The project :

Land reclamation and construction of artificial islands. Our client has embarked on the biggest land reclamation project in history.
The artificial island together with its fundament of the 5 Islands will be the home to a city of 500,000 people and have a total surface of 4,000 hectares of reclaimed land, the equivalent of the city of Paris.
12,5 km long and 7,5 km wide and the island will feature leisure, residential and tourist developments.
The dredging and land reclamation will entail moving about 1,140,000,000 m3 of sand.
For the surrounding breakwater, protecting the island from harsh weather conditions, over 110,000,000 tons of rock will be used.
The project should be in place by the end of 2013.
The Dubai coastline will increase by approximately 226 km, including 121 km of beachfront.
Our client will use its broad range of equipment from small to jumbo-size trailing suction hopper dredgers to shape the islands.
In addition it will manage the transportation of rocks from harbour to project site and will employ a range of its rock barges, tow tugs, side stone dumping vessels and split barges to position the various layers of rock for the surrounding breakwater.
It will take ten years for Van Oord to create these unique islands in the sea.

The Role:

Dealing with the client. Ensuring compliance, monitoring budget performance, introducing better financial controls, preparing contracts, managing the tendering process and providing an estimating function.
Managing sub-contractors.
Preparing evaluations for payment.
Business development – identifying new business opportunities for the company.

The Ideal Candidate:

Outstanding commercial ability and a proactive character.
Classic team management skills.
Initiative and an aptitude for confident decision making.
Ability to forge effective relationships both internally and externally, and be comfortable operating at all levels within the business – from an independent contractor to an MD.
With experience gained in a commercial contracting arena, you have excellent analytical skills and a good eye for detail.
A sound appreciation of construction processes, quantity surveying, and business accounting practices and contracts management is also vital, as is the ability to communicate effectively with operational managers and present the financial standing of the business to senior management.