Senior Project Manager at Sappi

Sappi Southern Africa requires a Senior Project Manager to take full accountability for a portfolio of major complex projects regionally from business case development through to post-implementation review.

This role reports into the Regional Engineering Manager.

The main responsibilities of this job are:

 Scoping, business case development, schedules and resources

• Work with production teams, process engineers, senior mill management and others to develop detailed business cases for major complex projects including determining the capital expenditure, return on investment, resource requirements, risks and benefits.
• Present business cases for approval at the required forums and represent the mills at committees that evaluate capital proposals.
• Coordinate pre - feasibility studies for projects that require it and ensure that results are carefully documented and validated.
• 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 adjust 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.
• 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.
• Ensure that project documentation is properly version controlled. Ensure technical documents, risk and issue logs and supporting materials are managed as required. 

The ideal candidate should have:

• Project Management Professional (PMP) or equivalent
• National Diploma in Mechanical / Electrical / Chemical Engineering or Pulp and Paper Processing with a minimum of 8 years project implementation experience in a manufacturing environment
• OR
• Relevant BSc Degree with a minimum of 5 years project implementation experience in a manufacturing environment
• SAP experience