CAPEX, Projects Engineer

Louis Dreyfus Company is a global merchant and processor of agricultural goods, operating across the entire value chain from farm to fork. With activities in over 100 countries and approximately 19,000 employees, the company leverages its extensive asset network to serve customers worldwide.

This role involves overseeing the initiation and delivery of Capex projects, managing contractor and stakeholder relationships, and ensuring successful project handovers. The engineer will also be responsible for strategic procurement, managing end-to-end sourcing processes, and ensuring procure-to-pay governance. Key aspects include driving preventative and corrective maintenance for critical assets, establishing workshop infrastructure, and maintaining accurate inventory control. The position also encompasses financial oversight of maintenance budgets, leading safety, health, and environmental initiatives, and serving as an Asset Energy Officer to promote sustainability goals. Furthermore, the role involves supervising maintenance staff and optimizing processes through QMS standards and data-driven analysis to enhance plant reliability.

1. Initiate and deliver Capex projects up to $5M annually, ensuring compliance with internal gate reviews and regulatory frameworks.
2. Act as the primary liaison between contractors, consultants, and internal teams during project design, construction, and commissioning phases.
3. Oversee project handovers to Operations and Maintenance, tracking assumptions, cost savings, and ROI with Commercial and Finance teams.
4. Manage end-to-end sourcing, including market research, supplier pre-qualification, RFP/RFQ evaluations, contract negotiations, and vendor performance monitoring for over 100 suppliers.
5. Govern procure-to-pay processes, overseeing purchase requisitions, material receipts, contract completion certificates, and claims management in collaboration with Finance and Control.
6. Drive high operational availability, yield, and safety for critical assets such as boilers, weighbridges, utilities, and electro-mechanical systems.
7. Establish a standard electromechanical workshop and manage asset life cycles, including the disposal of obsolete equipment.
8. Monitor maintenance stores, spare part reorder thresholds, and fuel/water utility levels to ensure complete inventory accuracy.
9. Manage annual Capex/Opex maintenance budgets, control KPIs, and implement cost-saving and waste-elimination strategies.
10. Serve as the Asset Energy Officer, leading annual energy audits and driving sustainability goals, while actively enforcing safety regulations, risk assessments, and incident prevention.
11. Supervise, schedule, and evaluate maintenance staff, including janitorial teams, ensuring training compliance and managing overtime.
12. Implement Quality Management System (QMS) standards, best-practice maintenance frameworks, and data-driven root-cause analyses to resolve system losses and improve plant reliability.

1. 5-8 years of experience in a bulk storage terminal, warehouse, port operations, or processing plant.
2. Strong background in the food industry, construction, maintenance, and project management within manufacturing or logistics.
3. Experience with import/export port operations, continuous improvement initiatives, root cause analysis, and team management.
4. Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, or Industrial Engineering, Project Management, or a related field.
5. Master’s certificate is an added advantage.
6. Additional certifications such as Certified Energy Manager or Project Management Professional are highly desired.
7. Proficiency in English and Kiswahili.
8. Experience with Terminal Management Automation and Control Systems, MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Power, Water, MEP, Project Management and Scheduling Systems, Computerized Maintenance Management Systems, and Design Systems (AutoCAD, Solid Works).
9. Tertiary qualifications in Occupational Health and Safety with comprehensive knowledge of regulations and codes of practice.
10. Knowledge of Hazard Management principles.
11. Accident investigation skills and ability to prepare comprehensive reports with recommendations.
12. Aptitude for understanding risks and precautions associated with equipment in the area of responsibility.
13. Proven management skills to optimize team performance and development.
14. Highly skilled communicator capable of forming and maintaining strong internal and external relationships.
15. Strong interpersonal, negotiation, and influencing skills.
16. Proven analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
17. Strong planning skills with the ability to manage multiple projects to completion and handle competing priorities.
18. Project management skills.
19. Conflict management skills.
20. Commercial and financial acumen, understanding the impact of failures on business costs, production schedules, and customer order fulfillment.
21. Excellent attention to detail.
22. Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office.
23. Familiarity with ISO procedures such as ISO 9001 and internal auditing processes.