Senior Project Controls Specialist

The Kinross Corporate Head Office is located in downtown Toronto and supports Kinross' operations and projects worldwide. Corporate functions include Finance, Procurement, Health & Safety, Human Resources, IT, Investor Relations, Exploration, Geology and Mine Planning, among others.

Job Description

Reporting to the Manager, Project Controls, Chulbatkan Project the role is responsible to support the development and implementation of a detailed Project Controls Plan, support systems and procedures to ensure the project is controlled with a high degree of confidence and transparency.

The Udinsk FS Study will advance the design of a greenfields mine development with an expected value of ~US$500 M located in the industrialized district of Khabarovsk Krai, Far East Russia, approximately 15 kilometres southwest of Udinsk. The development will consist of an open pit mine, crushing and heap leach pad, site support and logistics facilities. The Feasibility Study has commenced and is scheduled to be completed in Q1 2022. In parallel, detail engineering is underway to deliver early works facilities such as a jetty and camp that will be built in 2022. An EPCM firm has been hired with work being split between offices Toronto, Saint Petersburg and Johannesburg.

The initial contract duration will be 12 months with the opportunity to extend into construction if mutually desired. The successful candidate will work closely with the ECPM and Owners team which both have members in Canada and Russia. Due to the varying locations and time zones communication outside of business hours may occur but proper planning will allow this to be minimized.

The Senior Project Controls Specialist will provide project controls (cost estimating, cost control, scheduling, progress control and change management) and administration support for Udinsk Study and early works consistent with Company standards for project control. The project controls plan will, as a minimum guide and manage: reporting, the work breakdown structure, estimating, budgets, cost control, progress measurement, scheduling, forecasting, change management, contract management, risk & contingency management and approvals for expenditure.

Strategically, the role requires the Senior Project Controls Specialist to establish the required relationships within Kinross Project Teams, EPCM team, Regional Finance team, Project contractors and third parties to ensure successful project Study and Execution.

Job Responsibilities

The Senior Project Controls Specialist, will support the Manager, Project Controls to:

• Assure all project control procedures are in place and are in compliance with corporate policy and standards
• Define and support work plans to enhance the project controls system and obtain internal and external support and resources to develop and implement required systems and procedures.
• Ensure a proper development and realistic assessment is done to project baselines which will be used to control the project (scope, capital costs, schedule)
• Ensure that the Master Project Schedule accurately reflects the full scope of work for the project and is updated regularly.
• Responsible for overseeing project controls systems (cost, schedule, progress, change management, etc.) for both the EPCM and Owner's scope.
• Carryout reviews of ongoing project controls to ensure procedures are being followed, and identify areas for systems & process improvement
• Maintain accurate records of committed, expended and forecast owner's costs associated with the project against the approved owner's budget.
• Prepare cash flow forecasts of forthcoming financial commitments.
• Implement trending and change management process for Owner's scope. Also review and approve contractors' trending and change management programs. Review scope changes, trends and change notices initiated from the project management systems and review their time and cost implications, including those initiated by the EPCM Contractor
• Prepare cost data cost reports, change alert and variation registers, variance reports etc. ensure cost change variations are recorded and processed.
• Validate contractors' progress measurement, earned value system and trend analysis functions as part of the cost forecasting.
• In conjunction with the Commercial lead, review and amend if necessary, all invoices, progress claims and variations from the Implementation Contractor and Construction Contractors submittals for payment.
• Manage to the baselines developed for the project and when obstacles occur promptly employ mitigation measures to minimize impacts
• The above duties and responsibilities are representative of the nature and level of work assigned and are not necessarily all-inclusive.

Education and Experience

• Minimum of 10 years' experience, including site based roles. International experience is preferred.
• Must have project controls experience associated with major EPCM/EPC projects (TIC value greater than $50 million). Experience should be associated with cost control, scheduling and estimating.
• Prefer experience associated with power, mining or heavy infrastructure work.
• Prior Construction and Site management experience with international labour forces preferably in Russian or CIS environments.

Skills and Technical Knowledge

• Strong understanding of Project Development and Project Construction process flows, budgeting and cost management within the construction or mineral industry
• Experience with project controls software - e.g. planning/scheduling as well as cost/earned-value progressing/change control and database applications is also desirable.
• Strong knowledge of standard industry approaches with respect to project control systems and procedures
• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate both verbally and written with project management teams and senior management
• A track record demonstrating strong interpersonal and team work skills in a multi-cultural environment
• University degree in Engineering or equivalent experience
• Language skills in English, with Russian being a plus

Work Location

• The assignment will initially be based in Toronto with business travel as necessary to support the project needs and is expected to be 30% to 40% of the time.

Kinross is a Canadian-based gold mining company with mines and projects in Canada, the United States, Brazil, Chile, Russia, Ghana and Mauritania, employing approximately 9,300 people worldwide. Our core purpose is to lead the world in generating value through responsible mining.