Mazen Ayache

On Oct. 2020, I joined Venture International - South Sudan, a medium scale construction company, in the position of Projects Director.

Considering that the company has been contracted for many major projects simultaneously that exceeded its scale & capabilities at that time, my main role, jointly with the Managing Director, was to build an internal system & a company structure that would ensure that all projects would be successfully delivered on time, within the allocated budget & up to the clients’ expectations.

Projects varied between a Public Hospital, high end residential villas, steel warehouses & medium span concrete bridges. The same required to instantly recruit a team of Project Managers, Engineers & skilled staff, & implement a simple reporting & tracking system to control progress & anticipate requirements. On the other hand, & since many of these projects were a complete turn key design-&-Build projects, a design back office in Lebanon was introduced to provide the needed design & technical support.

Being in a new-born inland country with almost no existing material & professional workmanship as well as dealing with global COVID-19 constraints that affected international production & shipment processes, the same created a challenge mainly in procurement efforts & tasks which was defeated by proper planning & selection of international suppliers & subcontractors.

Accordingly & with collaborated efforts of all team members, a foundation stone for a success story for Venture International has been laid, capable to allow for future growth & further challenges defeat.

On Feb. 2018, ACC was awarded, by satisfied clients, multiple projects in Africa (Ivory Coast & Cameroon) varying between Residential, Mixed-Use, Hotels, Private High-end Villas and Factories.

Designed by Top-notch Architects, Consultants, and Landscape Designers, these projects, being landmarks in their context, formed a major challenge in regards of Communication, Control, Time Management, Resources Management, Change Management, as well as Smart Value Engineering. The fact of the continuous changes and upgrades happening on short-term basis required quick actions to be adopted Technical, Engineering, Quantity Surveying and Procurement wise while keeping track of relevant Project Budget, time and quality constrains.

With 10 Architects/Coordinators, 4 Structural Engineers, and 8 MEP Engineers (Varying between Seniors and Mid-Levels) to manage, in addition to extensive daily coordination with QS, Procurement and Planning Departments, as well as Sites Construction Managers, Suppliers and Subcontractors, added to the required periodic Executive Reporting, made working under this demanding atmosphere a chance for previous experiences and Projects Management education to be put to a serious test that I handled successfully.

As a Technical Manager, my Responsibilities were not limited to:
- Manage and supervise all Projects technical deliverables (Shop Drawings, Material Submittals, Requests for Information…etc).
- Build a Tracking Report system that shows productivity, progress, and performance of Projects, Engineers, and other Stakeholders.
- Carry out Technical meetings with designers, consultants, subcontractors, and clients.
- Attain Value Engineering solutions (in some cases reaching up to 15% of Project Budget)
- Control Projects’ costs through smart technical solutions and resources allocation.

Since May 2011 until date, my work started within a team, part of ACC, specialized in High-End apartments and private villas Fit-out works. Our work mainly involved top notch Architects and Interior designers as well as demanding meticulous clients, the thing that required a very detail oriented approach and consistent top quality, starting from Budgeting, to Engineering, to Site work.

In 2014, Our success, outstanding outcome, and clients’ satisfactory feedbacks urged ACC management to create a new fit-out high-end company under the name of ByM, which elevated further the end product within a new system tailored as per industry needs.

During Nine years (to date), I have technically managed around 45 jobs of various sizes and spread over multiple countries (Lebanon and Saudi Arabia), the thing that required delicate organization to maintain the same calibre of work and retain every client’s contentment.

As a Technical Manager, my Responsibilities were not limited to:
- Analyse projects constructability and propose best suitable solutions.
- Prepare Design Review Reports to highlight possible upgrades and Value Engineering options.
- Supervise and lead project coordinators to maintain the requested high level of technical deliverables.
- Set standards and guidelines for technical reviews and coordination tasks.
- Carry out Technical meetings with designers, consultants, subcontractors, and clients.
- Manage team allocation as required.
- Align flow of submittals with site progress and time schedules.
- Visit sites periodically and check execution quality.
- Support QS, Procurement, and Planning Engineers in their Project Details understanding.

On Feb. 2018, ACC was awarded, by satisfied clients, multiple projects in Africa (Ivory Coast & Cameroon) varying between Residential, Mixed-Use, Hotels, Private High-end Villas and Factories.

Designed by Top-notch Architects, Consultants, and Landscape Designers, these projects, being landmarks in their context, formed a major challenge in regards of Communication, Control, Time Management, Resources Management, Change Management, as well as Smart Value Engineering. The fact of the continuous changes and upgrades happening on short-term basis required quick actions to be adopted Technical, Engineering, Quantity Surveying and Procurement wise while keeping track of relevant Project Budget, time and quality constrains.

With 10 Architects/Coordinators, 4 Structural Engineers, and 8 MEP Engineers (Varying between Seniors and Mid-Levels) to manage, in addition to extensive daily coordination with QS, Procurement and Planning Departments, as well as Sites Construction Managers, Suppliers and Subcontractors, added to the required periodic Executive Reporting, made working under this demanding atmosphere a chance for previous experiences and Projects Management education to be put to a serious test that I handled successfully.

As a Technical Manager, my Responsibilities were not limited to:
- Manage and supervise all Projects technical deliverables (Shop Drawings, Material Submittals, Requests for Information…etc).
- Build a Tracking Report system that shows productivity, progress, and performance of Projects, Engineers, and other Stakeholders.
- Carry out Technical meetings with designers, consultants, subcontractors, and clients.
- Attain Value Engineering solutions (in some cases reaching up to 15% of Project Budget)
- Control Projects’ costs through smart technical solutions and resources allocation.

As Design Phase Coordinator, I have carried out the developer’s vision of the project backed up by my contracting experience to achieve a constructible sellable design that, if had been completed, would have been the biggest mixed-use development in Syria.
My Responsibilities were not limited to:
- Coordinate developers requirements with the Consultants.
- Control cost margin by introducing VE Value Engineering options.
- Review Operator’s Standards and ensure its implementation on Design Packages.
- Coordinate with various stakeholders (e.g. Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Transportation, Mall Design Consultant...)

As a Technical Coordinator, my responsibilities were not limited to:
- Prepare Shop Drawings coordinated between various trades
- Prepare Material Submittals in accordance with project specifications
- Coordinate and check subcontractors Technical deliverables
- Attend coordination meeting with Consultants, subcontractors, & suppliers
- Provided solutions to site technical issues
- Highlighted design discrepancies and prepared relevant RFIs
- Prepared Project Close-out documents

Responsibilities are concentrated on, but not limited to, all Interior Wood Work trade Shop Drawings, Manufacturing, and installation, as well as Coordination with other related interior trades.

Responsibilities include, but not limited to, Interior Wood Work Shop Drawings and Installation in the VIP zone, as well as Coordination with other related interior trades.

A member of the design team Responsible for Designing Projects of various uses (Commercial, Residential, & Touristic).