Manager: Environmental (Fixed Term Contract)

About the Company

Since its establishment in 2008, Mulilo has grown into one of the leading Independent Power Producers (IPP) in Southern Africa. Mulilo is majority owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, the world’s leading private equity investor in renewable energy assets, through its New Markets Fund I. Mulilo has concluded numerous PPA's in both the Department of Mineral Energy's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP) and with several large corporate energy users. Mulilo currently operates 450MW of wind and solar PV projects and has a further 500MW of projects under financial close. Having adopted a strategy that aligns with the company's long-term vision, Mulilo has accumulated a pipeline of projects exceeding 25GW, and is now positioned as a key player in the renewable energy sector. 

Mulilo places strong emphasis on its human capital and prides itself in providing a world class working environment for all its employees, thereby placing huge value on career progression and personal growth. 

Mulilo is guided by strong ethical principles and adheres to its environmental, social and governance responsibilities.  

About this role

As the Manager: Environmental, you will primarily operate in the Project Execution (construction) phase of various renewable energy and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects, with limited involvement during the later stages of Project Development. You will report directly to the Senior Manager: Head of Environmental, and indirectly to the Director: Project Execution and the Manager: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) & Risk.

In this role, you will lead and mentor a small team of one or more junior staff members. You will be responsible for managing environmental permitting and ensuring environmental compliance across your allocated projects, including large clusters and complex developments. On certain construction projects, you will act as Mulilo’s designated Developer’s Environmental Officer (dEO).

The position is based at Head Office; however, regular travel to allocated project sites will be required, approximately once a month for periods of up to five days at a time.

While the role is primarily focused on environmental permitting, compliance, and ECO management, it also supports the implementation of Mulilo’s ESG requirements during the construction phase. This includes coordinating closely with the ESG and Safety functions to ensure alignment with Mulilo’s ESG standards applicable to construction activities.

Duties and responsibilities 

Late Project Development 

• Assist the Financial Close (FC) team with relevant Environmental permitting items.


• With assistance from the Project Developer, appoint the Environmental Control Officer (ECO).


• Ensure compliance with relevant pre-construction and planning requirements of the relevant Environmental Management Programmes (EMPRs)


• Be responsible for the smooth handover of environmental requirements following FC, to the Project Execution and Asset Management teams, ensuring all requirements are documented, understood, and communicated.

Project Execution (Construction)

• Ensure overall environmental compliance of your allocated projects.


• Maintain environmental records and permitting trackers.


• Manage the Project’s ECO, including financial oversight and management of deliverables.


• Review ECO reports and implement recommended corrective or compliance actions.


• Ensure final ECO reports (and/or other required Environmental Audit reports) are timeously submitted to the relevant authorities.


• Support the implementation of Mulilo’s ESG requirements during construction, including coordination on internal ESG site audits and the identification, escalation, and management of construction-phase environmental and social risks, in coordination with the Project Manager and ESG & Risk Manager.


• Coordinate with the ESG & Risk Manager and Project team on lender technical advisor (LTA) audits and support the timely close-out of construction-related Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) actions.


• Act as the dEO (for all your allocated Projects) indirectly reporting to the Project Manager (on-site):
  
  
  
  • Responsible for the implementation of the EMPr, environmental monitoring and reporting.
  
  
  • Providing environmental input to the Project Manager and Contractor’s Manager.
  
  
  • Liaising with contractors and the landowners
  
  
  • Be fully conversant with the EMPr;
  
  
  • Be familiar with the recommendations and mitigation measures of all applicable EMPRs.
  
  
  • Ensure that all stipulations within the EMPRs are communicated and adhered to by the Employees, Contractor(s) and its sub-contractor(s).
  
  
  • Confine the development site to the demarcated area.
  
  
  • Conduct environmental internal audits of the Contractor and Contractor’s Environmental Officer (cEO) with regards to EMPr and EA compliance.
  
  
  • Assist the contractors in addressing environmental challenges on site.
  
  
  • Assist in incident management: Reporting environmental incidents to Mulilo and ECO and ensuring that corrective action is taken, and lessons learnt shared.
  
  
  • Assist the contractor in investigating environmental incidents and compile investigation reports.
  
  
  • Follow-up on pre-warnings, defects, non-conformance reports.
  
  
  • Measure and communicate environmental performance to the Contractor.
  
  
  • Conduct environmental awareness training on site together with ECO and cEO.
  
  
  • Ensure that the necessary legal permits and / or licenses are in place and up to date.
  
  
  
  

Minimum Required skills and education background

• Tertiary Degree in relevant field (e.g. science, engineering, environmental, project management, project development).


• Experience and knowledge of the South African renewable energy industry (particularly large-scale wind and solar).


• Project development or construction, or environmental management experience within the renewable energy sector or in other industries facing similar challenges, such as infrastructure and construction.


• 6 years minimum relevant experience in a similar role/s.


• Possession of a valid, South Africa Code 08 driver’s license.


• Proven Knowledge (e.g. training certificates, proof of experience) of Environmental Management and/or Environmental Law.


• Strong administrative skills and ability to solve problems creatively.


• Able to work independently with limited management and oversight.

Desirable and/or Preferred skills and education background

• 7 or more years of relevant experience.


• Honors (or equivalent) / Masters Degree in related field.


• Construction site experience (2-3 years).


• Internal audit training or audit experience.


• Project Management Training/Certifications.


• Training and/or experience in applying ESG requirements within construction or infrastructure project environments.


• Health and Safety (H&S) training and/or experience.

Desirable Attributes

The ideal candidate would have a passion for the Renewable Energy sector and personality traits would include a high level of diligence, determination, resilience, and agility.

Mulilo is an employer of choice and is offering an extremely competitive total remuneration package for this position.

Additional Information

Able to work overtime according to operational needs.

The position is based at the offices of the company, but travel may be required occasionally.