National Hydraulic & Fire Lead

Northrop Consulting Engineers; Brisbane; Hybrid; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Flexible hours

Parental leave

Wellbeing support

Career development

Job summary

Northrop Consulting Engineers seeks a Hydraulic/Fire Lead to drive technical direction and growth of hydraulic and fire services within our Integrated Buildings division. You’ll be at the design table from day one, shaping solutions on major projects for health, education, commercial, seniors living and government sectors.

You will mentor a team of engineers, strengthen client relationships, and build your personal brand within an employee-owned firm that encourages ideas and collaboration

Qualifications

• Significant experience as a hydraulic or fire engineering consultant in the Australian market.
• Tertiary qualification in Engineering or Diploma of Hydraulic Services.
• Proven track record leading projects and teams, not just delivering them.
• Ability to win clients’ trust and maintain relationships.

Responsibilities

• Lead and deliver technically complex hydraulic and fire projects from concept through to construction with autonomy.
• Influence design outcomes in multidisciplinary teams across integrated design.
• Strengthen and grow key client relationships and win work.
• Mentor the next generation of engineers and develop their capabilities.
• Build the Northrop brand through recognized quality of thinking.

Skills

Hydraulic engineering

Fire engineering

Client relationships

Leadership

Education

Engineering degree or Diploma of Hydraulic Services

FPAS/DBP certification (or in progress)

Job description

You’ve spent years mastering hydraulic and fire engineering. You can run complex projects in your sleep. But you’re ready for something more — a role where you shape the direction of a discipline, influence design outcomes at the table with clients, and build the next generation of engineers behind you.

That’s what this role is.

This role can be based at either of our Sydney or Brisbane locations.

What You’ll Own

As our Hydraulic/Fire Lead you’ll drive the technical direction and growth of hydraulic and fire services across Northrop’s Integrated Buildings division. This isn’t a role where someone hands you a brief and asks you to execute. You’ll be at the design table from day one — shaping solutions across major projects including health, education, commercial, seniors living and government projects with Tier 1 and Tier 2 clients.

• Lead and deliver technically complex hydraulic and fire projects from concept through to construction, with genuine autonomy over how you get there.
• Influence design outcomes in multidisciplinary teams — working alongside electrical, mechanical, and lighting engineers who think the same way you do about integrated design.
• Strengthen and grow key client relationships. If you thrive on winning work and building trust with clients over time, this role will give you the platform to do it.
• Mentor the next generation. You’ll have a team of talented engineers around you — your job is to help them become the best consultants they can be.
• Build your personal brand and help grow ours. We want people who are known in the industry for the quality of their thinking.

Why Northrop

We’re employee owned. That means the people working in our business have a genuine stake in its future.

There are no external shareholders or overseas parent company. Decisions are made by people who understand our work, our clients and our people. Our leaders are accessible, and when you have an idea for doing something better, you’ll be encouraged to share it.

For more than 50 years, we’ve built our business around our people, our relationships and the impact our work has on communities.

Our Integrated Buildings team works across sectors most engineers only see one of in a career, major hospitals, universities, aged care facilities, high-rise residential, government and civic buildings, data centres. If you want variety and challenge, it’s here.

What You Bring

• Significant experience as a hydraulic or fire engineering consultant in the Australian market
• Tertiary qualification in Engineering or Diploma of Hydraulic Services.
• A track record of leading projects and teams, not just delivering them
• The ability to win clients’ trust and keep it

Ideal (but not a dealbreaker):

• FPAS and/or DBP certification (or working towards it)
• Knowledge of specialist fire systems, both wet and dry

What’s In It For You

• Industry-benchmarked salary with annual reviews, we pay properly and revisit it every year.
• Genuine flexibility: hybrid working, flexible hours, alternative public holidays, we’ll have a real conversation about what works for you
• Paid parental leave for primary carers, maternity, and partners
• Salary income protection insurance
• Monthly one-on-one career development conversations, mentoring programs, and investment in both internal and external training
• Free EAP and wellbeing support.
• A positive and enjoyable workplace with a supportive team, a relaxed culture, and regular opportunities to connect through social activities and company events throughout the year.
• A diverse range of projects and opportunities, from small residential developments to major hospitals, race tracks, airports, and everything in between. With such a broad variety of work, there's always something new to keep your role interesting and rewarding.

About

If this role is not quite what you are after but are interested in finding out more about future opportunities with Northrop, please head over to our EOI link:

https://v2.forms.jobadder.com/f/WzDLJEnGePglWrqXoxNZ7A32Y

Northrop is an equal opportunity employer. We actively welcome applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people of all genders, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. If you need any adjustments to participate in our recruitment process, let us know — we’ll make it work.