Mint Innovation

Director of Engineering

Mint Innovation has been developing innovative cleantech since 2016. Our mission is to provide low-carbon, circular economy solutions for recovering critical metals from waste (the urban mine) via plants in major cities around the world.

We’re nearing completion of our first electronic waste recycling facility in Western Sydney, which will showcase the innovative tech we’ve developed for recovering base and precious metals (e.g. copper & gold) from old scrap electronics. Following in its footsteps will be a roll-out of plants in major cities globally, as well as the deployment of further product lines.

Why Apply?

Mint is expanding its engineering capability to ramp up design packages for new e-waste plant projects, as well as to begin the commercialisation of new technologies that our scientists have developed. A talented senior engineer is sought to lead our tight-knit group of engineers and grow the team further so they can keep slaying the giants we send their way.

This will be a challenging leadership position, so your proven track record of managing successful engineering/project teams is going to be relied upon. You’ll have the ability to shape the systems and tools used for managing projects with your ideas around best-practice; with over 15 years in process engineering and plant design, you’ll have a wealth of experience to draw on. Your ability to talk the language and methods of several different industries is going to be instrumental to your success in this role. You may have a background in wastewater, oil & gas, dairy, FMCG or mineral processing – all fields where pumps, pipes and slurries are your bread & butter, which will help you connect with what our engineers deal with. Your innate ability to grasp what we’re trying to achieve in our designs will also carry over to Mint’s strategic planning and technology road map, both of which you’ll help shape with our executive team.

Our project management office has ambitious global deployment targets, so you’ll be working hand-in-hand with them to define plant build schedules and design deliverables for your team to provide. And any ideas you have around process improvements can be bounced off our scientists at our HQ, an added advantage of developing our technology in-house.

In all, this is an opportunity for a highly motivated engineering leader to join a growing tech startup in the cleantech space. You’ll have a high degree of autonomy to get things done, and you’ll appreciate the importance and consequence your role has on the company’s overall success.

The Role

The position is full-time, and will be located at our HQ in East Tamaki, Auckland, reporting to our CTO. With a competitive salary and access to our employee share option programme, international travel will also be required from time to time.

Your main responsibilities will be to:

Lead and grow the Engineering Department, help shape strategy for technology with the company’s executive team
Ensure that the Engineering Department is executing on projects as per agreed scopes, timelines and budgets
Work closely with the Project Management Office for new plant builds and plant upgrades to define design schedules and deliverables as per the project portfolio
Implement systems and tools for managing multiple engineering projects and ensure documentation of projects is maintained
Provide positive leadership and mentorship to team members, actively coach and support their development, clearly articulate expectations
Give expert advice and technical guidance to the company’s executive

Skills and Experience

As a company that was born in a dingy basement, everyone at Mint has a “can do, no fuss” attitude and our Director of Engineering will be no different. We want someone who has a bias for action, a strong sense of urgency when it comes to solving problems – as a growing company, the right attitude and cultural fit is paramount.

Our ideal candidate will have as many of the following qualities as possible:

15+ years of process, chemical or mechanical engineering experience in field(s) related to solid/liquid handling (e.g. wastewater, oil & gas, dairy, FMCG or mineral processing)
Solid experience in process plant design and a track record of successful projects
Diverse career path; can talk and understand the language of multiple engineering disciplines (e.g. electrical, structural and mechanical), familiar with Autodesk suite of CAD products
5+ years management experience (teams, projects etc), a highly motivated leader who can take people on the journey; could have been in a director position, or ready to step up
Strategic insight and planning capability based on company’s vision, able to communicate to and influence internal and external stakeholders
Ability to focus teams working on multiple projects and balance priorities with geographically dispersed stakeholders
High attention to detail and a passion for getting it right

If the above sounds like you, apply with your CV via Seek. We’re aiming to shortlist and interview candidates through October for a start date in December/January.

We embrace diversity and inclusion and are committed to equal opportunities. We actively encourage applications from all backgrounds. Please note you must have the right to work in New Zealand to apply for this job.

For more background on Mint see our website – https://www.mint.bio/