Position Overview

Describe the purpose and scope of the role.

The scale of the UK & Ireland cement business, together with its associated capital investment requirements, necessitates a centralised and highly skilled technical support and monitoring function to ensure that strategic, high-value projects are effectively governed, developed and delivered successfully. 

Working collaboratively with senior business stakeholders and CRH Group support functions (including Procurement, Legal and Group Technical Services), this role has end to end accountability and overarching responsibility for the governance, development and delivery of a major capital development project within the UK & Ireland cement business. 

Core aspects of the role include defining and shaping the project scope, planning and leading the assigned project to manage the design development, approval and execution readiness of the project; and establishing robust effective interfaces with equipment designers and manufacturers, research and technical advisory providers, and contractors. 

Position Overview:  

In the context of a significant and multi-year capital investment pipeline across the UK & Ireland cement platform, the business seeks to appoint a senior project leadership role with responsibility for developing, governing and overseeing a major, UK & Ireland cement capital project. The role will focus primarily on leading a project through the ideation, concept development, feasibility and investment approval phases of the project life cycle, while providing oversight, assurance and governance through execution and commissioning 

This is a highly complex operating environment, requiring a comprehensive understanding of technical, commercial, regulatory and operational risks across all stages of the project life cycle, including concept development, feasibility, execution and commissioning. 

The projects may include new construction, demolition, or asset revamping activities across diverse technical scopes such as Kiln upgrades, Alternative fuels, Cement Milling, Decarbonization initiatives, Renewable energy integration, advanced Automation solutions, etc. 

What makes this role exciting: 

• Lead and influence a high-impact, strategic critical projects with diverse teams and stakeholders. 

• Gain exposure to strategic decision-making and cutting-edge technologies, positioning yourself for future leadership roles. 

• Enjoy a hybrid work model with home-working options and international travel opportunities that broadens your professional horizons. 

• Drive innovative engineering solutions that set new benchmarks for efficiency, sustainability, safety and operational excellence. 

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

Describe the tasks of the candidate within the role.

The primary objective of the role is to lead and ensure the successful development of a major capital project through the ideation, concept, feasibility and execution stages, ensuring the core objectives of safety, budget management, operational efficiency, schedule certainty, and risk management are met.  This will require the following: 

• Coordinate, lead and manage internal stakeholders (Business and Group Functions – Technical, Legal, Procurement, Finance Etc.) and external stakeholders (OEMs, designers, consultants and contractors etc.) across the full project lifecycle.  
• Ensure the early and proactive identification, assessment, mitigation and ongoing management of risk and opportunities throughout all phases of the project 

Project Concept / Feasibility / Approval Phases: 

• Coordinate the successful development of the project through the concept and feasibility study phase, ensuring the project is defined, justified and approved in accordance with approved technical standards, financial criteria and governance requirement and that investment approval timelines are met.   
• Develop clear, robust and complete technical specifications and the employer requirements documentation specific to each project, in collaboration with Group functions (e.g. Legal, Procurement, Insurance and GTS)   
• In collaboration with the GTS contract manager and business legal advisors, define and implement the most appropriate contract and delivery strategy (EPC, EP+C, Package etc.) and develop the supporting contract documentation for each project 
• Deploy strong analytical, commercial and project management capability to develop the final detailed investment study including clearly defined project scope, capital cost estimates, programme plan, delivery strategy, project organization and resourcing plan, along with comprehensive risk assessments and mitigation strategies.

Project Execution Phase:

• Support the successful execution of the project in accordance with the approved safety, quality, cost and scheduled objectives, including construction oversight, commissioning, performance validation and structured handover to the Operating Companies.
• Define and implement a clear, transparent and effective communication and reporting plan, ensuring timely reporting to senior management and governance forums. 
• Support the commercial and contractual close-out of contracts, including claim management, dispute resolution and final account settlement, where required 

Key Characteristics

Describe the character/personality/profile of a preferred candidate.

For this role you should be/have: 

• A strong track record in major project delivery in the cement industry (or other relevant industrial sectors), across all phases of the project lifecycle  

• Strong understanding of cement and concrete production processes, raw materials, equipment and cement/concrete products, and awareness of current and future technical challenges to the cement sector 

• Operational exposure, with knowledge of the broader business, and commercial environment, to enable effective collaboration with the senior stakeholders in the business (Plant Managers and staff), and Group functions (technical, financial, legal etc.)  

• Possessing a highly strategic mindset, with a proven ability to assess risk across multiple dimensions and develop pathways to success in complex and multi-cultural environments 

• 5+ years of People Management experience, including interpreting strategy and policy in order to set and deliver objectives within medium to long time frames (Over 10 years) 

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage and influence multiple internal and external stakeholders at both executive and operational levels, including on a global level  

• Strong written communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical and commercial concepts clearly and concisely. 

• An ability to handle a range of work-streams simultaneously, without compromising quality or governance   

• Highly organised, detail-orientated and results driven, with a strong bias for delivery and accountability 

• Appetite for continual professional development, particularly in the contract / legal domain 

• Available for regular travel across UK&I, and internationally as required. 

Key Functional Competencies

Describe the functional competencies required for candidate to be successful in the role. Do not include experience, this is covered further down.

You possess the following: 

• Shape our future 
• Drive our Impact  
• Inspire our People 
• Lead our Industry 
• Delivering at Scale 
• Broadening Perspective 
• Excellence Project Management skills
• Organised
• Strong Communication skills

Experience / Education

Describe the experience and academic background required for the role

You are/have:

• A degree in Engineering with at least 10 years’ experience in the cement industry, primarily within the engineering domain.  
• Master’s Degree level an advantage 
• Experience of managing multiple large scale projects simultaneously 
• Contract law training an advantage 
• Complementary Financial / Business qualifications an advantage 

CRH MyCareer Behaviors & Experiences

CRH Level Behaviors

Shape our future

Customer Focus - Understands the customer and recognizes opportunities for designing value-adding solutions for customers, driving the delivery of customer-centric solutions.

Drive our impact

Manages Ambiguity - Operating effectively, even when things are not certain or the way forward is not clear.

Plans & Aligns - Planning and prioritizing work to meet commitments aligned with organizational goals.

Inspire our people

Cultivates Talent - Attracting, growing and retaining people.

Drives Engagement - Creating a climate where people are motivated to do their best to help the organization achieve its objectives.

Fosters Inclusivity - Recognizes the value that different perspectives bring to the organization, seeking out, embracing and leveraging differences to ensure that all talent flourishes.

Lead our Industry

Embraces the use of Technology - Guides team and allocates resources to experimenting with (new) technologies, with a focus on how these will add value for customers.

Facilitates Innovation - Proposes new or better ideas to solve known challenges and to support the organization to be successful.

CRH Level Experiences

Delivering at Scale

Business partnering (Functions) 

Has advised stakeholders on best practice and supported or enforced implementation of key processes and practices.

Business planning

Has developed and proposed, or contributed to the development and proposal of annual business plans for an area ensuring alignment with strategy.

Has recommended financial and headcount budgets, KPIs, scheduled projects integrating with other parts of the business.

Continuous improvement

Has challenged existing procedures and driven greater efficiencies within assigned area and potentially beyond.

Financial management

Has established and monitored performance against KPIs and financial budgets to optimize business performance.

Has translated business objectives into budgets / business cases to support the running of their area with some guidance from senior colleagues.

People management and development

Has recruited, motivated and developed an operational team, promoting a culture of safety and continuous improvement.

Setting and communicating direction

Has set and communicated action plans to team members and how it related to the broader strategy vision.

Broadening Perspective

Business exposure 

Has had exposure through roles and projects across different parts of the business gaining an understanding of different functions and teams.

Key Challenges

Crisis management

Played a significant role in responding to, or managing an expected or unexpected crisis.

Inherited problems and challenges

Played a significant role in taking over a struggling organizational unit (e.g., with weak financial performance), renegotiated agreements or contracts to reverse operating losses, led cost-cutting efforts, and implemented a reorganization or downsizing.