Head of Engineering - Major Projects

Scantec Personnel Limited; Eastern Ontario; On-site; CAD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading engineering firm in Eastern Ontario is seeking an experienced engineering leader to oversee major projects and contracts. The role requires a Chartered Engineer with significant senior management experience in the process sector, responsible for ensuring technical compliance, governance, and delivery excellence. Candidates should have a proven track record of leading multi-disciplinary teams and possess strong commercial acumen. This position is critical for maintaining project performance and driving improvements in engineering standards.

Qualifications

• Significant senior engineering management experience within the process sector.
• Proven track record of leading large, multi-disciplinary engineering teams on complex projects.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, with sound knowledge of governance and control.

Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering function for major projects and contracts.
• Ensure all engineering activity is delivered by suitably qualified personnel.
• Monitor engineering performance against schedule and budget.
• Support Project Directors and Managers for aligned delivery.
• Provide engagement and oversight of engineering standards across the supply chain.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Project delivery

Technical compliance

Team leadership

Commercial acumen

Effective communication

Education

Degree in a relevant engineering discipline

Chartered Engineer status

Job description

Own and lead the engineering function for major projects and contracts across the sector. Accountable for engineering strategy, delivery, technical governance, and safety, ensuring all projects are executed to the required standard, on time and to budget, in full compliance with DB procedures and regulatory requirements.

This role spans proposals, project delivery, and technical assurance, and exists to make sure engineering does not become the bottleneck, the risk, or the excuse.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership & Governance

• Set, maintain, and enforce engineering standards, processes, procedures, and governance frameworks across all major projects.
• Ensure all engineering activity is delivered by suitably qualified and experienced personnel (SQEP).
• Own technical compliance, assurance, and safety execution in line with DB procedures and regulatory obligations.
• Review, challenge, and approve engineering execution strategies alongside Project Managers and Project Engineering Managers.

Project Delivery & Performance

• Support Project Directors, Project Managers, and Site Managers to ensure engineering delivery aligns with agreed scope, specification, programme, and cost.
• Monitor engineering performance against schedule and budget; intervene decisively where performance deviates.
• Drive corrective action, continuous improvement, and lessons learned across the portfolio.
• Lead engineering resource planning with Operations: deployment, utilisation, succession, training, development, and recruitment planning.
• Build and mobilise project-specific engineering teams aligned to project risk, complexity, and delivery requirements.
• Develop engineering capability to meet current and future workload demands.

Business Development & Proposals

• Act as the primary engineering interface to Business Development.
• Support bids and proposals, including defining scope, execution approach, and estimating engineering hours and resource requirements.
• Ensure proposals are technically sound, deliverable, and aligned with DB standards.

Supply Chain & Standards

• Provide engagement and oversight of engineering standards applied across the supply chain.
• Ensure suppliers and partners meet DB technical, safety, and quality expectations.
• Identify, champion, and deploy best practice, innovation, and efficiency improvements within legal, regulatory, and industry standards.
• Drive standardisation where it improves delivery, quality, and margin.

Leadership & Culture

• Lead by example, embedding OneWay and HU leadership behaviours.
• Build a high-performance engineering culture focused on accountability, collaboration, and delivery excellence.
• Position DB as a contractor of choice through engineering credibility and execution strength.

Skills & Experience

• Degree qualified in a relevant engineering discipline.
• Chartered Engineer status.
• Significant senior engineering management experience within the process sector.
• Proven track record of leading large, multi-disciplinary engineering teams on complex projects.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, with sound knowledge of governance and control.
• Clear, confident communicator with the authority to challenge, influence, and lead at all levels.