About the company:

The mining industry has steadily become worse at finding new ore deposits, requiring >10X more capital to make discoveries compared to 30 years ago. The easy-to-find, near-surface deposits have largely been found, and the industry has chronically under-invested in new exploration technology, relying on the manual techniques of yesteryear – even as demand accelerates for copper, lithium, and other metals to build electric vehicles, renewable energy, and data centers.

KoBold builds AI models for mineral exploration and deploys those models—alongside our novel sensors—to guide decisions on KoBold-owned-and-operated exploration programs. In the six years since founding, KoBold has become by far both the largest independent mineral exploration company and the largest exploration technology developer. Our data scientists and software engineers, who come from leading technology companies, jointly lead exploration programs with our renowned exploration geologists.

KoBold has proven its first discovery with materially less capital than the industry average and found one of the best copper deposits ever discovered: the copper is far more concentrated than the global average of copper mines, and this asset alone is expected to generate meaningful revenue for decades. KoBold has a portfolio of more than 60 other projects, each of which has the potential for another high-quality discovery.

KoBold is privately held; investors include institutional asset managers T. Rowe Rice and Canada Pension Plan Investments; technology venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, BOND Capital, and Standard Investments; and natural resources companies Equinor, BHP, and Mitsubishi.

About the role

This role will lead the development of KoBold’s commercial function leading the commercial strategy on high value project expenditure exceeding $20million. The Mingomba project will have a capital expenditure of > US$2 billion. The Commercial Director will be responsible for leading commercial negotiations, contracting and providing financial oversight over the project with multinational EPCM firms. This hands-on role will build world class commercial systems, structures, and controls that guide high value procurement, contracting, supply chain, and logistics for our flagship project working closely with the FP&A team. This role will provide and execute the governance of processes that keep our operations compliant, transparent, and aligned with project priorities. Close collaboration with the Mingomba Mine Development technical leaders across all commercial, financial and technical aspects of the commercial work packages.Develop strong relationships with global suppliers and supply chain networks, government partners, and community stakeholders. Ultimately, this role will ensure that KoBold’s commercial strategy is forward-looking, operationally grounded, and ready for the demands of a world-class copper project.

Responsibilities

• Develop a multi-year commercial roadmap that prepares Mingomba for the demands of mine construction and future operations.
• Set commercial policies, approval thresholds, vendor management standards, and contract governance frameworks.
• Establish transparent spend controls, KPIs and reporting systems for leadership and global teams.
• Lead commercial risk assessments including market, contractor, schedule, FX, and geopolitical risks and integrate them into project planning and decision-making.
• Ensure commercial alignment with KoBold’s overall project strategy, financial plans, and capital allocation frameworks.
• Oversee the development and continuous improvement of commercial standard operating procedures and frameworks for major contracts.

• Oversee tendering, negotiation, evaluation, and contract award for high-value and strategic services including EPC/EPCM, drilling, engineering, and specialist contracts.
• Develop long-lead equipment procurement strategies, contractor performance frameworks, and contract close-out processes.
• Ensure major contracts contain the right protections around scope, liabilities, performance guarantees, schedule, interface risk, and change management.
• Provide commercial input into construction planning, engineering studies, and vendor selection.
• Lead or oversee contract administration throughout the life cycle, including management of claims, variations, extensions of time, and disputes.
• Drive competitive tension and robust market engagement strategies to secure best value and mitigate supply and schedule risk.
• Coordinate closely with exploration, geology, engineering, and operations to ensure procurement and contracting meet critical path requirements.

• Oversee logistics and cross-border movement of goods into Zambia and DRC working with internal teams and external logistics partners.
• Lead commercial reporting into project reviews, technical committees, and executive leadership.
• Support budget planning, cost control, forecasting, and commitments management with Finance.
• Ownership of contractor and subcontractor agreements, administering contracts, and resolving disputes and variations.
• Anticipate operational bottlenecks and proactively adjust commercial strategies (e.g., dual sourcing, framework agreements, inventory strategies).

• Recruit, mentor, and grow the Commercial team in Zambia.
• Provide leadership to the Procurement Manager and future supply chain personnel.
• Develop training, local content pathways, and internal capability-building programs.
• Define the target operating model, role profiles, and interfaces for the Commercial function as the project scales.

• Represent KoBold in commercial discussions with government entities, community partners, and strategic suppliers.
• Lead local content compliance and reporting for Zambia.
• Build responsible, ethical commercial partnerships that reflect KoBold’s values.
• Develop and execute supplier relationship management programs for key global and regional partners.
• Monitor supplier performance, financial health, and risk, and implement corrective action plans where needed.

Qualifications

• Intellectual curiosity and eagerness to learn about all aspects of mineral exploration.
• Excitement about joining a fast-growing early-stage company, comfort with a dynamic work environment, and eagerness to take on an evolving range of responsibilities.
• Keen not just to build cool technology, but to figure out what technical product to build to best achieve the business objectives of the company.
• 10+ years of commercial leadership experience in mining, oil & gas, EPCM, or large industrial projects.
• Experience in multi-billion dollar construction projects
• Experience working in fast-growth environments with shifting priorities and evolving structures.
• Notable experience and testimonials of local supplier development initiatives in Africa, Asia or Latin America
• Deep understanding of construction contract structures
• Proven ability to design and implement commercial systems, governance, and reporting for major projects.
• Demonstrated success negotiating high-value contracts, EPC/EPCM agreements, drilling contracts, engineering services, and long-lead item procurement.
• Strong business judgement, ethical leadership, and a commitment to transparency.
• Experience building and leading multi-disciplinary teams.
• Recognized qualifications in Quantity Surveying, Construction Law, business, engineering, supply chain, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Advantages - FIDIC certified contract manager

KoBold Metals is an equal opportunity workplace and an affirmative-action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunities for people of any race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, marital status, national origin, age, citizenship, or disability.

This position is a contract position.

Location: Flexi Lusaka/Copperbelt.