Senior Roads Designer: Lead Projects & Mentorship

SMEC; Cairns Regional; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

SMEC in Australia seeks a Senior Designer – Roads & Highways to join the team in Cairns or Townsville. You will deliver transport design outputs, mentor junior designers, and drive high-quality, constructible solutions across Queensland and Australia.

You will lead complex design work using 12d and AutoCAD, align with Austroads standards, and collaborate with engineers and multidisciplinary teams to ensure timely, cost-effective outcomes.

Qualifications

• 6–10 years’ experience in roads and highways design within a consulting or infrastructure environment.
• Strong proficiency in 12d as a primary design platform; familiarity with Civil 3D or OpenRoads is beneficial.
• Strong experience preparing and coordinating design drawings in AutoCAD, with complex design models and documentation.
• Knowledge of Austroads, TMR and state/local authority standards.
• Experience reviewing design outputs and contributing to QA processes.
• Ability to guide and develop junior designers.
• Strong communication and multidisciplinary collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead high-quality roads and highways design outputs in line with standards and client requirements.
• Develop complex design models and technical documentation using 12d and AutoCAD.
• Provide input into design reports, reviews and deliverables.
• Review outputs and support QA and peer review processes.
• Ensure designs comply with Austroads and client specs.
• Collaborate with engineers and multidisciplinary teams to create practical, compliant solutions.
• Mentor junior designers and communicate effectively with stakeholders.
• Manage design activities against project deadlines and budgets.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of design processes and tools.

Skills

Roads design

Highways design

Mentoring

Communication

Design quality

Project delivery

Tools

12d

AutoCAD

Civil 3D

OpenRoads

Job description

SMEC in Australia seeks a Senior Designer – Roads & Highways to join the team in Cairns or Townsville. You will deliver transport design outputs, mentor junior designers, and drive high-quality, constructible solutions across Queensland and Australia.

You will lead complex design work using 12d and AutoCAD, align with Austroads standards, and collaborate with engineers and multidisciplinary teams to ensure timely, cost-effective outcomes.