Role Overview
This is an Owner’s Representative role accountable for the project’s permitting result and its environmental and social (E&S) approvals through to feasibility. The role owns the integrated permitting schedule across all regulatory workstreams — Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) amendment, water abstraction licensing, linear infrastructure and servitudes, powerline and grid connection, Mining Licence (ML) amendments and footprint adjustments — and is the owner’s single point of accountability for delivering them on the critical path.
The person in this role will coordinate and project manage a pool of permitting and E&S consultants and hold them accountable to scope, quality and schedule. They will represent the owner to consultants, co-investors, lenders and regulators, and will interface with the project’s technical consultants so that environmental and social requirements are embedded into the evolving design. The role does not carry design or engineering-study ownership; technical studies are managed separately, and this role’s involvement is limited to the permitting and E&S interface with them.
Key Duties & Responsibilities:
Workstream A — Permitting Ownership & Delivery
- Own the permitting result — own the overall permitting result and the integrated permitting schedule across all workstreams: Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) amendment, water abstraction licensing, linear infrastructure and servitudes, powerline and grid connection, Mining Licence (ML) amendments (if needed) and footprint adjustments (if needed).
- Critical-path management — maintain the master permitting tracker and critical path, actively managing inter-agency dependencies and sequencing so that parallel workstreams stay parallel (as defined in the Terms of Reference (ToR)) and do not become sequential bottlenecks.
- Application quality — review permit applications, supporting studies and submissions before they are lodged, to confirm they are complete, internally consistent and aligned to the current project description.
- Condition tracking — track the conditions attached to granted permits and approvals, and confirm that the obligations arising from them are assigned and being met.
- Risk management — identify permitting risks early, propose solutions, and escalate with clear options for the team’s consideration.
Workstream B — Environmental & Social Approvals
- Environmental and social assessment — oversee the consultants preparing the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) updates required to support the amended ECC and the wider approvals set.
- Lender and investor standards — confirm that the E&S workstreams are being delivered to the standard expected by co-investors and lenders, and flag gaps against those expectations early.
- Stakeholder and public consultation — oversee the public consultation and stakeholder engagement processes required by the regulatory framework, including recording and closing out issues raised.
- Land, access and servitudes — coordinate the land access, servitude and landowner engagement inputs needed for linear infrastructure and diversion approvals.
Workstream C — Regulatory Representation
- Regulatory representation — support Omico as needed with the relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) and the Environmental Commissioner, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR), the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the Roads Authority, NamWater, NamPower and the Electricity Control Board (ECB).
- Relationship management — build and maintain working relationships with the relevant regulators and agencies so that queries, resubmissions and clarifications can be resolved quickly.
- Regulatory intelligence — monitor changes in the Namibian permitting and E&S regulatory framework, and assess the implications for the project schedule and design.
Workstream D — Consultant Accountability & Quality
- Consultant point of contact — act as the primary point of contact for permitting consultants and E&S specialists, and hold them accountable to the ToR deliverables, quality standard and schedule.
- Scope and schedule development — work with consultants to develop and refine permitting and E&S scopes of work and schedules, including the scope required to support the Phase 2 full feasibility study.
- Contractor communication — hold regular (minimum monthly) communication with consultants and contractors for status updates.
- Deliverable monitoring — monitor the development of permitting and E&S deliverables to ensure objectives are being met.
- Schedule discipline — maintain pressure and focus on consultants to keep to schedule.
Workstream E — Technical Interface
- The technical studies underpinning the feasibility-level design are managed separately. This role’s involvement is limited to the permitting and E&S interface with them.
- Interface orchestration — orchestrate the interfaces between permitting consultants, E&S specialists and the technical providers Appian has mobilised, so that environmental and social inputs are embedded into the design evolution.
- Information flow — coordinate key interactions and information flow between the permitting workstreams and the technical teams, so that permit applications reflect the current design and the design reflects permit constraints.
- Permitting inputs from studies — define what the technical workstreams need to produce for permitting purposes, and confirm that those inputs arrive in the form and to the timing the approvals require.
Workstream F — Governance, Reporting & Budgets
- Project governance — participate in the Appian weekly project update meeting.
- Reporting — provide clear, regular reporting on permitting status, forecast approval dates, risks and mitigations to the Project Director and the wider team.
- Budget support — flag items that will have budget impact.
How to apply:
Interested candidates should submit the following to the Human Resources department:
Email: recruitment@omicocopper.com
- Curriculum Vitae (CV) — maximum 6 pages.
- Covering letter addressing the key requirements of the role.
- Copies of relevant academic certificates and professional memberships.
- Contact details for three professional referees (referees will not be contacted without prior consent).
- Applications should be submitted by email with the subject line: “Application — Owner’s Representative — Permitting & Environmental / Social Lead”.
Closing Date: 30 Septmber 2026
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. The Company reserves the right to close the vacancy early should a suitable candidate be identified.
Equal Opportunity Statement
- The Company is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity at all levels of the organisation. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, nationality, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and contractors.
