Head of Supply Chain and Transport Logistics - Papua New Guinea

Our client is an international mining organisation currently revitalising a long-established gold operation in Papua New Guinea. With a renewed investment strategy, the company is focused on building a high-performance, safety-driven and technologically advanced mining environment. As they expand their exploration and production capabilities, they are strengthening their teams to support the next phase of operational growth. They are now seeking an experienced and hands-on Head of Supply Chain and Transport Logistics to lead and manage the end-to-end supply chain and logistics operations supporting remote mining operations in Port Moresby-Papua New Guinea.  

This is a critical operational leadership role responsible for ensuring all materials, equipment, consumables, fuel, critical spares, and project cargo are safely transported from their origin point anywhere in the world through to the mine site in a safe, timely, and cost-effective manner.

The successful candidate must have demonstrated experience operating in remote and logistically challenging environments such as Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Africa, or similar frontier jurisdictions where road access, weather, infrastructure limitations, and supply chain disruptions require practical problem-solving and proactive logistics leadership.

This role requires a highly practical and field-oriented individual who is comfortable operating both strategically and operationally from executive logistics planning through to resolving trucking, road access, freight, customs, warehousing, and site delivery issues in real time.

The role will work closely with the company’s logistics partners, transport contractors, procurement team, operations, maintenance, projects, and mining departments to ensure the supply chain directly supports operational continuity and production objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Supply Chain & Logistics Leadership

• Lead the end-to-end logistics and supply chain function for all mining and support operations.

• Ensure all freight movements from international origin ports through to final delivery onsite are effectively coordinated and executed.

• Manage international freight forwarding, shipping, customs clearance, domestic transport, warehousing, and site logistics activities.

• Develop and maintain integrated logistics plans aligned with operational and project priorities.

• Drive continuous improvement across logistics performance, cost efficiency, reliability, and reporting.

Remote Logistics & Transport Management

• Manage and oversee all transport movements between Port Moresby and site operations.

• Work directly with logistics partners and transport contractors to develop practical transport solutions for remote and difficult access environments.

• Proactively address challenges relating to:

  • Poor road conditions

  • Seasonal weather impacts

  • Bridge or infrastructure limitations

  • Security risks

  • River crossings

  • Equipment breakdowns

  • Limited transport capacity

  • Emergency freight requirements

• Develop contingency logistics solutions to ensure continuity of supply during disruptions or access constraints.

• Assess and validate appropriate fleet selection and transport methodologies for varying cargo requirements and road conditions.

Logistics Partner & Contractor Management

• Manage the performance of logistics partners, transport contractors, freight forwarders, and warehousing providers.

• Ensure all logistics contracts are executed in accordance with agreed commercial terms, KPIs, safety standards, and service levels.

• Monitor contractor performance including:

  • Fleet availability

  • Delivery performance

  • Freight tracking

  • Damage rates

  • Safety compliance

  • Transit times

  • Cost control

• Hold logistics partners accountable for operational performance and escalation management.

• Conduct regular contractor performance reviews and operational coordination meetings.

Operational Coordination & Critical Path Management

• Interface closely with:

  • Mining Operations

  • Maintenance

  • Processing

  • Projects

  • Exploration

  • HSE

  • Procurement

  • Site Services

• Develop and manage site priority freight lists and critical path logistics schedules.

• Ensure operationally critical items are identified, expedited, and delivered in alignment with business priorities.

• Monitor supply chain risks that could impact production, plant availability, development activities, or operational continuity.

• Drive proactive communication between departments to ensure logistics priorities remain aligned with operational needs.

Warehousing & Inventory Coordination

• Support warehouse and inventory teams to ensure efficient receipting, storage, dispatch, and freight readiness.

• Ensure freight consolidation and cargo planning activities minimise cost and maximise transport efficiency.

• Assist in improving inventory visibility and supply chain tracking systems.

Safety, Compliance & Risk Management

• Promote a strong safety culture across all logistics and transport activities.

• Ensure compliance with all PNG transport, customs, road, and logistics regulations.

• Drive transport risk assessments and journey management planning.

• Ensure all transport contractors operate in compliance with Company`s HSE standards and procedures.

• Participate in incident investigations and corrective action implementation where required.

Key Competencies

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Extensive practical experience managing remote logistics operations in Papua New Guinea or similar environments.

• Strong understanding of international freight, customs, domestic transport, and remote supply chain operations.

• Exceptional problem-solving capability under pressure.

• Ability to operate in dynamic and rapidly changing environments.

• Strong contractor and stakeholder management skills.

• Hands-on leadership style with a willingness to be operationally involved.

• Strong organisational and planning capability.

• Excellent communication and coordination skills.

• Ability to prioritise competing operational demands.

• Commercial awareness and cost-control capability.

• Strong understanding of transport fleet capability and logistics methodologies.

Essential Experience & Qualifications

• Minimum 10+ years’ experience in supply chain, logistics, transport, or remote operations management.

• Proven experience supporting remote mining, oil & gas, infrastructure, or resource sector operations.

• Demonstrated experience operating in Papua New Guinea or comparable frontier environments.

• Experience managing large-scale transport and logistics contractors.

• Strong understanding of heavy transport, remote freight movement, and logistics planning.

• Experience managing critical path logistics and operational supply chains.

• Current driver’s licence.

• Strong computer literacy including logistics tracking and reporting systems.

Preferred Experience

• Previous experience supporting remote mine sites in PNG.

• Experience managing logistics across difficult road networks and seasonal access constraints.

• Knowledge of PNG customs, freight forwarding, and transport regulations.

• Experience in camp logistics, fuel logistics, or heavy equipment mobilisation.

• Exposure to aviation or multi-modal logistics operations.

Key Success Measures

Success in this role will be measured through:

• Safe and reliable delivery of materials to site.

• Reduction in operational supply chain disruptions.

• Achievement of delivery KPIs and critical path targets.

• Effective contractor and logistics partner performance.

• Improved freight visibility and coordination.

• Reduced delays relating to transport and logistics failures.

• Strong operational support to mining and processing activities.

• Proactive logistics planning and risk mitigation.

Personal Attributes

The ideal candidate will be:

• Highly proactive and solutions focused.

• Calm under pressure.

• Operationally driven and hands-on.

• Resilient and adaptable.

• Strongly accountable.

• Highly organised.

• Comfortable working in remote and challenging environments.

• Team-oriented with strong relationship-building capability.