Project Manager - Industrial Automation

Bre Services Co P/L; Melbourne; Hybrid; AUD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work flexibility

Career development opportunities

National project footprint

Job summary

BRE Services is a trusted leader in industrial automation, delivering electrical, automation, and mechanical services across national brands. Based in Melbourne with a national footprint, we lead complex automation projects from delivery to handover, coordinating engineers, trades, suppliers and customers to achieve on-time, on-budget outcomes.

You’ll drive project performance, manage changes, and provide accurate reporting while maintaining strong customer communication and commercial

Qualifications

• Experience leading industrial automation projects across electrical and mechanical disciplines.
• Strong coordination of engineers, trades and customers to deliver on time and budget.
• Proven ability to manage scope, changes, risks and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Plan and schedule automation projects with clear timelines and milestones.
• Coordinate engineering resources, trades and suppliers to keep work progressing.
• Lead project kick-offs and maintain clear communication with stakeholders throughout delivery.
• Manage invoicing, variations and progress claims to ensure commercial visibility.

Skills

Industrial automation

Project management

Stakeholder management

Scheduling

Budget control

Safety compliance

Customer communication

ERP systems

Education

Engineering background or PM qualification

Tools

SimPRO

Job description

Join BRE Services as it translates potential into client results by harnessing the power of Industry 4.0.

BRE Services is a trusted leader in industrial solutions, specialising in electrical, automation, and mechanical services for some of Australia’s most respected national brands.

Based in Melbourne, with a national project footprint, we deliver reliable,innovative automation solutionsthat improve efficiency, safety, and performance across food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, logistics and other critical sectors.

We’re not here to ride the wave of Industry 4.0 - we’re here to lead it. By combining deep expertise in automation with electrical and mechanical capability, we’re driving our team and our clients into the next era of smart, connected, and efficient industry.

As demand grows, attracting exceptional talent aligned with our mission is critical. Led by engineers and tradespeople who live and breathe automation and technology, BRE Services offers more than jobs — we offer standout careers built alongside innovators who are driven by curiosity and committed to creating smarter, safer, and more sustainable ways to work.

Automation Project Managers, this is your chance to lead the delivery of complex industrial automation projects.

We are looking for an experienced Project Manager who understands automation and knows what it takes to turn a well‑engineered solution into a successfully delivered project.

You’ll take ownership of projects once they move into delivery, coordinating people, customers, schedules, costs and commercial requirements to keep work moving and ensure commitments become results.

Rather than being responsible for carrying out the engineering labour yourself, your focus will be on making sure the right people are doing the right work at the right time, customers know what is happening, commercial requirements are controlled, and projects reach successful completion.

The Opportunity

As an Automation Project Manager at BRE Services, you will take ownership of automation projects through delivery, completion and closeout, ensuring projects remain aligned with scope, schedule, budget and customer expectations.

Working with globally recognised brands across diverse industries, you’ll coordinate internal engineering resources, trades, suppliers and customers to create clear delivery plans and keep projects moving from kick‑off through commissioning and handover.

You’ll maintain visibility over project performance, identify issues before they become problems, manage changes and variations, coordinate invoicing requirements and provide accurate reporting on project progress, financial performance and successful outcomes.

Most importantly, you’ll create the structure that allows our technical teams to focus on delivering exceptional engineering while you maintain ownership of the bigger project picture.

Key Responsibilities

Plan and schedule automation projects, establishing clear timelines, milestones, resource requirements and delivery expectations.

Coordinate engineering and technical resources, balancing project requirements, capability and availability to keep work progressing.

Lead project kick-offs and maintain clear communication with customers, engineers, trades, suppliers and internal stakeholders throughout delivery.

Confirm upcoming activities, site requirements, access, shutdowns and commissioning arrangements with customers and project stakeholders.

Monitor project progress against scope, schedule and budget, proactively identifying risks, delays and emerging commercial issues.

Manage project changes and raise variations promptly, ensuring additional work is documented, communicated, approved and commercially captured.

Maintain accurate project information, budgets, cost tracking and progress visibility.

Coordinate progress claims and invoicing requirements, ensuring completed works and project milestones are captured accurately and invoiced in a timely manner.

Review labour, materials, subcontractor costs and remaining project requirements to maintain visibility of project performance and expected completion position.

Identify resource constraints early and work with Automation management to resolve scheduling or capacity issues.

Maintain clear and consistent customer communication, ensuring expectations, changes, risks and upcoming activities are understood.

Coordinate commissioning, completion documentation, outstanding works and project handover.

About You

You’re an experienced Industrial Automation Project Manager, Project Engineer or automation professional ready to take ownership of project delivery.

You understand industrial automation well enough to confidently coordinate engineers, trades and customers, but your strength is seeing the whole project rather than becoming absorbed in one technical task.

You’re organised, commercially aware and proactive. You know when a project is drifting, when a variation needs to be raised, when a customer needs an update and when additional resources need to be brought in.

You’ll ideally bring:

• Experience managing industrial automation, controls, electrical or multidisciplinary engineering projects.
• A strong understanding of automation environments including PLC, HMI, SCADA, industrial networks, electrical installation and commissioning activities.
• Strong resource planning and scheduling capability, with the ability to coordinate multiple engineers, trades and projects simultaneously.
• Sound commercial awareness, including budgets, labour utilisation, cost tracking, variations, progress claims and invoicing.
• Experience using a project, job‑management or ERP platform. SimPRO experience would be highly advantageous.
• Strong customer‑facing communication skills and the confidence to manage expectations, difficult conversations and changing project requirements.
• The ability to identify project risks and delivery constraints early and take action before they affect the outcome.
• Strong documentation, organisation and reporting skills.
• A collaborative approach and the ability to get the best from engineering and trade resources without needing to personally execute every technical task.
• An engineering, electrical, automation or relevant project‑management background is highly regarded.
• Valid Australian work rights and driver's licence.

This role is for someone who takes ownership. You’ll be measured by your ability to keep projects organised, commercially controlled, clearly communicated and successfully delivered.

Cultural Fit

We’re proud of the culture we’ve built and hire deliberately for fit. Professionalism and technical excellence matter as much as collaboration, consideration, commitment, and being down-to-earth. With this intent, we’ve created a workplace our people are proud of, cohesive enough that colleagues become lifelong friends, and every individual is seen, valued, and supported.

What We Offer

At BRE Services, our culture of innovation is fuelled by the capabilities of our multidisciplinary team of automation engineers, skilled tradespeople and industry specialists - people with the power to transform industries. We believe success is best when shared, and as we grow, your ability to bring together people, customers, technical capability and commercial discipline will create measurable impact for our clients while building recognised milestones in your own career.

Competitive remuneration

that reflects your impact - with clear progression benchmarks and regular reviews, and a commitment to rewarding excellence as we grow.

Project ownership

across significant automation projects with globally recognised brands, with genuine accountability from project handover through to completion.

Career acceleration

through tailored development pathways, training and skills development, and exposure to complex automation technologies and projects.

A highly capable technical team around you

allowing you to focus on driving project outcomes while automation engineers and tradespeople execute the specialist technical work.

National project footprint

with Melbourne base; hybrid flexibility when not on site.

Genuine investment in you

professional development, structured progression, and leadership opportunities as we scale.

Benefits that grow with the business

An industry-leading employee loyalty program, Employee Assistance Program, exposure to large-scale industries and technologies, plus an evolving benefits suite aligned with our growth trajectory.