Head, Global Engineering

sdguthrie; Petaling Jaya; On-site; MYR 420,000 - 780,000; Full time

Job summary

sdguthrie in Malaysia seeks a seasoned Senior Enterprise Engineering Leader to shape the Group's engineering roadmap and drive transformation across diverse businesses. You will coordinate cross-functional teams, set governance standards, and ensure value delivery while upholding safety and quality.

The role emphasizes strategic alignment, capital optimisation, and capability building to sustain competitive advantage across the Group's engineering portfolio.

Qualifications

• Must have 15+ years of progressive engineering leadership experience.
• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering from a recognised university.
• Professional Engineering certification or registration preferred.
• Postgraduate qualification in Engineering Management or MBA is advantageous.
• Demonstrated success leading multi-disciplinary engineering programmes across large organisations.
• Experience managing large engineering portfolios with multiple stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Develop and drive the Group-wide engineering roadmap aligned to business priorities and transformation objectives.
• Establish and oversee a Group engineering portfolio management framework.
• Facilitate enterprise-wide prioritisation and sequencing of engineering projects.
• Champion engineering standards, frameworks and best practices across the Group.
• Align Group leadership with business-unit engineering teams and drive data-driven decisions.
• Identify emerging engineering trends and capability-building opportunities.
• Provide governance updates to senior leadership on project performance and risks.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Portfolio management

Stakeholder management

Strategic planning

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering

Professional Engineering certification

Job description

We value our people and encourage everyone to grow professionally.

Job Description:

1. Enterprise Engineering Strategy & Integration
   Develop and drive the Group-wide engineering roadmap aligned to business priorities and transformation objectives.
   Identify opportunities to integrate engineering initiatives across businesses to maximise synergy, eliminate duplication and enhance enterprise value.
   Ensure engineering investments support long-term strategic growth, operational excellence and sustainability ambitions.

2. Portfolio Governance & Delivery Oversight
   Establish and oversee a Group engineering portfolio management framework covering major engineering projects and programmes.
   Monitor progress, risks, dependencies and performance of critical engineering initiatives across business units.
   Escalate key issues and recommend interventions to ensure successful delivery against agreed outcomes, timelines and budgets.

3. Engineering Investment Optimisation
   Facilitate enterprise-wide prioritisation and sequencing of engineering projects to optimise capital allocation and resource utilisation.
   Drive value engineering principles to improve cost effectiveness without compromising safety, quality or operational performance.
   Assess opportunities for shared services, common platforms and economies of scale across the Group.

4. Engineering Standards & Best Practice Leadership
   Champion the development and adoption of engineering standards, frameworks and methodologies to enhance consistency and execution excellence.
   Promote the sharing of engineering expertise, lessons learnt and innovative practices across businesses.
   Benchmark Group engineering practices against industry leaders to continuously improve organisational capability.

5. Stakeholder Alignment & Influence
   Act as the strategic interface between Group leadership and business unit engineering teams to drive alignment and collaboration.
   Build strong partnerships with operational leaders, project sponsors and functional experts to ensure enterprise-wide commitment to engineering priorities.
   Influence decision-making through data-driven insights and recommendations.

6. Capability Building & Future Readiness
   Identify emerging engineering trends, technologies and capabilities relevant to the Group's strategic ambitions.
   Support the development of engineering leadership capability across the organisation.
   Foster a culture of innovation, continuous improvement and cross-functional collaboration within the engineering community.

7. Performance Reporting & Governance
   Establish key performance indicators and reporting mechanisms for Group engineering initiatives.
   Provide regular updates to the Chief Transformation Officer and relevant governance forums on project performance, portfolio health and strategic risks.
   Ensure transparency, accountability and effective governance of engineering investments across the Group.

Job Requirements:

• Minimum 15 years of progressive engineering leadership experience, including direct responsibility for delivering large-scale, complex engineering initiatives.

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering from a recognised university.

• Professional Engineering certification or registration with a recognised engineering body is preferred.

• Postgraduate qualification in Engineering Management, Business Administration or related disciplines will be an added advantage.

• Demonstrated success in leading multi-disciplinary engineering programmes across large organisations operating in multiple geographic locations.

• Proven track record in managing significant engineering portfolios involving multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.

• Experience in sectors such as industrial operations, manufacturing, energy, agribusiness, infrastructure or other asset-intensive industries would be advantageous.

• Exposure to enterprise transformation initiatives, capital project governance and organisational change management is highly desirable.