The posting
What if your work could change millions of lives?
At Mitrelli, that’s exactly what we do: building schools, hospitals, water systems, energy networks, and more across Africa. Every day, our teams deliver projects that transform lives, bringing access to essential services such as energy, water, healthcare, education, housing and beyond. Together, We build potential.
We create sustainable, meaningful impact by partnering with governments, financial institutions, and public entities to design affordable, innovative solutions that bring enduring improvements to millions of citizens in the countries where we operate. From hospitals and schools to energy, water, agriculture, housing, and more, our projects touch every aspect of life, always with the highest standards and a long-term commitment to future generations.
About the project:
M'banza Congo Centrality is an integrated urban development located in Zaire Province, comprising the construction of 1,500 housing units together with a full range of urban infrastructure and social facilities, including schools, a kindergarten, a healthcare centre, a police station, commercial areas, public spaces, sports facilities, and water supply, power, sanitation, drainage, road and public lighting networks. Designed to accommodate approximately 10,500 residents, the project promotes sustainable urban development, social inclusion and an improved quality of life.
About the role:
We are seeking an experienced Project Director to lead the delivery of complex civil infrastructure projects. This role is essential to ensuring projects are completed on time, within budget, and to the highest standards of quality and safety.
The ideal candidate brings extensive experience on the contractor’s side, with a solid background in contract management, negotiation, and large-scale project delivery in multicultural environments. A deep understanding of construction methodologies, local regulatory frameworks (ideally in Africa), and stakeholder coordination is essential. Must have a degree in Civil Engineering & other degrees will not be considered.
**** MUST SPEAK PORTUGUESE****
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the end-to-end management of civil infrastructure projects from planning to handover, ensuring alignment with technical, financial, and regulatory requirements.
- Serve as the primary liaison between Mitrelli and key stakeholders, including clients, contractors, consultants, and government authorities.
- Oversee contract negotiation and management, including subcontractor agreements, claims resolution, change orders, and adherence to contractual obligations.
- Direct and coordinate on-site and off-site construction activities, ensuring compliance with HSE standards, quality benchmarks, and project specifications.
- Manage project schedules, budgets, and resource plans, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and timelines.
- Supervise and mentor project managers, engineers, and technical staff, fostering a culture of performance, accountability, and continuous improvement.
- Identify and mitigate project risks proactively, ensuring contingency planning and issue resolution.
- Coordinate with legal, logistics, and procurement functions to meet all permitting, compliance, and resource requirements.
- Represent Mitrelli in high-level stakeholder meetings, presenting project updates, resolving critical issues, and ensuring stakeholder alignment
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering.
- A Master's degree is a strong advantage and PMP Certification is highly desirable.
- Minimum 15 years of senior-level experience managing infrastructure projects, including 10 years on the contractor’s side.
- Strong background in water infrastructure, irrigation systems, or similar civil works.
- Proven experience in international project environments, particularly in Africa.
- Track record of leading complex teams and full project execution responsibilities.
- Expertise in contract and claims management.
- Hands-on experience with cost control, planning, project execution tools, and subcontractor management.
- Familiarity with MS Project or equivalent PM software.
- Fluency in Portuguese is mandatory; proficiency in English is a strong advantage.
Preparing for Interviews at Mitrelli
At Mitrelli, we’re building more than infrastructure, we’re building communities. That starts with people. We want you to bring your experience, your passion, and your authentic self to every step of the recruitment process, especially during interviews.
Our interviews are structured but human. We understand that technical knowledge and experience matter, especially in the construction and infrastructure sector, but we also want to understand who you are as a professional and what drives you.
You don’t need to memorize answers or deliver perfect responses. What’s most important to us is that you share your career journey honestly, talk us through your leadership style, how you’ve handled challenges on-site or with stakeholders, and why you see Mitrelli as a place where you can make an impact.
Prepare to Discuss:
- Your experience leading large-scale civil infrastructure projects from tender award through to final handover, highlighting project size, complexity, budget, and delivery outcomes.
- Specific examples of contract administration.
- How you have controlled project budgets, schedules, procurement, and construction progress while balancing quality, HSE, and commercial objectives.
- Your approach to managing multidisciplinary teams, contractors, consultants, clients, and government authorities across complex stakeholder environments.
- Your experience delivering infrastructure projects in Africa or other emerging markets, including navigating local regulations, logistics constraints, permitting, and cultural considerations.
- Why you believe your contractor-side experience prepares you to successfully lead complex infrastructure projects at Mitrelli.
Make It a Two-Way Conversation:
This is your opportunity to interview us as well. We welcome your questions about the role, our teams, the countries we operate in, our project pipeline, or what it’s like to lead initiatives that directly impact people’s lives.
Remember, we’re looking for leaders who align with our purpose: to design and deliver infrastructure that empowers communities. If that sounds like you, then we look forward to meeting you.
