negotiation skills.
• Effective collaboration with a customer-centric approach.
• Efficient teamwork and knowledge-sharing.
• Strict practice of confidentiality, personal responsibility, and discretion.
• High resilience and adaptability.
• Effective independent work delivering high-quality results within constraints.
• Efficient management of multiple priorities under pressure.
• Proficient conflict management skills.
• Strong technical aptitude, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Effective report writing, planning, and organizational skills.