Project Engineer

Quantum Leap Energy • ,

10d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Project Engineer plans and delivers a portfolio of multi-disciplinary research and optimization projects that develop, scale and industrialize new technologies. The role creates structure across scope, schedule, cost, risk and communication, while technical design and approval authority remains with the relevant research and engineering discipline leads. Working closely with the U.S. Technical and Operations teams, the role coordinates projects from concept through procurement, construction, commissioning, testing and handover. Success is measured through safe, compliant and predictable delivery, early escalation of constraints, and clear governance and decision-making.

Requirements

• Extensive project engineering, technical project management or comparable experience in chemical, petrochemical, refining, nuclear or advanced manufacturing environments.
• Demonstrated coordination of multi-disciplinary projects through research, design, procurement, construction, commissioning and testing, with cost and schedule of accountability.
• Practical experience partnering with research, process and mechanical engineers, operations teams, contractors and engineering service providers.
• Experience with brownfield or greenfield capital projects and structured project delivery frameworks.
• Project delivery expertise across scope, schedule, budget, risk, change control and milestone governance.
• Working knowledge of process flow diagrams, piping and instrumentation diagrams, equipment specifications and general arrangement drawings.
• Strong facilitation and stakeholder communication across technical teams, operations, contractors and leadership.
• Organized and analytical management of parallel projects, dependencies, and decisions in regulated or high-hazard settings.
• Continuous improvement capability to develop practical templates, procedures and delivery controls.
• Bachelor's Degree (BA or BS) from an accredited institution.
• 5+ years of project or program management experience delivering complex technical programs, with at least 3-5 years directly embedded within a hardware, advanced manufacturing, deep tech, or industrial environment.
• Direct experience driving hardware systems through structured phase-gate lifecycles.
• Must understand lead times, long-lead procurement, and physical fabrication constraints.

Nice To Haves

• Exposure to corrosive chemicals, vacuum or gas-handling equipment, or nuclear fuel and isotope-enrichment processes is desirable.
• Formal project management certification, such as PMP, is desirable but not essential.

Responsibilities

• Plan and control project delivery by maintaining integrated scope, work breakdown structures, schedules, budgets, milestones and risk registers, identifying variance early and coordinating recovery actions against approved outcomes.
• Coordinate technical and operational interfaces across Research & Optimization, Process, Mechanical, Controls, Operations and Environment, Health and Safety, documenting dependencies and escalating cross-discipline constraints while discipline leads retain technical authority.
• Manage external delivery interfaces by coordinating engineering contractors, equipment vendors and construction partners against agreed scope, schedule and budget, including requisitions, requests for quotation, purchase-order tracking, information requests and changes.
• Integrate governance, risk and safety by embedding compliance-first and safety-by-design expectations, maintaining decision and change records, and driving risk mitigations to closure through stage-gate activity.
• Communicate progress and improve delivery practice through structured status, design-readiness and lessons-learned forums, concise milestone, cost and risk reporting, and practical improvements to templates, procedures and project playbooks.
• Work with key external partners including engineering contractors, equipment vendors, construction partners and commissioning service providers.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary aligned to global compensation bands and local market data.
• Bonus eligibility: Target % based on level and impact.
• Equity participation: Reflecting your contribution to QLE’s long-term success.
• Comprehensive benefits package and opportunities for global mobility across US, UK, and ZA operations.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior