Department: Operations

Reports To: Engineering Manager

Location: Port Moresby Office and Kido Operations, Papua New Guinea

Employment Type: Permanent and Full-Time (6 to 9 months turnaround phase, transitioning into a permanent role)

1. Client Description

Our client is a prominent operator in the heavy industrial and processing sector, currently executing a major development. Committed to operational excellence, the organization fosters a culture rooted in safety, integrity, accountability, and continuous improvement. They focus heavily on building local technical capability and team synergy, providing an environment where senior professionals can exercise high autonomy, lead complex multidisciplinary packages, and make a tangible impact on large-scale infrastructure operations.

2. Scope of the Role

The Electrical, Instrumentation, and Automation (EIA) Superintendent is a business-critical appointment accountable for the overarching EIA engineering function across the entire asset lifecycle: plant and process design, construction, commissioning, operations, and maintenance. Based between the Port Moresby office and Kido operations, the incumbent acts as the senior EIA technical authority. The role is responsible for driving technical decisions and design assurance across electrical systems, instrumentation, and PLC/SCADA automation to deliver safe, reliable, operable, and cost-effective plant performance with minimal supervision from day one.

3. Key Responsibilities

• Process & EIA Engineering: Own and lead process and EIA design documentation, including criteria, load lists, single-line diagrams, control schematics, and narratives. Verify electrical calculations, system studies, and equipment sizing while establishing engineering standards, design assurance, and technical risk management.

• Instrumentation, PLC/SCADA & Process Control: Program, configure, troubleshoot, modify, and maintain PLCs, SCADA/HMI platforms, and industrial control networks. Specify, select, calibrate, and loop-check field instruments and actuators, while utilizing plant data to tune control loops and optimize process stability.

• Electrical Maintenance, Reliability & Operations: Define and own EIA maintenance strategies, including asset criticality, predictive maintenance, and critical spares. Provide technical leadership for power generation/distribution, switchgear, transformers, MCCs, variable-speed drives, and UPS systems. Lead root-cause analysis for complex equipment failures and embed safe isolation/LOTO practices.

• Project Management & Delivery: Manage assigned capital, plant improvement, and modification projects from definition through procurement, construction, and commissioning. Coordinate EPC contractors, manage budgets, schedules, and deliverables, and lead technical bid evaluations.

• Leadership & Stakeholder Management: Provide visible leadership to a team of engineers, technicians, and maintenance personnel, driving local capability and succession strength. Serve as the principal EIA interface with operations and projects, managing vendor performance and advising the leadership team on technical risks.

4. Qualifications & Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Electronic, Instrumentation, Control, or Automation Engineering. A relevant postgraduate qualification is desirable.

• Core Experience: Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in heavy industry, lime, cement, mining, or a related process industry. This must include at least 3 years in a senior, lead, or supervisory role with direct accountability for people and operational outcomes.

• Technical Proficiencies:

  • Proven plant and process EIA design capability (load lists, single-line diagrams, protection, earthing, cable studies, and multidisciplinary design reviews).

  • Hands-on proficiency in PLC programming, configuration, troubleshooting, and SCADA/HMI systems management.

  • Robust instrumentation experience (specification, installation, loop checking, and control-loop tuning).

  • Deep understanding of electrical power infrastructure (generation, distribution, switchgear, transformers, and MCCs).

• Project & Team Leadership: Demonstrated history of delivering capital or plant improvement projects (scope, budget, risk, and commissioning) while directing employees, contractors, and multidisciplinary teams under strict safety and quality standards.

• Operational Attributes: Highly autonomous with a proven ability to self-direct priorities, exercise sound engineering judgment, and resolve complex process-control issues with minimal supervision.

• Professional Affiliations: Professional registration such as CPEng (or equivalent), and/or membership of IEPNG or an equivalent professional body, is highly desirable but not mandatory.