Group Manager Infrastructure Services

Capstone Recruitment; City of Parramatta; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

City of Parramatta seeks an experienced Group Manager Infrastructure Services to lead the portfolio delivering roads, drainage, parks, fleet and depot operations. You will set strategy, oversee budget, and report to the Executive Director City Services and Projects, with ~140 staff under you.

You must bring proven outdoor leadership, asset maintenance expertise, and durable stakeholder relations in a metropolitan council context; Local Emergency Management Officer (LEMO) duties are also part of

Qualifications

• Degree in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Land Management/Parks or Business Management.
• Experience leading outdoor and multidisciplinary teams in local government or similar environments.
• Strong budgeting and asset management within a metropolitan context.

Responsibilities

• Oversee fleet and plant assets and budget for the business unit.
• Lead a multidisciplinary team via Service Managers and ~140 staff.
• Provide strategic direction and stakeholder navigation in a metropolitan council.
• Promote safety culture and asset sustainability through disciplined leadership.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Asset maintenance

Budget management

Civil/Environmental knowledge

People management

Safety culture

Education

Civil Engineering

Environmental Engineering

Land Management/Parks

Business Management

Job description

.City of Parramatta sits at the centre of Sydney’s Central City, a metropolitan council of significant scale and profile serving a community of 286,000. Its infrastructure services keep that city functioning: the roads, drainage, parks, fleet and facilities that residents rely on every day. Leading them is one of the most substantial operational appointments in New South Wales local government.

The Group Manager Infrastructure Services leads this portfolio at both ends: setting strategy and budget at the executive table and commanding the confidence of the operational workforce who deliver the work on the ground. It is a role that rewards genuine operational credibility as much as strategic capability.

The Role

Reporting to the Executive Director City Services and Projects, the Group Manager Infrastructure Services leads the operational heart of Council. The portfolio spans the maintenance of roads, footpaths, drainage, parks and open space, facilities, fleet and light and heavy plant, and depot and store operations, delivered through a multidisciplinary team of professionals, each section led by a Service Manager. Your direct reports lead a workforce of around 140 people.

The role carries whole-of-life accountability for Council’s fleet and plant assets, strategic direction and budget oversight for the business unit, and the position of Local Emergency Management Officer (LEMO), a function that grows more consequential each year as communities expect more of their council in preparedness and response.

This is a role for an experienced operational leader who understands that service delivery in a high-profile metropolitan environment is as much about judgement, stakeholder navigation and organisational influence as it is about technical competence.

About You

You are a proven leader of outdoor workforces and multidisciplinary teams. You bring depth in asset maintenance and operational service delivery, a clear grasp of the legislative environment, and the commercial discipline to manage significant budgets with rigour. Local government experience is preferred, though we welcome operational leaders from state government or other comparable environments who can demonstrate the same command of service delivery at scale.

Just as important is how you lead. You earn credibility rather than assert it. You are as comfortable providing authoritative advice to an Executive Team and Councillors as you are on the ground with the crews, genuinely at ease talking shop with an outdoor workforce and trusted by them for it. You move between those worlds with authenticity, and you bring alignment to capable teams, drawing structured and operationally minded people toward a common standard. You understand that embedded safety culture, asset sustainability and high-performing teams are not competing priorities but the product of the same disciplined, people-first leadership.

A degree in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Land Management/ Parks, Business Management or a related discipline, is required combined with relevant management and leadership experience

Why This Role

Parramatta offers something few councils can. This is a genuinely significant operational remit, an executive environment that takes infrastructure seriously, and the platform of one of Australia’s most recognisable local government brands at the centre of a city being reshaped. For the right operational leader, this is a defining appointment.

Recruitment Timeline Closing Date: Midnight, 30th September 2026.