Senior Construction Manager / Owner’s Engineer - Utility-Scale Solar

Owner’s Representation

• Act as the owner’s senior representative throughout construction, commissioning and project handover.
• Protect the IPP’s technical, commercial and contractual interests across the project portfolio.
• Hold EPC contractors, owner’s engineers, consultants, subcontractors and suppliers accountable for their contractual obligations.
• Provide clear, evidence-based recommendations to executive management.
• Escalate material programme, cost, quality, safety and contractual risks before they affect project outcomes.
• Coordinate internal development, engineering, commercial, legal, finance, grid and operations teams.

Construction and Project Delivery

• Oversee the delivery of multiple utility-scale solar PV projects from notice to proceed through commercial operation.
• Monitor site establishment, civil works, mounting structures, module installation, DC systems, inverters, substations, MV reticulation, grid connections and associated infrastructure.
• Assess construction progress against the approved baseline programme and contractual milestones.
• Challenge inaccurate progress reporting and unrealistic recovery plans.
• Lead progress, technical, commercial and interface meetings.
• Monitor contractor resources, productivity, sequencing and construction methodology.
• Identify delays, constraints and interface risks and ensure that corrective measures are implemented.
• Review and challenge construction schedules, look-ahead programmes and critical-path analysis.
• Coordinate interfaces between the EPC contractor, grid works, Eskom or municipal stakeholders, independent engineers and other project parties.
• Ensure projects are delivered within approved scope, programme and budget.

Contract and Claims Management

• Administer and enforce EPC contract requirements from the owner’s perspective.
• Evaluate contractor notices, claims, compensation events, variations and requests for extensions of time.
• Assess contractual entitlement, causation, critical-path impact, concurrency and supporting records.
• Prepare and maintain the owner’s position on claims and contractual disputes.
• Ensure that contractual notices and responses are issued correctly and within the required timeframes.
• Maintain comprehensive contemporaneous records to support or defend claims.
• Review variation proposals, cost build-ups and programme impacts.
• Work closely with legal, commercial and technical advisers on disputed matters.
• Advise management on contractual strategy, commercial exposure and dispute avoidance.
• Monitor delay damages, performance damages, securities, guarantees, warranties and insurance obligations.
• Support negotiation, adjudication, arbitration or other dispute-resolution processes when required.

Technical Oversight

• Review designs, specifications, method statements, drawings and technical submissions.
• Confirm compliance with EPC requirements, applicable standards, grid codes and project specifications.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary technical interfaces across civil, structural, electrical, mechanical, SCADA and grid-connection workstreams.
• Review requests for information, design changes, deviations and proposed technical concessions.
• Ensure that design and construction decisions protect plant performance, reliability and long-term operability.
• Coordinate technical input from specialist consultants and independent engineers.
• Ensure design changes and deviations are formally documented and approved.

Programme and Commercial Control

• Review project controls, progress measurement systems and contractor reporting.
• Monitor forecast completion dates, milestone achievement and critical-path movement.
• Test contractor delay analyses and recovery proposals.
• Review payment applications against verified physical progress and contractual entitlement.
• Monitor project expenditure, approved variations, contingency use and forecast cost to completion.
• Provide accurate reporting on progress, emerging risks, claims exposure and commercial position.
• Ensure that management receives early warning of potential delays or cost increases.

Quality, Health and Safety

• Promote a strong safety culture and ensure that contractors comply with project HSE requirements.
• Monitor the implementation of approved health and safety plans.
• Intervene and escalate where unsafe practices or serious non-compliance are identified.
• Ensure that project quality plans, inspection and test plans and hold points are implemented.
• Monitor non-conformance reports, corrective actions, punch lists and defect close-out.
• Ensure that equipment and installations meet contractual, statutory and manufacturer requirements.
• Confirm that commissioning and handover documentation is accurate and complete.

Commissioning and Handover

• Oversee mechanical completion, energisation, commissioning and performance testing.
• Coordinate grid-compliance testing and achievement of contractual completion milestones.
• Monitor resolution of punch-list items, defects and outstanding works.
• Verify completion certificates, test results, warranties, manuals and as-built documentation.
• Support the transition from construction into operations and maintenance.
• Ensure lessons learned are captured and applied across the wider project portfolio.