Senior Roads & Highways Designer — Lead Design & Mentorship

Surbana Jurong Group; Cairns Regional; On-site; AUD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

SMEC is seeking a Senior Designer – Roads & Highways to join our team in Cairns or Townsville. You’ll deliver complex transport design across Queensland and Australia, mentor junior designers, and collaborate with engineers and multidisciplinary teams to ensure high-quality, practical outcomes.

You’ll lead design packages, apply Austroads and local standards, and drive continuous improvement in design processes and tools while managing deadlines and budgets.

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, with Civil 3D/OpenRoads beneficial.
• Proven ability to prepare and coordinate design drawings in AutoCAD, and develop complex models and documentation.
• Sound knowledge of Austroads, TMR and state/local standards.
• Experience reviewing outputs and contributing to QA processes.
• Ability to mentor junior designers and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead and deliver high-quality roads and highways design outputs per standards and client requirements.
• Develop complex design models, drawings and technical documentation using 12d and AutoCAD.
• Provide technical input into design reports, reviews and project deliverables.
• Review outputs and support QA and peer reviews.
• Ensure designs comply with Austroads, client specs and HSEQ requirements.
• Collaborate with engineers and multidisciplinary teams to develop practical, compliant solutions.
• Provide technical guidance to designers and junior team members.

Skills

Roads & highways design

Team mentorship

Stakeholder collaboration

Quality focus

Prioritization

Communication

Tools

12d

AutoCAD

Civil 3D

OpenRoads

Job description

SMEC is seeking a Senior Designer – Roads & Highways to join our team in Cairns or Townsville. You’ll deliver complex transport design across Queensland and Australia, mentor junior designers, and collaborate with engineers and multidisciplinary teams to ensure high-quality, practical outcomes.

You’ll lead design packages, apply Austroads and local standards, and drive continuous improvement in design processes and tools while managing deadlines and budgets.