Operational Readiness Engineer

Mventech; Centurion; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Mventech Group is seeking an Operational Readiness Engineer to support mining projects through the critical transition from construction to safe, stable operations. This hands-on role requires coordinating people, processes, and systems to ensure readiness before start-up and to embed disciplined operations across project teams.

You will develop SOPs, review governance documentation, and foster workforce readiness through training and competency programmes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (NQF 8) in Mining, Mechanical, Industrial, Process, or related discipline.
• Seven years’ experience in mining, heavy industry, or infrastructure projects.
• Hands-on exposure to mine operations, commissioning, start-up, or transition-to-operations activities.
• Ability to develop and maintain readiness plans, workstream trackers, procedures, and handover documentation.
• Experience working across engineering, project delivery, construction, commissioning, and operations teams.
• Familiarity with Mines Health and Safety Act and safety requirements.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain Operational Readiness Plans aligned with project phases and milestones.
• Define and coordinate readiness workstreams, deliverables, interfaces, and actions across people, processes, systems, docs, equipment and capability.
• Maintain readiness schedules, trackers, dashboards, and reporting tools for early visibility of progress and constraints.
• Work across engineering, project, construction, commissioning, and operations teams to embed readiness in delivery.
• Prepare and review SOPs, work instructions, and governance documents for safe operations after handover.
• Coordinate training plans and competency development to ensure start-up readiness.
• Contribute to management operating systems and performance review routines post-handover.
• Identify and mitigate operational readiness risks with action plans and monitoring tools.
• Prepare readiness reports, client presentations, punch-list close-out, and action registers.
• Document lessons learned and refine tools/templates to strengthen the firm’s methodologies.

Skills

Operational readiness planning

Cross-functional coordination

Project interface management

Documentation rigor

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Engineering degree (NQF 8)

Job description

About Mventech Group

Mventech Group is a dynamic and growing mining and resources consulting firm headquartered in Centurion, Gauteng. We partner with clients across project sites to deliver innovative, design-led, and technically rigorous consulting solutions. Our culture is built on expertise, integrity, and a commitment to developing the next generation of industry professionals. At Mventech, we live our tagline: Innovate · Design · Consult.

The Opportunity

Mventech Group is seeking a technically grounded Operational Readiness Engineer to support mining and infrastructure projects through the critical transition from construction and commissioning into safe, stable, and sustainable operations. This is a hands‑on role for an engineer who understands what it takes to prepare people, systems, procedures, and support structures for operational handover, and who can work with credibility across project, engineering, and site teams. In a firm that pairs rigorous consulting with practical delivery, you will contribute directly to some of the most consequential phases of a mining project’s lifecycle while helping to build a distinctive operational readiness capability within Mventech.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain Operational Readiness Plans aligned with project study phases, design development, construction, commissioning, and handover milestones, ensuring readiness is embedded into project execution from the outset.
• Define and coordinate readiness workstreams, deliverables, interfaces, and priority actions across people, processes, systems, documentation, equipment, and organisational capability.
• Maintain readiness schedules, trackers, dashboards, and reporting tools that give project and client teams early visibility of progress, constraints, and critical‑path activities.
• Work across engineering, project, construction, commissioning, and operations teams to ensure operational requirements are incorporated into delivery and that systems, procedures, and support structures are verified and ready before start‑up.
• Prepare and review Standard Operating Procedures, work instructions, operational philosophies, readiness checklists, and governance documentation that underpin safe and disciplined operations after handover.
• Support workforce and organisational readiness by coordinating training plans, competency development activities, role‑clarity processes, and familiarisation programmes to ensure operational teams are prepared and confident at start‑up.
• Contribute to operational excellence by helping establish management operating systems, performance review routines, and short‑interval control principles that strengthen operating discipline following handover.
• Identify and manage operational readiness risks by developing mitigation actions, contingency plans, and monitoring tools that reduce the likelihood of start‑up delays, safety incidents, or poor ramp‑up performance.
• Prepare operational readiness reports, client presentations, punch‑list close‑out documentation, and action registers, and communicate clearly with project, operations, engineering, and client stakeholders throughout delivery.
• Strengthen Mventech’s operational readiness capability by documenting lessons learnt, refining tools and templates, and contributing to the firm’s methodologies across future projects.

Minimum Requirements

You must have:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (NQF 8) in Mining, Mechanical, Industrial, Process, or a related technical discipline.
• A minimum of seven years’ relevant experience in mining, heavy industry, or infrastructure project environments.
• Practical, hands‑on exposure to mine operations, commissioning, start‑up, or transition‑to‑operations activities, whether in underground or open pit environments.
• Demonstrable ability to develop and maintain operational readiness plans, workstream trackers, procedures, and handover documentation.
• Experience working across engineering, project delivery, construction, commissioning, and operational teams in an integrated delivery environment.
• Familiarity with the Mines Health and Safety Act and the statutory safety requirements applicable to mining and engineering activities.

It would advantage you to have:

• A postgraduate qualification in operations management, engineering management, business improvement, or a related field.
• Exposure to operational excellence frameworks, management operating systems, or performance management routines.
• Experience supporting workforce readiness, training coordination, or organisational change in a project‑to‑operations context.
• Familiarity with processing plants, logistics systems, mining infrastructure, or digital readiness reporting platforms.
• International project exposure or experience across multiple commodities or mining methods.

Competencies and Attributes

• Operational judgement: the practical ability to identify what must be in place, operating, and tested before handover, and to prioritise readiness activities accordingly.
• Planning and coordination discipline: the ability to structure complex, multi‑workstream readiness programmes and maintain visibility of progress, risks, and close‑out priorities across project and operational interfaces.
• Documentation and reporting rigour: consistent production of accurate, usable readiness documentation, procedures, action registers, and progress reports that are fit for purpose at every project phase.
• Stakeholder engagement and interface management: clear, credible communication with technical, operational, contractor, and client stakeholders in both office and site‑based environments.
• Accountability and initiative: a proactive approach to task ownership, early escalation of constraints, and a demonstrated commitment to meeting agreed scope, schedule, and quality expectations.
• Continuous improvement orientation: a genuine interest in refining processes, tools, and methods to improve readiness efficiency and deliver better project‑to‑operations outcomes over time.

Why Join Mventech Group?

Operational readiness sits at one of the most consequential intersections in mining project delivery, where everything that was planned, designed, and built is finally tested against the reality of operations. At Mventech, this work is treated with the seriousness it deserves. You will join a firm that is actively building its operational readiness capability, which means you will have real influence over how the practice develops, what tools and methods are used, and what standards are set. You will work alongside experienced engineering and operations strategy professionals on technically demanding projects, with exposure to both South African and international mining environments. For an engineer who wants to do more than repeat a process and who is ready to help define one, this is the right place to do it.