Reporting to the Deputy Project Controls Director, the Project Controls Lead - Tailings & Water Management acts as the Owner's functional representative for all project controls activities within the Tailings & Water Management area. The scope covers the tailings storage facility, stockpiles and waste storage areas, tailings transport and deposition systems, and water management infrastructure (collection, diversion, containment, pumping, treatment and discharge), together with the associated earthworks and civil scopes. The role is based at the Montreal project office during the design and planning phase, with regular travel to the Windfall site (northern Québec) and periodic travel to ESP / ePCM offices as required. Given the nature of the area - earthworks, civil and linear infrastructure scopes subject to seasonal construction windows - increased site presence is expected during construction campaigns. 3-year fixed-term contract.
Duties and responsibilities - Act as the Owner's functional owner of project controls for the Tailings & Water Management area and represent the area in all project governance, performance and assurance reviews.
- Independently review, challenge and validate ePCM and ESP project controls deliverables for the area (cost reports, schedules, progress measurement, forecasts and change registers) for accuracy, completeness and traceability to approved baselines.
- Ensure alignment between measured physical progress, incurred costs, commitments and the approved schedule across the detailed engineering, procurement and construction phases of the tailing's storage facility and water management infrastructure.
- Lead full budget control for the area, including control budget, commitments, incurred costs, forecasts and Estimates at Completion (EAC), and ensure their integration in Contruent (single source of truth).
- Control quantity exposure across earthworks and civil commodities (excavation, fill, rockfill, liner, pipework, concrete) by reconciling estimated, engineered (MTO), contracted and installed quantities, and by raising Potential Deviation Notices as soon as established thresholds are exceeded.
- Control unit-rate and remeasured works specific to the area, including validation of joint quantity surveys, payment certificates and claims arising from ground conditions.
- Coordinate closely with the Owner's Cost Lead, Lead Planner, Risk Lead, Estimating Lead and Information Management Lead to ensure consistent integration of cost, schedule and risk data at the overall project level.
- Review and validate cost sheets for the area's procurement and construction packages, including pre-award and post-award cost analyses.
- Actively support change management for the area (PTNs / PCNs), assess cost and schedule impacts - particularly those driven by geotechnical, hydrological and climatic conditions - and support their integration in Contruent.
- Ensure the area schedule faithfully reflects seasonal construction windows (freeze-up, spring freshet, northern access and logistics) as well as milestones conditional on regulatory authorisations.
- Integrate applicable tailings and water compliance requirements into cost and schedule forecasts (permits and authorisations, dam safety requirements, recognised industry standards such as GISTM), and flag any associated risk.
- Define, monitor and analyze performance KPIs for the area: cost, schedule, productivity, progress and risk; feed the integrated dashboards on the Owner's data platform.
- Provide functional oversight to the ePCM and ESP project controls teams assigned to the area, ensuring compliance with approved procedures, quality standards and project reporting requirements.
- Perform variance and trend analysis (cost, schedule, productivity) to identify deviations, quantify impacts and provide early-warning escalation on risks to the area's objectives.
- Review and validate the area's Monthly Contract Cost Review, Monthly Purchase Cost Review and Monthly Contract Progress Review, as well as the Monthly ePCM Staffing Plan and Forecast Review applicable to the area.
- Support the Project Controls Director and Deputy with monthly and quarterly corporate reporting to Gold Fields leadership, ensuring management-review readiness of narratives, KPIs, risks and forecast positions for the area.
- Support the Tailings & Water Management Area Manager (Owner) on all cost, schedule, performance and risk matters, provide day-to-day integrated analysis for decision-making, and proactively escalate critical issues to the Project Controls Director in accordance with governance thresholds, including recommended mitigation actions.
- Ensure data integrity, auditability and consistency across the area's cost, schedule, progress and change datasets, including reconciliation with source systems (Contruent, ControlShare Cost, SAP, Primavera P6, Safran, iPas, Aconex).
Required qualifications- University degree in engineering (civil, geotechnical, mining or related discipline) or project management; P.Eng.;
- OIQ membership is an asset.
- Minimum 10-15 years' experience in project controls on major capital (CAPEX) projects delivered under EPC / EPCM execution models, ideally in mining, water infrastructure or heavy civil construction.
- Proven experience on tailings storage facilities, dams, water management or heavy earthworks and civil scopes.
- Proven capability to lead project controls as a functional Area Lead, including baseline governance, change control, progress measurement (installed quantities / Earned Value), cost-schedule integration and disciplined monthly reporting.
- Strong expertise in cost control, budgeting, forecasting, commitments and incurred costs, with hands-on experience managing Estimates at Completion (EAC) for earthworks, civil and linear infrastructure scopes.
- Demonstrated command of unit-rate and remeasured contracts, including quantity growth management and claims arising from ground conditions.
- Solid expertise in planning, progress tracking and cost-schedule integration; working knowledge of Primavera P6.
- Experience with change management (PCNs / PTNs), pre-award and post-award cost reviews, and variance / trend analysis.
- Bilingual French and English required (written and spoken), given coordination with international teams (Gold Fields, ePCM, ESPs).
Basic skills- Functional leadership and influence:
- Rigour and critical thinking:
- Excellent collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.
- Decision-making under uncertainty:
- Integrity and accountability:
- Strong communication skills with clear escalation and structured recommendation capabilities at executive level.
- Demonstrates ethics and integrity.
Technical skills- Good understanding of project risk management (Safran or equivalent) and its integration with contingency and forecasting, including awareness of geotechnical and hydrological risk drivers.
- Familiarity with tailings and water governance frameworks (GISTM, dam safety requirements, environmental authorisations) is a strong asset.
- Experience interfacing with an ePCM and multiple ESPs, with a demonstrated ability to challenge, validate and integrate third-party project controls deliverables.
- Experience with ERP systems (SAP), cost control platforms (Contruent, ControlShare Cost or equivalents), scheduling tools and advanced Excel; familiarity with Aconex is an asset.
- Knowledge of PMP and / or AACE International best practices (estimating, EVM, forecasting).
Please note that the masculine form used in this document refers to both men and women. The masculine gender is used without discrimination and for the sole purpose of lightening the text.
