Land & Permitting Lead, DRC

Land & Permitting Lead, DRC

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. Since our founding in 2018, 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 Price and Canada Pension Plan Investments; technology venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, BOND Capital, Durable Capital, StepStone, and Standard Investments; and natural resources companies Equinor, BHP, and Mitsubishi.

About the Role

KoBold holds over 3,000 km² of exploration rights across numerous Research Permits in the DRC and is constantly growing the portfolio. You will be responsible for obtaining new Research Permits through the mining cadastre (CAMI), which registers tenure and provides opinions on which the Minister of Mines grants the licence. Once granted, you will manage the PAR (environmental permit) process, a separate approval process involving CAMI, DPEM, and ACE, before exploration activity can begin. Every licence will also require ongoing engagement with provincial governors and their administrations, Administrateurs de Territoire (ATs), provincial CAMI offices, provincial mining divisions, and the Geology Department, which have both authorisation and periodic reporting requirements tied to exploration activity. You will serve as the primary liaison with these groups and build effective working relationships with these offices.

Our DRC compliance register spans dozens of distinct obligations (9 external registers and over 10 actions per license annually) across water protection, buffer zones, rehabilitation, community consultation, work program adherence, and statutory reporting, and is submitted, per licence, to the relevant provincial, territorial, and national authorities. You will be responsible for ensuring our portfolio is properly monitored, documented, and compliant across all licences.

Responsibilities

• Primary in-country contact for CAMI, DPEM, ACE, Direction des Mines, the Geology Department, provincial CAMI offices, provincial mining divisions, provincial governors, and Administrateurs de Territoire
• Research Permit applications, renewals, fee payment, and deadline management, including all CAMI coordination to Direction des Mines licence grant and in-country due diligence for new permit acquisitions
• PAR coordination with selected Study Office, managing local authority sign-offs, agency lodgement, and follow-up across multiple departments
• Statutory and compliance reporting per licence to provincial and territorial authorities
• Compliance coordination with HSE, Community Relations, and Field Operations to verify activities stay within permit conditions and work program commitments
• Chain-of-custody management for all original permit documents and certified records
• DRC mining legislation monitoring and flagging of compliance implications to leadership
• Support for new permit applications through in-country due diligence and stakeholder engagement

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years in mineral tenure, land permitting, or operational compliance in Sub-Saharan Africa. DRC experience and direct familiarity with CAMI, DPEM, ACE, and Direction des Mines processes strongly preferred
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships with government officials at national, provincial, and territorial levels, traditional authorities, and community stakeholders, and to represent a company's interests in-country independently
• Practical experience with environmental permitting and regulatory approval workflows, with a demonstrated ability to absorb and navigate evolving compliance frameworks
• Experience with land tenure management systems and record management across a multi-licence portfolio
• Proficiency in GIS principles and software applications for mapping land holdings and permit boundaries
• Intellectual curiosity, a drive to learn across all aspects of mineral exploration, and enthusiasm for taking on an evolving range of responsibilities in a fast-growing company
• A strong communicator who enjoys working on technical problems with colleagues across the company
• Both French and English fluency required

What to Expect

Joining KoBold means getting the opportunity for hands-on exposure to our exploration projects around the world. All employees are expected to travel to project sites, with a minimum of one week per year. Field-facing and technical roles spend significantly more time in the field.

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

Location: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lubumbashi preferred

This position is Full Time Exempt