Mechanical Engineering Department Manager

Title

Mechanical Engineering Department Manager

Role Summary

The Mechanical Engineering Department Manager is a senior leadership role responsible for the overall performance, technical integrity, capability, and development of the Mechanical Engineering function.

Reporting to the Engineering Director, the incumbent will lead Static Equipment, Rotating Equipment, and Packaged Equipment disciplines and ensure safe, high-quality, cost-effective, and timely engineering delivery across Oil & Gas, Petrochemical, Refining, LNG, Offshore, Energy and Energy Transition projects.

The role encompasses technical governance, project delivery, resource and talent management, operational excellence, business support, and transformation.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership & Governance
• Provide overall technical leadership and governance for the Mechanical Engineering Department.
• Act as the senior escalation point for significant technical issues and engineering risks.
• Establish and maintain engineering procedures, standards, best practices, and technical assurance requirements.
• Ensure compliance with company practices, project requirements, applicable codes and standards, and client specifications.
• Lead or support critical design reviews, technical audits, risk assessments, and assurance activities.
• Promote engineering quality, technical integrity, standardization, lessons learned, and knowledge sharing.
• Engineering & Project Delivery
• Oversee engineering activities across Static, Rotating, and Packaged Equipment.
• Support Project Managers and Engineering Managers in achieving safety, quality, schedule, cost, and productivity objectives.
• Ensure projects are appropriately resourced and Mechanical Engineering deliverables are executed to required quality and schedule.
• Monitor departmental project performance and proactively resolve technical, resource, quality, and delivery challenges.
• Facilitate resolution of complex engineering issues and multidisciplinary interfaces.
• Maintain departmental accountability for engineering quality and technical integrity.
• Resource, Talent & Capability Management
• Forecast manpower requirements based on project workload, business pipeline, and competency needs.
• Optimize deployment of resources across projects and monitor utilization and project chargeability.
• Maintain appropriate resource capability to respond to current and emerging project requirements.
• Recruit, develop, mentor, and retain high-performing engineering personnel.
• Identify competency gaps and implement appropriate technical, digital, and leadership development.
• Establish succession plans for key leadership, Technical Authority, and specialist positions.
• Manage personnel, performance, and organizational challenges effectively.
• Operational Excellence & Transformation
• Monitor departmental KPIs and implement improvement actions where required.
• Drive continuous improvement in engineering quality, productivity, standardization, and execution efficiency.
• Promote adoption of digital engineering, automation, data-driven solutions, and AI-enabled workflows where they improve engineering performance.
• Encourage innovation, reuse of proven engineering solutions, and implementation of lessons learned.
• Lead or support engineering, digital, and organizational transformation initiatives.
• Business & Organizational Leadership
• Support proposals, estimates, resource plans, execution strategies, risk reviews, and business development activities.
• Participate in client meetings, technical presentations, and project readiness reviews as required.
• Maintain effective relationships with Project Management, Engineering disciplines, Operations, clients, vendors, and global engineering centres.
• Represent the Mechanical Engineering Department in management, project, technical, and client forums.
• Make timely decisions balancing technical integrity, safety, quality, schedule, cost, resources, and business risk.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, technical excellence, continuous learning, and professional development.
  
  

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from a recognized university.
• Minimum 20 years of relevant engineering experience, preferably in Oil & Gas, Petrochemical, Refining, LNG, Offshore, Energy, or related process industries.
• Strong hands-on design and engineering experience in at least one core area: Static Equipment, Rotating Equipment, or Packaged Equipment Systems.
• Broad understanding of Mechanical Engineering disciplines sufficient to provide department-level technical leadership.
• Significant experience in engineering leadership, technical assurance, resource management, and multidisciplinary EPC/EPCM project execution.
• Experience in FEED and/or Detailed Engineering of major projects is preferred.
• Experience managing sizeable engineering teams and multiple concurrent projects is highly desirable.
  
  

• Strong technical credibility and engineering judgement.
• Strategic and people leadership capability.
• Effective resource and talent management.
• Strong project delivery and commercial awareness.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.
• Sound decision-making and problem-solving capability.
• Commitment to safety, quality, technical integrity, innovation, and continuous improvement.