PROJECT CONTROLS LEAD – TAILINGS & WATER MANAGEMENT AREA

The Windfall project, owned by Gold Fields, is located in northern Quebec. By joining our passionate and committed team, you will have the opportunity to contribute to the construction and commissioning of a world-class mining project, one of the most ambitious of recent decades.

Gold Fields is a globally diversified gold producer with operations in Australia, South Africa, Ghana, Peru, Canada, and Chile. At Gold Fields, we are committed to building an inclusive workforce and recognize that the diversity of our employees' talents is a key factor in our growth, performance, and success.

This position offers you the opportunity to lead high-impact initiatives, collaborate with experts, and contribute to the growth of our operations in Quebec. You will work in a dynamic environment where challenges and an exceptional work environment will foster your professional development.

Join the Gold Fields Windfall builder team!

Reporting to the Deputy Director – Project Controls, the Project Controls Lead, Tailings & Water Management Area, acts as the functional representative of the owner for all project controls activities in the Tailings & Water Management sector. The role is based at the Montreal project office during the design and planning phase, with regular trips to the Windfall site (northern Quebec) and occasional trips to the ESPs and ePCM as needed. Given the nature of the sector — earthworks, civil engineering, and linear infrastructure projects subject to seasonal construction windows — increased on-site presence is expected during construction campaigns. Fixed-term contract for 3 years.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Act as the functional owner of project controls for the Tailings & Water Management sector and represent this sector in all governance, performance, and project assurance reviews;
• Ensure the integrity, audibility, and consistency of the cost, schedule, progress, and change data sets for the sector, including reconciliation with source systems (Contruent, ControlShare Cost, SAP, Primavera P6, Safran, iPas, Aconex);
• Support the Area Manager – Tailings & Water Management (Owner) in all cost, schedule, performance, and risk-related questions, provide daily integrated analysis support for decision-making, and proactively escalate critical issues to the Director – Project Controls in accordance with defined governance thresholds, accompanied by structured mitigation recommendations;
• Support the Director – Project Controls and the Deputy Director in preparing monthly and quarterly reports for Gold Fields' leadership, ensuring the quality of narratives, KPIs, risks, and forecasts for the sector;
• Review and validate the monthly contractual cost reviews, purchase cost reviews, and contractual progress reviews for the sector, as well as the monthly workforce plan and ePCM forecasts applicable to the sector;
• Conduct variance and trend analyses (cost, schedule, productivity) to detect deviations, quantify their impacts, and issue early warnings on sector objectives;
• Functionally lead the ePCM and ESP project controls teams assigned to the sector, ensuring compliance with procedures, quality standards, and project reporting requirements;
• Define, track, and analyze the sector's performance KPIs: cost, schedule, productivity, progress, and risks; feed the integrated dashboards on the owner's data platform;
• Integrate compliance requirements applicable to tailings and water management (permits and authorizations, safety of dam requirements, industry-recognized standards such as GISTM) into cost and schedule forecasts, and flag any associated risks;
• Ensure the sector's schedule accurately reflects seasonal construction windows (freeze, spring flood, access and logistics in the northern region) and conditional milestones subject to regulatory approvals;
• Actively participate in change management (PTN / PCN) for the sector, analyze cost and schedule impacts — particularly those arising from geotechnical, hydrological, and climatic conditions — and support their integration into Contruent;
• Review and validate cost sheets for the sector's procurement and construction lots, including pre-award and post-award analyses;
• Coordinate closely with the Cost Lead, Lead Planner, Risk Lead, Estimating Lead, and Information Management Lead of the owner to ensure consistent integration of cost, schedule, and risk data at the project level;
• Ensure contract controls for unit-priced and remeasured work within the sector, including validation of joint quantity surveys, payment certificates, and claims related to site conditions;
• Control exposure related to quantities for earthworks and civil engineering commodities (excavation, embankment, rockfill, waterproofing membranes, pipes, concrete), ensuring reconciliation between estimated, designed (MTO), contracted, and installed quantities, and triggering deviation notices (PDN) as soon as established thresholds are exceeded;
• Lead the complete budgetary management of the sector, including control budget, commitments, incurred costs, forecasts, and estimates at completion (EAC), and ensure their integration into Contruent (single source of truth);
• Ensure consistency between measured physical progress, incurred costs, commitments, and approved schedule for the detailed engineering, procurement, and construction phases of the tailings facility and water management infrastructure;
• Review, challenge, and validate, independently, the ePCM and ESP sector project controls deliverables (cost reports, schedules, progress measurement, forecasts, and change logs) for accuracy, completeness, and traceability relative to approved references.

Required Qualifications

• Hold a university degree in engineering (civil, geotechnical, mining, or related discipline) or project management;
• Be a member in good standing of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, an asset;
• Minimum of 10 to 15 years of experience in project controls for major capital investment projects (CAPEX) delivered in EPC / EPCM mode, ideally in the mining, hydraulic, or large civil engineering sectors;
• Experience in tailings facilities, dam, water management, or heavy earthworks and civil engineering perimeters;
• Experience as a functional lead or sector owner in project controls, including baseline governance, change management, progress measurement (installed quantities / Earned Value), cost-schedule integration, and disciplined monthly reporting;
• Strong expertise in cost controls, budgeting, forecasting, commitments, and incurred costs, with practical experience in managing estimates at completion (EAC) for earthworks, civil engineering, and linear infrastructure perimeters;
• Experience as a functional lead or sector owner in project controls;
• Bilingualism (French and English), as the incumbent will work with both French-speaking and English-speaking contractors.

Core Competencies

• Functional leadership and influence;
• Rigor and critical thinking;
• Excellent communication skills, ability to clearly escalate issues, and formulate structured recommendations to leadership;
• Excellent collaboration with multidisciplinary teams;
• Decision-making in uncertain contexts;
• Integrity and accountability.

Technical Competencies

• Mastery of contract controls for unit-priced and remeasured work, including the management of quantity growth and claims related to site conditions;
• Mastery of planning, progress tracking, and cost-schedule integration;
• Good practical knowledge of Primavera P6;
• Understanding of execution constraints in remote northern regions;
• Experience as a functional lead or sector owner in project controls.