Senior Civil Engineer (Release) - Cape Town at Scatec ASA

Main purpose of position

Release is looking for a Senior Civil Engineer to be based in Cape Town, South Africa and be part of our global team. The Senior Civil Engineer leads Release’s civil engineering function and civil engineering support to projects. The overall responsibility of the role is to develop and align the organization's civil engineering capabilities with its business objectives. The role will mainly support projects, in various stages of maturity, from the feasibility stage through to the operations phase. The role will officially report to through the engineering function (Chief Engineer as functional manager), but most of the role’s time will be spent supporting projects and reporting to the relevant project managers.

Main responsibilities:

• Project Civil Engineering lead: To lead Release’s civil engineering project function and to manage and coordinate the project stakeholders related to the civil engineering and site preparation scope of work; that is, internal resources (project managers, draftsman, etc.) as well as external parties (Release’s clients, civil consultants, and civil contractors)
• Develop Release’s in-house civil engineering expertise: Continuous development and improvement of Release’s civil engineering capability, operating system processes, documentation, specifications, templates, tools, reporting, etc.
• Site evaluation and management of site studies: Together with Release’s business development and technical development teams, the role shall participate in the screening of opportunity phase sites, evaluate site information borne out of the feasibility stage of projects and conduct site visits during development stage of projects. The role will also lead and manage the processes and deliverables related to the geotechnical, hydrological and topographical site studies that shall be conducted pre-construction.
• Manage detail design of civil works: The role shall manage the plant preliminary design (as done in-house during the development phase) and later the plant detail design (as sub-contracted during the implementation/execution phase). The role will support both the technical development function (development phase) and project management function (implementation phase) with all civil work deliverables.
• Site support: The role shall guide the consultants or contractors executing the site studies during the development phase of projects. The role shall also provide technical site support to the civil contractor and Release’s installation/construction team during the implementation/construction phase of projects.
• Management of consultants and contractors: The role shall manage consultants/contractors performing site studies, consultants responsible for the detail civil design (together with project managers) as well as the contractors responsible for the site preparation works (together with Release site management).
• Participate in technical reviews: The role shall participate in and contribute to the review of deliverables produced by the site studies consultants as well as the deliverables related to the preliminary and detail designs of the plant, whether produced in-house or via external consultants.
• Providing general technical support: Provide ad-hoc civil engineering support to Project Engineering Leads within their projects and to the product engineering function when civil-technology integration is required (eg. equipment foundations).
• Reporting to management and Release committees: To report on project technical deliverables, challenges, risks and opportunities to the Chief Engineer, Release management and/or the technical/investment committees of Release.

Important role interfaces:

• Engineering - Technical development: Assisting the technical development team with the feasibility and development civil scope of work within the projects they co-lead with the business development/sales function.
• Engineering - Implementation: Working closely with the Project Engineering Leads and Project Managers during the structuring and delivery phases to deliver the civil engineering deliverables.
• Procurement and Logistics: Interaction with the P&L function will entail collaborating with civil engineering consultants and civil construction contractors on scope, contracting, specifications, RFP/RFQ documentation, etc.
• Procurement Management: Interaction with the PM function will be to drive technical deliverables and support to projects with civil engineering needs.
• Project Planning: Interaction with the planning function will be to provide estimates of construction speed and resource needs related to the civil engineering and site preparation scope within projects.
• Quality Assurance/Control: Interaction with the QC function will entail collaboration to identify potential civil quality risks and assist the QC team to formulate quality control requirements for the inspection of civil works.
• Document Control: Interaction with the document control function will entail the effective organisation of all documents related to the civil engineering scope.
• Technical Asset Management: Interaction with the Technical Asset Management function will entail ad-hoc investigations and suggestion remedies for site civil challenges experience during the lease phase of projects (e.g. soil erosion).
• Client or contractor interfaces, involving civil works, shall be managed by the civil engineering function.

Qualifications and competencies 

• Civil Engineering Degree (B.Eng)
• 7+ years Civil engineering experience
• 5+ years EPC/construction projects experience (3+ years renewable energy sector experience is an advantage).
• Advanced understanding of civil engineering and the civil needs of renewable energy plants (PV + BESS), including drainage systems, roads, equipment foundations
• Advanced ability to review site conditions and prescribe suitable site intrusive, geophysical, hydrological, topographical studies to de-risk the project in the development and structuring phases Advanced understanding of the engineering, procurement and construction processes related to the construction of large PV plants.
• Advanced familiarity with software design tools (AutoCAD Civil 3D, GIS software, Google Earth).
• Excellent MS Office Suite software knowledge and good working knowledge of Adobe Acrobat (or similar PDF application).
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft SharePoint, project management tools (project planning) and methodologies.
• Good understanding of civil cost drivers in EPC projects, cost benchmarks, market trends, cost sensitivity etc.
• Language: Fluent both written and spoken in English
• Valid driver's license and passport

For the particular role we also expect

• Strong organizational and managerial skills.
• Task oriented, prioritization skills, highly structured, systematic, and analytical.
• Independent and proactive way of working
• Able to communicate clearly in a professional manner to various internal and external parties.
• Able to produce clear written communication (emails, meeting minutes, tasks) and submit to team and management in a structured and professional manner.
• Able to work in a fast-paced and deadline driven project environment.
• Continuous learning, skill development and skills transfer abilities

Personal characteristics

It is part of every Release employee’s terms of reference to contribute to Scatec group’s vision: Improving our Future and adhere to our company values which are:

• Predictable: demonstrate clear communication and listening skills, shares information in an open and honest way.
• Driving results: demonstrate determination, pro-activeness, can prioritise and work independently.
• Changemaker: demonstrate entrepreneurship, can challenge, fast learner, take initiates and adjust.
• Working together: demonstrate teamwork, shares responsibilities, can compromise, has a can-do attitude.