Lead Project Engineer

One of our International Oilfield Services client is seeking a Lead Project Engineer to be based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

POSITION OVERVIEW: The Lead Project Engineer acts as the central engineering integrator on large-scale industrial projects, responsible for coordinating multi-discipline engineering activities, managing interfaces between EPC contractors and the owner team, and ensuring deliverables are completed on schedule and to quality. This role requires a seasoned engineering project professional who can bridge technical disciplines, manage contractor performance, and support the project through all development phases from FEED to commissioning handover.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Coordinate and integrate engineering deliverables across process, mechanical, civil/structural, electrical, and instrumentation disciplines throughout FEED and detailed design.
• Manage the engineering deliverable register, track completion status, review schedules, and proactively identify and resolve delays or technical interface issues.
• Serve as the primary liaison between the owner's team, EPC contractors, and sub-consultants on all engineering matters.
• Review and comment on contractor and vendor engineering submittals; coordinate multi-discipline technical review cycles and document control.
• Facilitate and chair inter-discipline review (IDR) meetings, design review workshops, and technical interface sessions.
• Support FEED and detailed design gate reviews, ensuring completeness, technical accuracy, and alignment with project basis of design.
• Assist in the preparation and review of scopes of work, engineering subcontracts, and technical portions of procurement packages.
• Monitor and report on engineering progress, KPIs, manhour burn, and quality metrics; escalate issues with recommended mitigations.
• Support construction and commissioning phases through field engineering queries (RFIs), technical deviation management, and as-built documentation control.
• Coordinate with the project controls team on schedule integration, engineering milestones, and change management.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Chemical, Mechanical, Civil, or Electrical); MBA or PMP certification is an advantage.
• Minimum 10+ years of total engineering experience, including significant time in an engineering coordination or lead project engineer role on EPC projects.
• Proven track record managing multi-discipline engineering coordination on large-scale industrial capital projects in oil & gas, petrochemical, or minerals processing.
• Strong understanding of engineering deliverable development processes across all major disciplines.
• Proficiency in project management tools, document management systems (e.g., Aconex, Documentum), and engineering schedule management.
• Experience working on Saudi Aramco or equivalent NOC projects is highly preferred.
• Owner's engineering or PMC-side experience in addition to EPC background is a significant advantage.
• Hands-on construction and commissioning support experience is preferred.
• Exceptional communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills; fluency in English required, Arabic is an advantage.