Engineering Manager

Thrust Maritime Pty. Ltd.; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Thrust Maritime Pty. Ltd.

in Melbourne is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead our multidisciplinary engineering team in designing complex, custom-built marine and offshore handling equipment for demanding environments. You'll shape capability, mentor engineers, set priorities and provide technical oversight across projects from concept to delivery, collaborating with Project Management, Production, Supply Chain and Commercial teams.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading engineering teams in complex, project-based settings.
• Maritime, offshore, or oil and gas sectors knowledge.
• Ability to plan workloads and manage competing priorities.
• Strong coaching and performance management skills.
• Excellent cross-functional collaboration with PM, Production, Supply Chain and Commercial.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop people, building capability and accountability.
• Set priorities, direction and ownership across the team.
• Oversee resources, workload, scheduling and milestones.
• Provide engineering judgement, design oversight and reviews.
• Collaborate with PM, Production, Supply Chain and Commercial to keep projects on track.
• Drive continuous improvement in systems and ways of working.
• Shape future capability to support growth.

Skills

Leadership & People Management

Engineering Management

Maritime/Offshore Engineering

Naval Architecture / Mechanical Eng

Cross-functional Collaboration

Education

Naval Architecture or Mechanical Engineering degree

Professional engineering accreditation (PE/Chartered)

Job description

Lead the people. Shape the capability. Deliver exceptional engineering.

At Thrust Maritime, we design and manufacture complex, purpose-built marine and offshore handling equipment for customers operating in some of the world's most demanding environments.

From launch and recovery systems to advanced winches and subsea handling solutions, our engineering challenges are rarely ordinary.

We're looking for an experienced Engineering Manager to lead our engineering team through the next stage of our growth.

This is an opportunity for a genuine engineering leader: someone who brings strong technical credibility, but whose greatest contribution comes from building capable teams, developing engineers and creating an environment where great engineering work gets delivered.

The opportunity

You’ll lead a multidisciplinary engineering team responsible for designing and delivering complex, custom-engineered solutions across the maritime and offshore sectors.

Working closely with our Project Management, Production and Commercial teams, you’ll provide the leadership, direction and technical oversight needed to turn challenging engineering requirements into successful outcomes.

You’ll have the opportunity to influence how our engineering function operates, strengthen capability and help shape the future of a growing Australian engineering business with an international customer base.

What you’ll be responsible for

Leading and developing people: Coach, mentor and support engineers at different stages of their careers, building technical capability, confidence, accountability and professional growth.

Engineering leadership: Establish clear priorities, expectations and ownership across the team, ensuring engineers have the direction and support they need to succeed.

Planning and delivery: Oversee engineering resources, workload, scheduling and progress to support project milestones, quality requirements and commercial commitments.

Technical governance: Provide sound engineering judgement, appropriate design oversight and effective technical review, drawing on specialist expertise within the team.

Cross-functional collaboration: Work closely with Project Management, Production, Supply Chain and Commercial teams to identify risks, resolve issues and keep projects moving.

Continuous improvement: Strengthen engineering systems, processes and ways of working to improve efficiency, consistency and delivery performance.

Building the future: Help develop the people, capability and structure needed to support Thrust Maritime’s continued growth.

What you’ll bring

First and foremost, you’re a leader.

You understand that engineering management is about more than solving technical problems yourself. It’s about creating clarity, enabling others, making sound decisions and building a team that consistently delivers.

You’ll bring:

Demonstrated experience leading and developing engineering teams in a complex, project-based engineering environment.

Essential experience within the maritime, marine, offshore or oil and gas industries, with an understanding of the technical and operational demands of these sectors.

A relevant engineering qualification, eg. Naval Architecture, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or a similar discipline.

Strong technical credibility and the judgement to guide complex engineering decisions without needing to be the expert in every discipline.

Proven ability to plan engineering workloads, manage competing priorities and support delivery against project commitments.

Confidence in coaching, developing and managing performance, including having constructive conversations when expectations aren’t being met.

The ability to build strong working relationships across engineering, production, projects and commercial functions.

A practical, solutions-focused approach and a genuine sense of ownership.

Experience with custom-engineered equipment, offshore handling systems, lifting equipment, winches, hydraulic systems or relevant classification standards will be highly regarded.

What makes this opportunity different?

At Thrust Maritime, our engineers don’t simply work on variations of the same product.

Every project presents different technical challenges, customer requirements and operating environments.

You’ll work alongside experienced engineers, skilled tradespeople and a leadership team that understands the importance of engineering to the business.

As a growing, privately owned Australian company, we offer the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution, influence decisions and see the results of your work.

This is a hands‑on leadership environment where your ideas, judgement and ability to bring people together will make a genuine difference.

Ready to lead?

If you’re an experienced engineering leader who enjoys developing people as much as solving complex technical challenges, we’d welcome a conversation.

Join Thrust Maritime and help shape the next chapter of our engineering capability.