Regional Manufacturing Specialist: Alternative Fuel at Sappi

The Role

Sappi Southern Africa requires a Regional Manufacturing Specialist: Alternative Fuel to take full accountability for the alternative fuel portfolio of major complex projects from research and development stage, business case development through to post - implementation review. This role reports in to the Regional Manufacturing Manager.

The main responsibilities of the job are:

Alternative fuel scoping and product development:

• Scope and develop the initial concept, R&D, pilot plant work and commercial trials, and includes pre-engineering, obtaining board approval, and building pilot and commercial plant to manufacture fuel rods. 
• Evaluate and optimize boiler performance supplied with alternative fuels to coal and conduct trials on Coal Fire Boilers at all Sappi mills
• Develop and implement alternative fuel strategy for replacing coal on all Sappi’s Boilers.
• Implement alternative fuel strategies for PF boilers by supplying the boiler with fuel rods. 
• Project manage the construction of pilot plants to manufacture the fuel rods for A-grade boilers consisting of Coal fines, biomass and lignosulphonate, and then train operators to operate the pilot plant and monitor the effectiveness of the new alternative fuel.
• Develop a green fuel product as an alternative to charcoal/briquettes for the domestic market within Sappi Southern Africa and international Mills. 
• Replace coal consumption with more economical and environmentally suitable alternative fuels (e.g. fuel rods) at the different mill boilers 
• Lead continuous improvement and optimization initiatives pertaining to all alternative fuel boilers in the SA region 

Scoping, business case development, schedules and resources 

• Work with production teams, process engineers, senior mill management and others to develop detailed business cases for alternative fuel projects including determining the capital expenditure, return on investment, resource requirements, risks and benefits. Present business cases for approval at the required forums. 
• Represent the mills at committees that evaluate capital proposals and if successful and agreed upon, then submit capital applications for approval.
• Coordinate with Board/Mill committee on pre - feasibility studies for projects where required. Coordinate internal and external resources to contribute. Ensure that results are documented and validated. 
• Workshop and consolidate detailed scope documents for all projects in the portfolio. Ensure that the correct stakeholders are identified upfront and that they approve the scope. Apply strict governance principles around the evaluation and approval of scope changes. 
• Develop detailed project work breakdown structures, resource and time schedules for assigned projects. Obtain approval from project owners. 
• Determine the resource requirements for projects including capex, operational cost, skills types as well as the resources for the change management elements. 

Project design and management 

• Coordinate the designs of new projects by including process engineers, production teams and process specialists, technicians and component manufacturers. Review the completeness and quality of the designs and make adjustments where required. 
• Ensure that integration elements are included, and that regression analysis is done where the process impacts other areas in the plant. 
• Drive the scheduling, procurement, installation and commissioning of the new equipment for assigned projects. Drive the testing (including integration testing) and highlight design deficiencies if identified. 
• Work with process engineers and production managers and maintenance engineers to develop mitigating actions. Ensure that all governance requirements are met, particularly related to procurement practices, project reporting, risks and issues and testing. 
• Project risk management and governance 
• Actively identify potential risks and dependencies related to the schedule, design, resources, testing and implementation aspects of the projects under management. Work closely with subject matter experts to develop mitigating actions and escalate major risks that have a high likelihood of occurrence.
• Keep tight control of project finances including cash flow forecasts, purchase orders, goods receipts and required approvals. 
• Prepare project financials on a monthly basis. Escalate project overspend due to exchange rate fluctuations, resource or schedule issues as soon as they are identified. Develop alternatives to mitigate overspend and or scheduled changes. 
• Ensure that project documentation is properly version controlled. Ensure technical documents, risk and issue logs and supporting materials are managed as required. 
• Update the SAP Project Systems application with the information required for standard reports. 
• Ensure that a post - implementation review is done and that all lessons learnt and reusable items (such as mass and energy balances) are made available to other project teams in the mill and at other sites. 
• Coordinate the delivery of projects through a team of contributors. Provide feedback to project owners/steering committees. 

The ideal candidate should have:

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, Electrical or Chemical Engineering or Pulp and Paper Processing or equivalent qualification
• A minimum of 8 years project implementation experience in a manufacturing environment 
• Project Management Professional (PMP) or equivalent required
• SAP experience (optional)