Project Director, Capital Delivery

About Livent: Livent powers the things that power our lives. From the revolution in electric vehicle batteries and mobile devices to the strong, lightweight alloys and advanced polymers that take innovation further, we harness lithium technology to help the world move forward—cleaner, healthier and more sustainably.

For nearly eight decades, we’ve been harnessing lithium’s potential to change the energy landscape. We are a pioneer in the lithium industry and have a rich history of breakthrough innovations and industry achievements, including partnering with Sony Corporation to develop the first ever Lithium-ion battery for commercial use.

Today, Livent builds on our heritage and is a global leader in the lithium industry with a differentiated product offering, proven track record and sustainability profile. Our customer portfolio includes some of the most dynamic companies in the world, including Tesla, and BMW Group.

Our customers look to us to meet the most demanding technical requirements, drawing upon our strengths in R&D with our advanced engineering capabilities, industry-leading materials science expertise, fully integrated global supply chain, and passion for continuous improvement and excellence.

Together, we work to safely and sustainably convert lithium’s potential into commercial progress, driving not only incremental improvements and also next generation, transformative opportunities.

For customers at the forefront of the once in a generation shift in how the world powers itself – and the fight against climate change – Livent is the lithium technology partner that’s leading the way.

Position Summary: As part of an international project execution team, the Project Director, Capital Delivery, leads all aspects of the engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction activities for capital expansion projects, from inception to completion, typically with budgets in excess of $500M. The Project Director, Capital Delivery, is expected to adhere to Livent’s safety policies, procedures and systems on all projects while successfully executing all global capital projects per Livent’s project implementation process.

This position reports to the Head of Capital Delivery and is based in Houston, Texas. Preference will be given to candidates either located in (or willing to relocate to) Houston.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Delivery of capital projects in full compliance with regulation requirements (laws, regulations, codes).
• Delivery of capital project in full compliance with Livent’s policies, practices, procedures and objectives for Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS)
• Delivery of capital project in full compliance with Livent’s policies, practices, procedures and objectives for Quality.
• Leadership of cross-functional teams (Technical Center, Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Project Controls, Finance, Operations) for collaborative development of clear project scopes and requirements for delivery in full accordance with the Capital Deployment Process (CDP), a stage-gate work process.
• Full ownership of capital projects through all Front-End Loading (FEL) stages including scoping, design development, procurement, module fabrication, site construction and startup.
• Development and implementation of the overall project execution strategy.
• Development and maintenance of a project budget, accurate forecast at completion and spend plan, possibly via a selected Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) partner.
• Development and maintenance of a project schedule and accurate completion forecast, possibly via a selected EPCM partner.
• Actively seeking opportunities for cost savings and schedule compression through innovations in project scope and execution strategies.
• Ensuring that project deliverables are issued in accordance with the project schedule and regulatory requirements, including stamping of documentation by professional engineers.
• Ensuring the audits (quality, design, etc.) are performed in accordance with the Project Audit Plan.
• Ensuring that the Discipline Leads provide engineering design deliverables in compliance with project design basis, regulatory and quality requirements, budget, schedule and best practices.
• Planning, organizing and facilitating technical reviews and following up on closure of actions.
• Preparing or coordinating the preparation of bid packages, the evaluation of proposals and the selection of suppliers (for goods and services) and contractors (for construction).
• Overseeing and enabling contract partners in the successful delivery of capital projects.
• Partnering with the Procurement team to develop procurement strategies and managing supplier performance; issuing purchase orders, and reviewing, approving and processing associated invoices.
• Tracking of project progress and timely identification of project derailers; implementation of solutions to ensure that projects meet all regulatory, safety, quality, cost and schedule targets.
• Providing timely, accurate and transparent reporting to all internal stakeholders and Livent’s Executive Leadership Team.
• Cooperatively working with Head Office support functions (HSE, Operations, Finance, Human Resources, etc.).
• Proactively managing relationships for effective communication coordination between all stakeholders, including government officials, local communities, suppliers, partners, site teams, operations and maintenance personnel, etc.
• Establishing cross-functional project teams with adequate staffing, including the EPCM partner, to ensure successful delivery of capital projects.

Travel: 30-50 % travel required, including frequent international travel to Asia and South America, with stays typically ranging between 2-3 weeks per trip.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related discipline or equivalent job experience in lieu of formal degree, required.
• 15+ years of Project Management experience in execution of major capital projects with budgets in excess of $500M required.
• Project Management related certification, such as PMP/Agile/Lean a plus.
• Experience coordinating outside services with an EPCM partner through the entire project lifecycle required.
• Experience working cross-functionally with international teams and international projects required (experience with capital projects in Asia and South America, a plus).
• Experience with modular project delivery a plus.
• Experience with SAP project module and other basic SAP transactions a plus.

Knowledge and Skill Requirements:

• Proven track record of safety leadership including setting expectations and being visible in the field.
• Knowledge of engineering and construction cost estimating and structure.
• Knowledge of construction contracting strategies and package preparation requirements.
• Knowledge of tools and methodologies for cost and schedule control (engineering, procurement and construction progress, productivity measurement, completion forecasts).
• Basic knowledge of ASME and other codes typically applied in capital project delivery.
• Availability and willingness to work outside normal U.S. business hours.
• Proficiency in English language required; proficiency in additional languages such as Spanish or Chinese a plus.
• Strong negotiation skills for effective management and resolution of conflicts with internal and external stakeholders, including suppliers of equipment and services, fabricators as well as construction contractors.
• Strong organizational and communication skills for effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams and alignment of project objectives between various stakeholder groups.
• Enthusiasm, collaborative spirit, creative problem-solving skills and drive for continuous improvement.

Safety Requirements: All employees are expected to carry out their work functions in a healthy and safe manner, to encourage and support safe work practices at all times, and to report and/or rectify any unsafe conditions that may come to their attention immediately.

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to walk and use hands to finger, handle, or feel. The employee is occasionally required to stand; climb or balance and taste or smell. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and color vision.

Work Environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is frequently exposed to toxic or caustic chemicals. The employee is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions; moving mechanical parts; fumes or airborne particles and outside weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Personal Protective Equipment: Must wear PPE as required based on job duties or when traveling to locations where PPE is essential.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

LIVENT employs people across a broad range of occupations in locations across the world. We are looking for people to join us in creating, developing, and improving our products, our processes, and our markets. Employees enjoy competitive compensation, a menu of work/life benefits and opportunities to continue developing their skills and building their career.

LIVENT is an Equal Opportunity Employer, EEO, AAE, MFDV and supports a drug free workplace.