Study Manager – Tailings (2 Year Fixed Term Contract)

Study Manager – Tailings (2 Year Fixed Term Contract)

Location: Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South Africa

Reporting: Africa Regional Head of Projects

Function: Glencore Copper Assets

The Study Manager is accountable to the Africa Regional Head of Projects for the leadership, governance, and delivery of complex strategic studies across the project lifecycle, including Concept Studies, Scoping Studies, Pre-Feasibility Studies (PFS), Feasibility Studies (FS), and selective early execution readiness activities.

The role is responsible for developing technically robust, commercially optimised, and execution-ready project solutions aligned to the Life of Asset (LoA) strategy, Copper growth objectives, and Glencore governance standards.

The Study Manager leads multidisciplinary owner’s teams, EPCM consultants, OEMs, specialist consultants, and site stakeholders to deliver integrated study outcomes covering technical scope, project valuation, schedule, execution strategy, operational readiness, infrastructure integration, HSEC, permitting, tailings and water management, contracting strategy, and capital cost development.

This role acts as the single point accountability for study delivery and is responsible for ensuring all study deliverables meet the required quality, governance, and assurance standards, including compliance with the Glencore Project Management Standard, Delegation of Authority (DoA), stage-gate requirements, Independent Peer Reviews (IPR), Independent Technical Reviews (ITR/ITRB), and investment approval processes.

The Study Manager is also expected to provide strategic leadership on project development philosophy, value optimisation, brownfield integration, operational interfaces, execution planning, and long-lead readiness to support successful transition from study into execution.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS:

Internal

• Regional & Asset Leadership
• Africa Regional Head of Projects
• Asset General Managers and Operations Leadership
• Regional PMO & Project Controls
• Asset Technical Services Teams
• HSEC, Legal, Commercial and Supply Chain functions
• Finance and Project Valuation Teams
• Copper Department stakeholders and Investment Committees

External

• Delivery & Technical Partners
• EPCM Consultants
• OEMs and Technology Providers
• Contractors and Specialist Consultants
• Independent Reviewers and Technical Advisors
• Governance & Stakeholder Engagement

PRIMARY TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES:

Strategic Project Development

• Lead the development and delivery of strategic studies from Concept through Feasibility stages.
• Develop integrated study strategies aligned with asset LoA planning, regional growth objectives, and Copper portfolio priorities.
• Translate business drivers into technically robust and commercially optimised project solutions.
• Challenge conventional approaches and drive value engineering, optimisation, innovation, and capital efficiency initiatives.
• Ensure alignment between study outcomes, operational requirements, infrastructure constraints, and future execution strategy.
• Drive early definition of execution philosophy including EPCM/EPC packaging strategy, owner’s team model, brownfield integration philosophy, contracting strategy, and operational readiness requirements.

Governance & Investment Assurance

• Lead projects through regional and Copper governance processes including GCA InvestCo, Copper InvestCo, and Group approval pathways.
• Ensure compliance with Glencore governance standards, Delegation of Authority (DoA), and Group Project Management Standards.
• Coordinate and manage Independent Peer Reviews (IPR), Independent Technical Reviews (ITR/ITRB), and assurance close-out actions.
• Prepare and present high-quality investment memorandums, executive summaries, and stage-gate approval packs.
• Maintain transparency and governance discipline across project scope, risks, cost estimates, schedule assumptions, and change management.
• Ensure project controls, documentation, and decision records are maintained as the single source of truth.

Study Delivery & Integration

• Lead multidisciplinary study teams to deliver integrated technical outcomes
• Ensure appropriate integration between study workstreams, site operations, and regional stakeholders.
• Manage technical interfaces between owners teams, consultants, contractors, OEMs, and operational personnel.
• Drive delivery of study reports, forward work plans, execution strategies, risk assessments, capital estimates, and schedules to the required class accuracy.
• Ensure all deliverables are fit-for-purpose and aligned to execution and operational requirements.

Commercial & Project Controls Leadership

• Maintain strong commercial focus to maximise project value, capital efficiency, and delivery certainty.
• Lead development and review of project valuation models, economic trade-offs, and execution scenarios.
• Monitor and control project scope, cost, schedule, productivity, and risk performance.
• Drive schedule discipline and proactive mitigation planning to maintain strategic milestones and approval dates.
• Ensure rigorous management of contractor performance, variations, claims, and commercial interfaces.
• Support development of robust Class 3 and Class 2 capital estimates, escalation strategies, contingency philosophies, and execution cost models.

Leadership & Capability Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop Study Managers, discipline leads, project engineers, and broader study teams.
• Build a high-performance culture focused on accountability, collaboration, governance, and delivery excellence.
• Support succession planning and capability development within the Africa Projects function.
• Promote knowledge sharing and lessons learned across studies and operating assets.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across study methodologies, systems, reporting, and governance processes.

HSEC, Risk & Compliance

• Provide visible leadership in Health, Safety, Environment, and Community (HSEC).
• Ensure studies are developed in accordance with Glencore HSEC standards and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Anticipate and manage strategic, technical, operational, commercial, and delivery risks.
• Ensure environmental, permitting, social, and closure considerations are integrated early into study development.
• Promote strong risk management culture and disciplined decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.

QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering or equivalent technical discipline (Essential)
• Postgraduate qualification in Project Management, Engineering Management, or Business Management (Preferred)
• Professional Project Management qualification such as PMP or equivalent (Preferred)
• Professional Engineering registration or equivalent industry accreditation (Advantageous) 

EXPERIENCE: 

• Minimum 10–15 years’ experience in mining, minerals processing, or heavy industrial project development.
• Proven experience leading large multidisciplinary studies through PFS and FS stages within an owner’s team environment.
• Demonstrated experience in brownfield and/or greenfield capital project development.
• Strong understanding of mining project governance, stage-gate processes, and investment approval frameworks.
• Proven capability in managing EPCM consultants, contractors, OEMs, and multidisciplinary technical teams.
• Experience in project execution strategy development, operational readiness, and major shutdown integration.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience in project valuation, capital estimation, and execution trade-off analysis.
• Experience operating within complex stakeholder and multicultural environments across Africa or other international jurisdictions.
• Demonstrated leadership capability with strong communication, influencing, negotiation, and decision-making skills.
• Experience in copper, cobalt, hydrometallurgical, concentrator, tailings, or major infrastructure projects is highly desirable. 

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS:

• Fluent in English (Essential)
• French language capability highly desirable due to operational requirements within the DRC region. 

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: 

• Willingness to undertake regular travel within Africa, including operational sites in the DRC.
• Ability to operate effectively in dynamic and complex operational environments.
• Strong alignment with Glencore values, governance standards, and delivery culture.    
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Please apply on the Careers Portal:                                          Applications Close:

https://www.glencore.com/careers/career-opportunities      31 October 2026

This vacancy will be filled in line with the Employment Equity Plan of Glencore. By applying for this position, you consent to Glencore collecting, storing, using, destroying, and processing in any other manner personal information for purposes of attending to this advertisement, and/ or all matters relating thereto, including the disclosure to third parties of such personal information for purposes of confirming such personal information. In the event you do not hear from the Company within 21 days after the closing date of applications, please consider your application to have been unsuccessful. The CVs of unsuccessful candidates will not be returned.

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