Construction Manager – Airside (Runway/Taxiway/Apron/Road Works)

Construction Manager

Kinshasa, DRC

Role Overview

Project Planning & Execution

• Lead and coordinate day-to-day construction activities across assigned workstreams.
• Support technical and feasibility studies, including site investigations and risk assessments.
• Translate engineering designs into executable construction plans.
• Monitor project timelines and ensure adherence to approved schedules.
• Plan and manage airside phasing and work windows, including shift/night works where required, ensuring safe demarcation, temporary arrangements, and handback readiness.
• Coordinate airside execution interfaces (earthworks/pavements/drainage/duct banks/AGL interfaces) to avoid rework and to maintain a clear critical path for airside readiness.
• Ensure survey control, setting-out and level/line control are established and maintained for airside geometry compliance (grades, levels, transitions) and that as-built data is captured progressively.
• Review and interpret approved drawings, specifications, bills of quantities, and related technical documents, and ensure construction works are executed in accordance with the latest approved information.
• Review, comment on, and ensure implementation of method statements, inspection and test plans, work packs, permits, and short-term execution plans before works commence.
• Plan and control site resource deployment, including labour, plant, equipment, machinery, tools, temporary works, access arrangements, and lifting requirements for each work front.
• Coordinate with Technical, QA/QC, HSE, Procurement, Commercial, and Project Controls to ensure construction activities are properly supported and sequenced, while maintaining Construction accountability for execution decisions and site inputs.

Procurement & Contract Management

• Contribute to the preparation of technical specifications and scope of work.
• Support tendering processes, including contractor selection and bid evaluations.

Construction Quantities, Plant & Resource Accountability

• Remain accountable and responsible for defining, reviewing, and formally signing off the plant, equipment, machinery, tools, temporary works, and site execution resources required for the works.
• Review and verify material quantities, equipment requests, and site resource plans before submission to Procurement or other support functions.
• Monitor plant utilisation, availability, maintenance status, suitability, and replacement needs, and take corrective action where shortfalls may affect safety, quality, cost, or programme.
• Review and sign off measured quantities, quantity take-offs, measurement sheets, and supporting site records before issue for progress measurement, valuation support, reporting, or third-party use.

Site Supervision & Quality Assurance

• Supervise construction works to ensure compliance with design specifications, engineering standards, and quality requirements.
• Identify and resolve design, technical, and execution issues in collaboration with engineering teams.
• Conduct regular site inspections and enforce quality control procedures.
• Ensure airside pavement works (subgrade, capping, subbase/base, asphalt/concrete as applicable) comply with approved ITPs, testing frequencies, and acceptance criteria; drive timely corrective actions for non-conformities.
• Coordinate with QA/QC and testing laboratories to ensure traceable test results, approvals, and release of work fronts prior to subsequent layers/activities.
• Coordinate AGL civil readiness (duct banks, pits, chambers, cable routes, bases) and support commissioning readiness activities by ensuring construction completion and close-out of punch items affecting AGL installation/testing.
• Carry out constructability, interface, and field-readiness reviews to confirm that works can be executed safely, efficiently, and in line with approved drawings and site conditions.
• Verify installed quantities, field measurements, and supporting site records before these are issued for progress measurement, valuation support, or reporting.
• Review subcontractor and supplier execution documentation, including shop drawings, method statements, lifting plans, temporary works submissions, and ITPs, and ensure comments are closed out before implementation.

Health, Safety & Compliance

• Ensure strict adherence to health, safety, and environmental (HSE) standards.
• Enforce compliance with local regulations and international construction standards.
• Promote a strong safety culture across all contractors and site personnel. Implement airside-specific safety controls including airside driving rules, access/escort protocols, exclusion zones, communications/briefings, and stringent FOD prevention, ensuring that all personnel and subcontractors comply with airside operational safety requirements.
• Ensure work areas are secured with compliant barricading/marking and that temporary conditions do not create hazards to aircraft operations.
• Ensure daily FOD walks/controls and strict housekeeping standards are implemented and recorded.
• Ensure that method statements, permits to work, lifting plans, and task-specific risk assessments are reviewed and implemented before execution.

Risk & Issue Management

• Identify potential project risks and implement mitigation strategies.
• Proactively resolve construction challenges to avoid delays or cost overruns.
• Provide early warning on discrepancies in drawings, quantities, site conditions, plant or equipment performance, and subcontractor capability that may affect delivery.
• Provide early warning on airside operational constraints, access restrictions, interface clashes, and handback risks that may affect safety, programme, or readiness milestones; propose mitigation and recovery actions.

Additional Responsibilities

• Perform any other related duties as assigned by management in support of project delivery. This includes formal construction review and sign-off on relevant site execution matters where required.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, Construction Management, or a related field.
• Minimum of
• 7–10 years of experience
• in construction management, preferably in large-scale infrastructure or airport projects.
• Proven experience managing contractors and complex construction sites.
• Demonstrated experience delivering airside works (runway/taxiway/apron/roads earthworks and pavements and/or airfield civil works) with strong understanding of airside execution constraints.
• Experience working in operational airfield environments or under strict access and permit-to-work controls is a strong advantage.
• Strong knowledge of construction methodologies, materials, and project management principles.
• Familiarity with ICAO airfield requirements (geometry, safety areas, markings/signage/AGL interfaces) and airside compliance constraints is a strong advantage.
• Experience working in Africa, preferably in challenging or emerging markets.
• Ability to read and interpret construction drawings, specifications, bills of quantities, method statements, inspection and test plans, and related technical documentation.
• Practical experience in quantity verification, progress measurement, field productivity monitoring, and review/sign-off of site execution records.
• Strong understanding of plant, equipment, machinery, temporary works, materials planning, and construction resource control.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong leadership and site management skills
• Excellent problem-solving and decision-making abilities
• Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• High attention to detail and commitment to quality and safety
• Fluent in English is mandatory; professional working proficiency in French is strongly preferred.
• Strong technical ability in reading drawings, verifying quantities, reviewing method statements, and assessing construction resource requirements.
• Clear ownership mindset for plant, equipment, machinery, tools, temporary works, and site productivity.
• Strong discipline in permit-to-work compliance, shift handback readiness, and interface coordination in constrained operational environments.
• High standards of field leadership, subcontractor control, and delivery predictability under fast-paced conditions.

Work Environment

• Site-based role in Kinshasa with regular presence on construction sites
• May require extended working hours depending on project needs
• Exposure to a dynamic, fast-paced infrastructure development environment