Senior Engineer: Solar PV

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 and close to 1GWh of energy storage projects awarded with its partners. 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 Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) 

Founded in 2012, CIP is the world’s largest dedicated renewable energy fund manager and a global leader in offshore wind. CIP currently manages over 30 billion Euro’s, with a target of having 100 billion Euros under management by 2030. The funds managed by CIP focus on investments in offshore and onshore wind, solar PV, biomass and energy-from-waste, transmission and distribution, reserve capacity, storage, advanced bioenergy, and Power-to-X. 

About this role

To strengthen our Engineering team, we are looking for a Senior Engineer: Solar PV who has already gained significant experience in the field of renewable energy plants, including with project implementation. While housed within the EPC department, Mulilo’s professional Engineering team is tasked with providing engineering support to all facets of Mulilo’s business divisions and collaboration between multidisciplinary teams is a cornerstone of Mulilo’s culture.

The role is to drive the technical development, engineering design, construction technical support, commissioning, and closing of all activities on specific solar PV projects within Mulilo’s larger portfolio. Additionally, providing technical support for Mulilo’s operational solar PV portfolio is a key responsibility. This hands-on role will involve site-based activities from time to time, requiring the ideal candidate to have experience in the full lifecycle of solar PV projects, along with strong project management and engineering skills. The successful candidate will play a critical role in ensuring projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to high-quality and safety standards, contributing significantly to the success of Mulilo’s renewable energy initiatives.

Duties and responsibilities 

• Support all engineering aspects of specific utility-scale solar PV projects from early-stage development through bidding, financial close, construction, commissioning, and into operation.
• Manage external engineering firms, subcontractors, and internal members to meet company objectives on time, on budget, and at a high-quality standard.

• Support the development of technical due diligence, fatal flaw analysis, and risk assessments frameworks and application of these to feasibility stage solar PV projects.

• Contribute to and develop the solar PV Engineering team’s capacity to support Mulilo’s overall business objectives.
• Standardise and strengthen technical documentation, in-house tools, and engineering policies and procedures to facilitate continuous improvement.
• Conduct long-term energy yield forecasts based on accurate PVSyst models.
• Support the development of internal tools, methodologies, and specifications to ensure optimal project designs considering Levelised Cost of Energy (LCoE), constructability, efficiency, and overall system performance.
• Write reports, record key correspondence, and document meeting minutes with suppliers and other key stakeholders.
• Use computer design software to develop designs for solar PV systems and analyse project sites for utility-scale solar PV projects.
• Support the Procurement team in developing RFPs, and performing technical reviews of proposals received from equipment suppliers and/or subcontractors.

• Lead technical negotiations with stakeholders in new solar PV projects including, equipment suppliers, EPC contractors, Balance of Plant contractors, consultants, and permitting and regulatory officials.

• Provide technical input to the development of project budgets.
• Contribute to the drafting, review, and markup of project technical documents, including EPC contracts and the related performance and liquidated damages provisions, operating and maintenance plans, procedures manuals, blueprints, and schematics.
• Participate in internal and external design review meetings, verifying compliance with internal and external design and quality requirements, and contractual obligations.
• Drive a culture of value engineering and encourage innovation for best-in-class system design.
• Recommend engineering or manufacturing changes based on project objectives and issues.

• Work together with the Construction team by ensuring that construction activities match designs and technical specifications, responding to site technical queries, and regularly engaging with project stakeholders to strengthen the collaborative relationship between site and office-based team members.

• Ensure all project aspects are documented and completed to high standards of quality.
• Ensure that projects and processes comply with statutory obligations, company policies, and required codes, standards, regulations, and laws.
• Solve complex problems, conduct root cause analysis, and support troubleshooting, fault analysis, and technical investigations.

Required skills and education background. 

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical / mechanical / Mechatronics Engineering required.
• 10+ years professional work experience within the utility solar power systems space working on engineering and technical aspects of the projects.
• Experience in wind, Battery Storage Systems (BESS) and high voltage electrical infrastructure beneficial.
• Proficiency in computer design software, AutoCAD, and specialised solar software of importance, i.e. PVSyst.
• Working proficiency in MS Office suite, notably Excel, Teams, SharePoint, PowerPoint and Word.
• Familiarity with applicable codes, standards and regulations used in South Africa.
• Ability to manage project deliverables on several projects running concurrently with time and budgetary sensitivities.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work with contractors, advisors, consultants, and staff in a team environment.
• Meticulous and methodical when solving complex problems in various situations.
• Eager to be part of a fast-growing, dynamic department in a rapidly developing part of the power sector.
• Driven to be a part of the solutions to address the challenges faced by current society

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.