Client Side - Project Manager

Ventia; Geelong; Hybrid; AUD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Ventia, partnered with the Department of Justice and Community Safety Victoria, seeks a Client-Side Project Manager to deliver a diverse portfolio of minor capital works across DJCS facilities in the Geelong region. Hybrid work, initially casual with potential for permanent opportunity.

You will act as the client representative, manage projects from concept to handover, coordinate consultants and contractors, and ensure safe, compliant delivery across upgrades and asset renewal programs.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience delivering client-side capital works, facilities, construction, or infrastructure projects.
• Experience managing projects through full lifecycle, from concept and planning through to delivery and handover.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to engage effectively at all organisational levels.
• Experience developing project documentation including business cases, project plans, reports, and procurement documentation.
• Sound financial management and budgeting capability.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of minor capital works projects from feasibility through to completion and commissioning.
• Act as the primary client representative throughout the project lifecycle.
• Develop project scopes, budgets, schedules, business cases, procurement documentation, and project management plans.
• Engage and coordinate consultants, contractors, and specialist service providers.
• Build strong working relationships with clients, operations teams, facilities management personnel, and key stakeholders.
• Lead project meetings and stakeholder workshops, ensuring actions are monitored and closed out.
• Monitor project delivery against scope, budget, schedule, quality, and risk objectives.
• Prepare project reports, briefing papers, financial updates, and governance documentation.
• Manage project risks, issues, variations, and stakeholder expectations.
• Coordinate project commissioning, handover, defect management, and close-out activities.
• Ensure projects comply with organisational standards, regulatory requirements, and health and safety obligations.

Skills

Client-side capital works

Stakeholder management

Lifecycle management

Budgeting

Documentation (business cases, project

Education

Project management qualification

Job description

Ventia has partnered with the Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS) Victoria in a long-term facilities and asset management partnership. Ventia is responsible for maintaining and managing critical justice and community safety infrastructure across Victoria, including correctional facilities, Youth Justice centres, post-sentence facilities, SESG training centres and Community Fire Refuge Centres.

Join Ventia in a newly created Client-Side Project Manager role, delivering a diverse portfolio of minor capital works projects across the DJCS network.

Acting as the client's representative, you will manage projects from concept through to completion, working closely with stakeholders, consultants and contractors to ensure safe, compliant and successful delivery.

Projects include facility upgrades, refurbishments, security enhancements, infrastructure improvements, compliance initiatives and asset renewal programs across operational environments.

The role will be based out of the Geelong region offering a Hybrid working environment on an initial Casual basis with possibility of permanent opportunity.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage a portfolio of minor capital works projects from feasibility through to completion and commissioning.
• Act as the primary client representative throughout the project lifecycle.
• Develop project scopes, budgets, schedules, business cases, procurement documentation, and project management plans.
• Engage and coordinate consultants, contractors, and specialist service providers.
• Build strong working relationships with clients, operations teams, facilities management personnel, and key stakeholders.
• Lead project meetings and stakeholder workshops, ensuring actions are monitored and closed out.
• Monitor project delivery against scope, budget, schedule, quality, and risk objectives.
• Prepare project reports, briefing papers, financial updates, and governance documentation.
• Manage project risks, issues, variations, and stakeholder expectations.
• Coordinate project commissioning, handover, defect management, and close-out activities.
• Ensure projects comply with organisational standards, regulatory requirements, and health and safety obligations.

About You

To be successful in your application, you will have qualifications in Project Management ideally within the Facilities Management, Government and/or Refurbishment accompanied with:

• Demonstrated experience delivering client-side capital works, facilities, construction, or infrastructure projects.
• Experience managing projects through the full lifecycle, from concept and planning through to delivery and handover.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to engage effectively at all organisational levels.
• Experience developing project documentation including business cases, project plans, reports, and procurement documentation.
• Sound financial management and budgeting capability.
• Ability to manage competing priorities across multiple concurrent projects.
• Delivering projects on behalf of government, education, healthcare, justice, social infrastructure, facilities management, or asset-intensive organisations.
• Managing refurbishment, compliance, asset renewal, security, ICT, or facilities upgrade projects.

About Ventia

As a leading services provider, we maintain, operate, and manage the essential infrastructure that makes modern life possible across Australia and New Zealand. With more than 35,000 employees and subcontractors across 400 sites, joining Ventia means becoming part of a team that values its people, supports career growth, and helps everyone go further towards their full potential. Our commitment to Fairness, Inclusion and Respect shapes how we lead, collaborate, hire and support one another. We welcome applications from people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and people of all genders, identities, sexual orientations, beliefs and caring responsibilities. We are dedicated to providing an accessible recruitment process and encourage you to request adjustments at any stage.