Job Description
Albemarle is hiring for an Area Project Manager. This position is hybrid and located in Kings Mountain, NC and full-time on-site presence is required during active construction phases.
The Area Project Manager – Non-Process Infrastructure (NPI) is a senior capital project leadership role within Albemarle’s Kings Mountain lithium mine project—one of the most strategically significant critical mineral developments in the United States. This role owns end-to-end delivery of non-process infrastructure that enables safe, on-schedule construction and start-up of the Mine, Concentrator, and Tailings areas.
NPI scope includes high-voltage power and substations; mine haul/access roads and site earthworks; raw and process water supply, storage, and treatment; stormwater and environmental containment; site buildings (maintenance, warehouse, dry/admin); telecoms/controls backbone; geotechnical and surveying programs; and third-party utility coordination.
The successful candidate brings hands-on experience delivering infrastructure for greenfield or brownfield mining and mineral processing facilities, with strong understanding of hard-rock concentrator sequencing and interfaces. This role requires an EPCM-caliber project manager with an owner’s mindset to protect schedule, capital, and operability through design, construction, commissioning, and turnover.
What You Will Do
Project Leadership & Execution
- Own scope, schedule, budget, and risk for all NPI projects supporting the Mine, Concentrator, and Tailings areas across FEL2–IFC, construction, commissioning, and handover.
- Develop execution plans, WBS, and integrated schedules aligned to the overall Kings Mountain master schedule and critical path.
- Control cost and change (Class 3 through completion): estimates, commitments, contingency, change orders, and monthly performance reporting.
- Maintain risk and issue registers, drive timely resolution/escalation, and lead NPI stage-gate readiness reviews to ensure FEL maturity before sanction and execution.
Mining & Concentrator Infrastructure Expertise
- Lead greenfield hard-rock mining infrastructure delivery: access/haul roads, earthworks, ROM pad interfaces, and overburden/stockpile enabling works.
- Translate concentrator needs (crushing, grinding, separation/flotation, dewatering) into coordinated NPI scope: power, water, compressed air, reagent/utility areas, and building envelope.
- Manage mine-to-plant and plant interface points with process, OEMs, and EPCM: equipment pads/foundations, utility tie-ins, corridors, constructability, and commissioning utility readiness.
- Coordinate tailings infrastructure interfaces (ancillary works, return water, decant/pumping, access) with geotechnical and environmental teams.
Engineering & Design Oversight
- Direct EPCM and specialty consultants across civil/structural, mechanical, electrical, I&C, and architectural disciplines for NPI scope.
- Review/approve key deliverables (site layout, grading, foundations/structures, electrical single-lines, underground utilities) and guide routing decisions to ensure constructability and operability.
- Ensure all designs incorporate safety-in-design principles and satisfy requirements identified through HAZID, HAZOP, and constructability reviews. Ensure all open action items are formally closed prior to IFC issuance.
- Participate in or lead value engineering exercises to optimize NPI capital cost without compromising operability, maintainability, or regulatory compliance.
Contractor & Supplier Coordination
- Manage interfaces with NPI contractors/utility providers and internal stakeholders; ensure scopes, RFPs, contracts, and changes capture technical and schedule requirements.
- Ensure commercial documents – RFPs, scopes of work, contracts, and change orders – fully capture NPI technical requirements and are aligned with the contracting & procurement team’s standards.
- Integrate OEM/vendor requirements into NPI execution (foundations, heavy-haul access/laydown, pre-install utilities, and commissioning readiness) and drive timely receipt of vendor data.
Permitting, Land & Regulatory
- Maintain NPI permitting and land tracker (land disturbance, building, encroachments, utility agreements, environmental authorizations) and align construction sequencing to permit conditions.
- Oversee surveying/easements/right-of-way and geotechnical investigations to support design, manage subsurface risk, and enable construction.
Reporting & Controls
- Implement project controls for NPI scope (baseline, progress, forecasting, and change) and communicate status, risks, and milestones to project leadership and key stakeholders.
Safety & Compliance
- Champion safety-first execution for NPI, embedding safety-in-design and ensuring contractor plans meet site requirements.
- Ensure compliance with MSHA/OSHA requirements and track closure of hazard review and PHA action items prior to construction.
What You Bring
Education
- B.S. in Mechanical, Civil, Electrical, or Chemical Engineering (Mechanical/Civil preferred for mining and concentrator infrastructure scope).
- PE strongly preferred; PMP a plus.
Experience
- 15+ years capital project leadership, primarily in mining, mineral processing, or heavy industrial environments.
- Proven delivery of infrastructure for at least one greenfield/brownfield mine development or major concentrator project; EPCM/owner-side delivery experience highly valued.
- Demonstrated NPI delivery in a mining context (earthworks/roads, HV power, water/stormwater, buildings, multi-utility distribution) within a stage-gate framework (FEL1–FEL3 / Class 5–2 estimates).
- Experience executing government-funded or incentive-supported capital projects (e.g., federal/state grants, DOE programs), including compliance, reporting, and audit readiness preferred but not required.
- Working knowledge of concentrator equipment installation interfaces (crushing, grinding, flotation/separation, thickening/filtration, conveying) and associated utility/sequencing impacts.
- Experience in the lithium, borates, potash, or other specialty minerals industry is a plus given the Kings Mountain project’s critical mineral mandate.
Technical Skills
- Able to interpret and challenge key engineering documents (P&IDs, layouts, grading, single-lines, structural and I&C drawings).
- Knowledge of MSHA requirements and strong proficiency with schedule/cost tools (Primavera P6, MS Project, or equivalent).
Leadership & Interpersonal
- Lead and influence multi-disciplinary teams in fast-paced, greenfield mining construction environments.
- Communicate complex project status and risk clearly; operates with an owner’s mindset to protect schedule, cost, quality, and operability.
Specific Interface Responsibilities
- Electric power provider: interconnection agreements, substation/design reviews, metering, and energization schedule coordination.
- Permitting: maintain real-time permit status for NPI construction; ensure sequencing complies with conditions and avoids violations.
- Land/surveying & geotechnical: survey control/as-builts, boundary/easements, and subsurface investigations to support roads, earthworks, and foundations.
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