Project Manager (Construction) - Darwin NT

SwitchCo; Darwin; On-site; AUD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

SwitchCo is seeking a client-side Project Manager in Darwin to deliver infrastructure and construction projects for Territory clients. You will lead full lifecycle planning, manage teams and budgets, and ensure governance and regulatory compliance on site.

You will report to the Territory Manager and base yourself in Darwin, working across building, civil, utilities and marine sectors with regional travel as needed.

Qualifications

• Several years of delivering construction or infrastructure projects end to end.
• Experience managing multi-disciplinary teams including consultants, contractors and specialists.
• Proven ability to manage scope, program, budget and quality across multiple concurrent projects.
• Experience operating in live, regulated or high-risk environments.
• Track record of delivering complex, high-value projects in the Territory or similar markets.

Responsibilities

• Lead full lifecycle project planning, including feasibility, approvals, stakeholder alignment and design management.
• Provide senior leadership across consultants, contractors and stakeholders on live sites.
• Drive procurement strategy, contract negotiation and commercial performance across projects.
• Manage multi-million-dollar project budgets, forecasting, variations and risk.
• Lead regulatory engagement, site governance and quality assurance reviews.
• Represent the client in dealings with consultants and contractors and hold delivery parties to obligations.
• Represent SwitchCo in Darwin market at client meetings, site walks and industry forums.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Budget management

Team leadership

Contract negotiation

Risk management

Education

Degree in building, engineering or project management

Job description

Project Manager (Construction) - Darwin NT at SwitchCo Australia Pty Ltd

We are looking for a client-side Project Manager to deliver infrastructure and construction projects for Northern Territory clients. The role is based in Darwin and reports to our Darwin-based Territory Manager, Adam Walding.

THE TERRITORY MARKET

The Territory is in a sustained infrastructure build. Schools and health facilities, remote community infrastructure, airport and aviation development, power and water assets, port and marine facilities, defence and defence supporting works, and the roads, camps and supply chains behind onshore gas and critical minerals. Much of that work is still delivered by teams flown in from interstate.

We are taking the other approach. We are basing our people in Darwin because projects are better run by people who live where they are being built. You are there when it matters, you know the ground and the people, and you are accountable to the same community as your client. That is a commitment to the Territory, not a visit.

WHO YOU WILL REPORT TO

You will report to Adam Walding, SwitchCo's Territory Manager for the Northern Territory.

Adam is based in Darwin and has spent his career in Territory infrastructure. He knows the client organisations, the consultants and the contractors, and the approval pathways, and he has the local networks that come with that.

Adam will be your line manager, your introduction to the client relationships you deliver for, and your sounding board on the decisions that matter. You will be locally led and locally supported, with the systems of a national business behind you.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING

• Project Planning: Lead full lifecycle project planning, including feasibility, authority approvals, stakeholder alignment and design management.
• Team Leadership: Provide senior leadership across consultants, contractors and specialist stakeholders, ensuring compliance within live, operational or high risk sites.
• Operational Excellence: Drive procurement strategy, contract negotiation, risk allocation and commercial performance across multiple concurrent projects.
• Financial Management: Manage multi million dollar project budgets, forecasting, variations and commercial risk.
• Quality Assurance: Lead compliance reviews, regulatory engagement and site governance inspections.
• Client Representation: Act for the client in dealings with consultants and contractors, make recommendations the client can defend internally, and hold delivery parties to their obligations.
• Local Representation: Represent SwitchCo in the Darwin market alongside your Territory Manager, at client meetings, site walks and industry forums.

WHAT THE ROLE OFFERS

Broader scope than an equivalent role in a large consultancy. You will see the full lifecycle rather than one phase of it.

Ownership from day one. You will own your projects and be trusted to run them.

Direct access to the people making decisions. You will work closely with your Territory Manager rather than reporting into a distant chain.

Variety across sectors. Territory work spans building, civil, utilities, marine and resources supporting infrastructure, so you are unlikely to spend three years on the same project type.

REALITIES OF THE ROLE

This is a hands on delivery role with a high degree of autonomy. It is not a junior stepping stone. It requires sound judgement, commercial maturity and the confidence to make difficult decisions under pressure. You will be trusted to run your projects and to represent SwitchCo with authority in front of clients and contractors.

Three things are specific to this role.

You will work across offices, in both directions. Some of your time in the first months will be on East Coast projects, and East Coast PMs will work alongside you on Darwin projects. That is deliberate. The SwitchCo Way is how we deliver nationally, and the Darwin office needs to run the same way as Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane from the outset. Sharing work in both directions is how that happens, and it means you are not carrying projects on your own.

Darwin is a small and well connected market. Your reputation and ours are built in the same rooms.

There will be occasional regional and remote travel, with wet season constraints on access and programme.

WHAT WE LOOK FOR

• Several years delivering construction or infrastructure projects end to end.
• Demonstrated experience delivering complex, high value or high risk projects across building, civil, maritime, fuel, energy or utilities environments.
• Experience operating within live, operational, secure or regulated environments.
• Proven ability to manage scope, programme, budget and quality across multiple concurrent projects.
• Track record of leading consultants and contractors on projects of significant scale or complexity.
• Northern Territory experience or networks are highly regarded but not essential. Candidates relocating to Darwin are welcome to apply. A genuine commitment to being based in Darwin is essential.
• A degree in building, engineering or project management is a plus. Professional project management registration is well regarded.

WHAT WE DO

SwitchCo is an independent client-side project and programme management consultancy, founded in 2012, with offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Large enough to carry the systems and support of a national business, small enough that you are not a number in it.

Our work sits across infrastructure, civil and commercial construction, including maritime and port facilities, ground remediation, facilities management, and fuel and dangerous goods assets, where we also provide system design, documentation and specialist consultation. The common thread is complexity. Live and operational sites, regulated environments, multiple stakeholders, and projects where sequencing and compliance matter as much as the build.

That is the discipline we bring to the Territory.

HOW WE WORK

SwitchCo takes a People First approach. It shows up in how we support each other when work gets difficult.

The SwitchCo Way

• Partnerships Built on Trust: Transparency and honesty are our guiding stars.
• Fearless Project Delivery: We tackle projects head-on, guided by our core values.
• Ownership of Outcomes: Accountability is our promise, in success and learning.

Our Core Values

• We Really Care: Our passion for our work extends to our colleagues, projects, stakeholders, and the environment.
• We Challenge: We're not just post-box PMs; we ask the tough questions and challenge the status quo.
• Integrity is Everything: Under pressure or in calm seas, our integrity is our reputation.