Senior Project Manager - Life Sciences

Turner & Townsend; Australia; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthy work-life balance

Flexible working environment

Opportunities for personal growth

Job summary

A global professional services company is seeking a Senior Project Manager - Life Sciences in Australia. This role entails leading complex projects within pharmaceutical and laboratory infrastructure, managing project governance, and ensuring compliance with technical standards. The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of experience in project management, with strong stakeholder engagement skills. This position offers full-time employment and a mid-senior level within a dynamic environment.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in project management with a strong track record in complex construction delivery.
• Experience in the delivery of laboratory, healthcare, pharmaceutical or similarly mission‑critical technical environments is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to lead delivery within live, multi‑phase and technically challenging environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead end‑to‑end project delivery across planning, design, procurement, construction and commissioning phases.
• Manage all aspects of project governance, scope, cost, schedule, quality and risk to ensure successful project outcomes.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with the client team and project stakeholders, ensuring their expectations are understood and addressed.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder engagement

Contracts administration

Technical delivery

Education

Relevant tertiary qualification related to architecture, engineering, science or construction / project management

Job description

Join to apply for the Senior Project Manager - Life Sciences role at Turner & Townsend.

Turner & Townsend is a global professional services company with over 22,000 people in more than 60 countries. We work with clients across real estate, infrastructure, energy and natural resources to deliver outcomes that improve people’s lives. Our capabilities include programme, project, cost, asset and commercial management, controls, performance, procurement, supply chain, net zero and digital solutions. We are majority‑owned by CBRE Group, Inc., the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm.

Role Overview

This position will be a key role in leading the successful delivery of complex projects within the biocontainment, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and specialist laboratory infrastructure domains.

Responsibilities

• Lead end‑to‑end project delivery across planning, design, procurement, construction and commissioning phases.
• Manage all aspects of project governance, scope, cost, schedule, quality and risk to ensure successful project outcomes.
• Act as a key point of contact between the client, contractor and consultant teams, managing day‑to‑day interfaces and maintaining alignment across disciplines.
• Oversee construction activity and provide strong onsite leadership to ensure alignment with client, stakeholder, technical and regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate and manage commissioning qualification and validation activities, ensuring systems, equipment and facilities meet all design, safety and regulatory compliance standards.
• Support coordination and delivery of specialist services packages in line with project standards and compliance requirements.
• Facilitate integration between design engineering to achieve efficient hand‑over and operational readiness.
• Administer consultant and contractor engagements, including the assessment of variations, progress claims and key deliverables.
• Provide input and support to commercial matters, working closely with the project lead to ensure accurate reporting and documentation.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with the client team and project stakeholders, ensuring their expectations are understood and addressed.
• Lead coordination meetings, produce timely progress reports and escalates risks or issues appropriately.
• Support, guide and mentor junior staff including graduates and assistant project managers, fostering capability development within the delivery team.
• Contribute to continuous improvement, sector capability development and knowledge sharing across the Life Science portfolio.
• Provide regular input to the programme team to support the planning and tracking of works.
• Monitor progress against milestones, identify delays or risks early and support the development of mitigation strategies.
• Ensure construction activities meet relevant quality benchmarks, project specifications and PC3 laboratory compliance standards.
• Support project quality assurance processes and contribute to site inspections and documentation review.

Qualifications

• Relevant tertiary qualification related to architecture, engineering, science or construction / project management.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in project management with a strong track record in complex construction delivery.
• Experience in the delivery of laboratory, healthcare, pharmaceutical or similarly mission‑critical technical environments is highly desirable.
• Tier‑1/Tier‑2 contractor experience highly desirable.
• Strong skills in contracts administration, stakeholder engagement and coordination of multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated ability to lead delivery within live, multi‑phase and technically challenging environments.
• Strong commercial acumen, with a solid understanding of contract administration.
• Excellent verbal and written communication with a fine attention to detail.

Additional Information

• We provide a great place to work, where each person has the opportunity and voice to affect change.
• We support a healthy, productive and flexible working environment that respects work‑life balance.
• We believe that our people are at the heart of our success and we continually strive to create a great place to work.
• We promote integrity in everything we do and apply our expertise to shape a better environment for future generations and generate value for our communities.

Equal Opportunity

Turner & Townsend is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and actively encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and people from all sectors of the community.

Recruitment Policy

It is strictly against Turner & Townsend policy for candidates to pay any fee in relation to our recruitment process. No recruitment agency working with Turner & Townsend will ask candidates to pay a fee at any time.

Any unsolicited resumes/CVs submitted through our website or to Turner & Townsend personal e‑mail accounts are considered property of Turner & Townsend and are not subject to payment of agency fees. In order to be an authorised Recruitment Agency/Search Firm for Turner & Townsend, there must be a formal written agreement in place and the agency must be invited, by the Recruitment Team, to submit candidates for review.

Seniority level

Mid‑Senior level

Employment type

Full‑time

Job function

Project Management, Consulting, and Engineering

Industries

Construction, Civil Engineering, Business Consulting and Services

Please find out more about us at www.turnerandtownsend.com.