Agricultural & Land Development Engineer Job Tana River Sugar Bura, Kenya

Role Summary

The Agricultural and Land Development Engineer will oversee the transformation of undeveloped land into a fully prepared, commercial sugarcane estate. This hands-on role manages the entire physical preparation process — including land clearing, earthworks, drainage, and initial planting coordination. The Engineer is responsible for translating technical plans into daily operations, supervising field teams and subcontractors, and ensuring all site development is completed safely, on time, and to quality standards in a remote environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Land Preparation & Civil Works: Oversee end-to-end site preparation including bush clearing, land leveling, deep ripping, cultivation, and seedbed preparation to ensure fields are optimized for sugarcane cultivation.
• Field Layout & Surveying: Collaborate with survey teams to verify block boundaries, levels, roads, drainage channels, and irrigation corridors before executing earthworks.
• Planting Coordination: Partner with the agronomy team to supervise the timely and accurate planting of sugarcane setts according to spacing, depth, and alignment specifications.
• Infrastructure & Drainage: Supervise the construction of farm roads, field access tracks, drainage profiles, and erosion control measures.
• Subcontractor & Fleet Management: Manage subcontractors and heavy equipment utilization (dozers, graders, excavators) to maximize productivity, track fuel efficiency, and minimize idle time.
• Quality Assurance & Handover: Conduct rigorous quality checks on finished levels, row alignments, and drain profiles before formal handover to irrigation and agronomy teams.
• HSE Compliance: Enforce strict health, safety, and environmental standards regarding heavy machinery operations, traffic management, fuel handling, and soil protection.
• Reporting & Project Controls: Maintain daily logs tracking equipment, labor, fuel, and completed hectarage; monitor budgets, schedules, and variations in coordination with the Project Manager and QS.

Qualification, skills and Competencies

• Education: Degree or Higher Diploma in Civil Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Construction Management, or a related discipline. Professional body membership is an asset.
• Experience: Minimum 6 years in civil works, large-scale earthworks, or agricultural estate development, including at least 3 years in a hands-on supervisory role.
• Technical Expertise: Proven experience in heavy earthworks, bush clearing, land leveling, drainage installation, and agricultural land preparation (sugarcane or commercial row crops preferred).
• Operations & Leadership: Demonstrated ability to manage heavy equipment fleets, field crews, and subcontractors in remote or rural environments.
• Project Controls: Proficient in daily work planning, progress reporting, quality control, and cost tracking.
• License: Valid driver’s license with experience driving in rural/construction terrain.
• Preferred Certifications: Additional training in Project Management, HSE, or Contract Administration.

How to Apply

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