With a career spanning four decades in the engineering industry, Riaan Drotskie, Project Manager at AR Jones Engineering, brings a wealth of technical knowledge, leadership and practical experience to every project.
Riaan’s career began at Transnet, where he qualified as an electrician before progressing through a variety of technical and management roles. Over the years, he served as Technical Supervisor, Technical Manager, worked in the Planning Department overseeing weekly maintenance planning and annual shutdown planning with external clients, as well as the Quality Department, Maintenance Shift Teams and Engineering Department, focusing on improvements and projects. He ultimately retired as Chief Electrical Engineering Technician.
Looking back on his career, Riaan credits Transnet with providing some of the best training and development opportunities he could have asked for. The knowledge, discipline and experience he gained throughout his career are skills he now brings to the AR Jones Engineering family, helping to deliver safe, cost-effective and reliable engineering solutions while ensuring employees receive ongoing training in their respective fields of expertise.
Having joined AR Jones Engineering nine months ago, Riaan has focused on building strong relationships with clients by understanding their needs, acknowledging roles and responsibilities, and ensuring the company consistently delivers on its commitments.
For Riaan, every successful day starts early. He believes in arriving on site before the team to understand overnight production activities and identify priorities for the day, ensuring a safe working environment for everyone.
He is particularly passionate about finding innovative solutions to recurring operational challenges and believes successful engineering projects require thorough planning, skilled project management, regular progress meetings, proper commissioning, staff training and effective cost control to ensure projects are completed on time and within budget.
Outside of managing projects, Riaan enjoys mentoring people, sharing knowledge and building positive working relationships. Leading a team of 76 employees with diverse skills, he believes that respect, recognition and teamwork are the foundation of a motivated workforce and successful project delivery.
