Strategic Talent Acquisition Lead — Water & Infrastructure

Aecom2; Melbourne; Hybrid; AUD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible and hybrid working

AI tools & recruitment tech

Career development

Additional annual leave (up to six wks

Volunteer leave

Flexible public holiday options

Diverse and inclusive culture

Learning & development programs

Job summary

AECOM is hiring a Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist to partner with leaders across Buildings & Places, delivering strategic hiring and workforce plans.

You will lead end-to-end recruitment for critical water infrastructure roles, build talent pipelines, and support international recruitment with visa guidance. This role offers hybrid work and opportunities across Australia and New Zealand.

Qualifications

• 8+ years' experience in recruitment or talent acquisition, ideally within engineering, consulting, construction or infrastructure environments.
• Experience partnering with senior business leaders on workforce planning and strategic hiring initiatives.
• Strong understanding of the Australian talent market and current attraction challenges.
• Experience recruiting internationally and working with skilled migration and visa pathways.
• Demonstrated capability using modern recruitment technology, sourcing platforms, AI tools and talent analytics.
• Strong influencing, stakeholder management and communication skills.
• A commercial mindset with the ability to translate workforce data into actionable business recommendations.
• Experience recruiting within the Water sector or broader infrastructure market will be highly regarded.

Responsibilities

• Partner with senior leaders to develop strategic hiring and workforce plans.
• Provide talent market insights, competitor intelligence and workforce recommendations.
• Lead end-to-end recruitment for critical and specialist Water industry positions.
• Build proactive talent pipelines across technical and leadership disciplines.
• Support international recruitment initiatives and provide guidance on visa pathways and talent mobility.
• Use data, analytics and market intelligence to influence hiring decisions and workforce strategy.
• Identify opportunities to improve recruitment processes, leveraging AI, automation and emerging technologies.
• Collaborate with employer branding and attraction teams to strengthen AECOM's position in the talent market.
• Deliver exceptional candidate and stakeholder experiences while driving quality hiring outcomes.
• Present talent insights and recommendations to senior stakeholders with confidence and credibility.

Skills

Senior stakeholder engagement

Workforce planning

Talent acquisition

Australian talent market knowledge

International recruitment

Sourcing platforms & AI tools

Communication & influence

Data-driven recruitment

Water/infrastructure recruitment

Tools

Sourcing platforms

AI tools

Talent analytics

Job description

AECOM is hiring a Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist to partner with leaders across Buildings & Places, delivering strategic hiring and workforce plans.

You will lead end-to-end recruitment for critical water infrastructure roles, build talent pipelines, and support international recruitment with visa guidance. This role offers hybrid work and opportunities across Australia and New Zealand.