Technical Services Manager (Mining Operations)

Our mining client based in the Northern Cape is seeking the services of a Mine Technical Services Manager at their Opencast Operation.

JOB DIMENSIONS / METRIC

• Strategic Leadership: Provide strategic inputs for long/medium/short-term mine plans, aligning technical operations with business strategy. Ensure reconciliations between planned and actual production and develop mitigation plans if necessary.
• Operational Oversight: Manage and support technical teams, including geology, exploration, surveying, mine planning, and geotechnical engineering.
• Performance and efficiency: Improve operational performance, manage budgets, and drive best-practice adoption in safety, productivity, and cost control.
• Continuous Improvement: Champion continuous improvement initiatives, implement new technologies, and foster a culture of innovation and technical knowledge sharing.
• Compliance and risk management: Ensure legal compliance, risk management, and adherence to HSEC frameworks.
• Team development: Develop a high-performance team through coaching, mentoring, and structured performance management.

JOB TASKS

• Mine Planning

Provides strategic inputs for medium-term and long-term (Life of Mine) plans, short-term plans, ensuring that these are aligned to and supportive of the company’s overall strategy and objectives, by:

• Overseeing the special and quantitative compliance of mining sequence to plan
• Reconciling actual and planned operational parameters ensure optimisation
• Ensuring, with the mining contractor, that the plans are executed in a financially optimal manner
• Ensuring that plans cover all aspects within the mine’s value chain, from exploration through mining to production of products

• Production Efficiency

Oversees and coordinates production activities to ensure that the required volume and quality are produced at the required time, safely, by:

• Ensuring adherence to all company systems, procedures, and practices
• Managing the exploration and geological processes to provide certified SAMREC-compliant Mineral Resources, support LOM, medium and short-term planning, and SAMREC compliant Mineral Reserves Declaration.
• Managing Grade Control and adequate blending
• Updating of the geological Model of the mine using the data collection as the benches are advancing through regular mapping updates
• Updating of the Resource and Reserve Models with new data from Exploration BH drilling
• Ensuring inputs into the updating of the Geotechnical Model, i.e., major geological features that have an impact on rock stability
• Developing a protocol to ensure selective loading of Ore
• Coordinating production schedules with the Logistics Department to optimise inventory and minimise shortages of product.
• Coordination of activities of Drilling, Blasting, and L&H contractors. Continuous monitoring and optimisation of the L&H fleet with the contractor
• Ensure compliance with the MHSA, IWUL conditions, environmental standards, and company policies
• Department Management

Manages staff performance by:

• Setting performance standards and goals.
• Monitoring and appraising performance against standards and agreed goals; taking corrective action as required.
• Identifying training needs and arranging training to enhance performance.
• Collaborating with HR in the recruitment and selection of staff.
• Applying the appropriate HR procedures in the process of managing staff.
• Prepares (and works within) Technical Services budgets (Operating and Capital expenses), by :
• Submitting and motivating budgetary requirements, and finalising with the Chief Financial Officer
• Reporting on cost variances and devising ways of minimising negative deviations

Provides technical leadership, by:

• Ensuring legal compliance with standards for survey, geological, mine planning, rock engineering, and environmental functions.
• Overseeing the survey-related activities to ensure a metal balance between mining and the plant
• Coordination of survey, mining, and plant in achieving reconciled stock inventory in the pit and Final product
• Introduction of best practices and leading innovation with regard to the latest trends of mineral resource management
• Managing and coordinating the technical team in the delivery of weekly, monthly, and quarterly schedules, drill and blast designs, dewatering strategies & planning, Pit designs & extraction strategies, traffic management, all survey requirements, and daily data control/processing for Operations, thus enabling effective execution in line with the plan
• Establishing and enforcing Technical Services standards.
• Overseeing technical planning, grade control planning, and economic planning to ensure pit optimisation
• Enforcing change management for effective organizational development
• Frequent Monitoring of compliance to mine design plans.
• Conduct scenario planning to evaluate optimal mining options

Safety

• Ensure zero harm and eliminate repeat DMRE audit findings. Working with the Safety teams to establish safe working environments and work practices
• Ensuring adherence to the safety management system and utilisation of the HSEC Online system
• Following up on DMPR safety audit findings and eliminating control system weaknesses

EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEMS

• Survey equipment and systems
• Mine design and planning software
• Geological and Resource Modelling Software
• Geographic Information System (GIS)
• Simulation Software

MINIMUM EDUCATION, TRAINING, PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• Education: A bachelor’s degree in mining engineering, Geology, or a related field, with a postgraduate qualification in management (MDP/MBA) being advantageous.
• Qualification: A valid Mine Managers Certificate of Competency

Experience:

• Minimum of 10-15 years of progressive experience in the mining industry, including significant time in technical services and mine planning roles.
• At least 4-5 years in a senior management role.
• Experience in both open-pit and underground mining operations.
• Technical expertise: Proficiency in mine design, mine planning systems (from long-term to short-term), and related software
• Leadership and communications: Strong leadership, communication, decision making, problem-solving abilities, intrapersonal skills, with the ability to influence and coach teams at all levels.
• Regulatory Knowledge: In-depth understanding of relevant mining regulations and compliance requirements (e.g MHSA)
• Financial acumen: Ability to understand management accounts, manage budgets, and identify cost-effective solutions.
• Project Management: Experience in managing projects and contracts, including interacting with external consultants.
• Contractor Management: Experience with outsourced mining/contractor management and demonstrable understanding of the mining business environment

COMPETENCIES / SKILLS / ATTRIBUTES REQUIRED

Technical Knowledge:

• Mine Planning & design – Life-of-mine (LOM) planning, long-term to short-term planning, mine design principles and optimization.
• Mining Software – Proficiency in systems like Whittle, Talpac, XPAC, Surpac, Minesight or Datamine.
• Geology and geomechanics – Understanding ore body characteristics, rock mass classification, and strength to inform planning.
• Engineering disciplines – Familiarity with survey, drill, and blast, and fleet management to support mining operations.
• Resource and reserve management – Familiarity with reserve statements and evaluating resources.

Management and Leadership Skills

• Team leadership – Managing, mentoring, and developing a technical team, with experience in hiring, training and performance evaluation.
• Project Management – Applying project management standards to minor projects and managing contracted consultants.
• Financial Management – Budget management, understanding financial reports, and controlling costs without compromising operational plans.
• Communication – Leading meetings, reporting to senior leadership, and collaborating with various stakeholders.

Operational and Strategic Knowledge

• Safety & Compliance- Ensuring adherence to safety regulations (such as MHSA) and fostering a strong safety culture.
• Operational Improvement – Identifying and implementing improvements in processes and procedures to maximize efficiency and reduce variation.
• Risk & Quality Management – Establishing and maintaining systems to manage risk and ensure quality across technical services.
• Strategic planning – Contributing to the functional strategic plan and understanding the impact of economic conditions on the operation.
• Communication – Excellent written and verbal communication skills are vital for reporting and coordination.
• Problem-solving – Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities to address technical challenges and improve efficiency.
• Analytical and evaluation skills – Ability to analyse data, monitor performance, and benchmark against best practices.
• Agility: Ability to adapt quickly to business changes, technology, and the impact of global settings.