Team Leader, Drafting – Rail & Metro

SMEC Services Pty Limited; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

SMEC, a global engineering consultancy, is seeking a Team Leader, Drafting – Rail & Metro based in Melbourne. You will lead the drafting team, coordinate resources, and ensure high‑quality deliverables for major rail and transport projects.

This role blends people leadership with hands‑on technical oversight in a dynamic, collaborative environment. You will drive standards, mentor staff, and work with project leaders to manage workloads while maintaining design integrity across the

Qualifications

• 8+ years' experience delivering drafting and digital engineering outcomes across Rail & Metro or major transport infrastructure projects.
• Proven experience leading, mentoring and developing drafting teams within multidisciplinary environments.
• Strong capability in workforce planning, resource coordination and balancing priorities across multiple concurrent projects.
• Advanced proficiency with industry software including MicroStation, OpenRail, AutoCAD, Revit or similar.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor and develop the Rail & Metro drafting team, supporting individual development, engagement and career progression.
• Coordinate drafting resources and workloads across multiple projects, working closely with project managers and technical leaders.
• Provide technical leadership and oversight of drafting deliverables, ensuring quality, consistency and compliance with relevant standards.
• Support project teams in the delivery of detailed design and construction documentation across complex rail and transport infrastructure projects.
• Establish and promote consistent drafting standards, workflows, templates and quality assurance processes across the team.
• Drive continuous improvement in drafting and digital engineering practices, systems and ways of working.
• Support workforce and capability planning, identifying skills gaps and future resourcing requirements across the project pipeline.
• Foster a collaborative, supportive and high‑performing team culture.
• Build strong working relationships across Rail & Metro and the broader business to support multidisciplinary project delivery.
• Provide hands‑on technical support and guidance where required on complex or high‑priority project deliverables.

Skills

Team leadership

Mentor teams

Resource planning

Stakeholder management

Tools

MicroStation

OpenRail

AutoCAD

Revit

Job description

About the job

Join a global consultancy delivering iconic infrastructure projects. Work alongside industry-leading specialists in a collaborative, flexible environment. Shape your career with genuine professional growth opportunities.

About SMEC

SMEC is a global engineering consultancy renowned for delivering complex, sustainable infrastructure solutions across transport, water, energy, and urban development markets. Our teams are empowered to innovate, solve technical challenges, and contribute to projects that positively shape communities across Australia and worldwide. We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive and gender‑equitable workforce and encourages applications from people of all backgrounds across engineering and technical disciplines. SMEC provides a supportive and flexible working environment that recognises individual contribution, supports career progression, and enables our people to balance work and life at all stages of their career. As a family‑friendly employer, we offer flexible working arrangements and benefits including 18 weeks of universal paid parental leave. We are proud to foster an inclusive culture that supports gender equity, LGBTI+ inclusion and First Nations representation, with access to strong professional networks, role models, and mentoring and sponsorship programs.

Infrastructure

At SMEC, we understand that our continued success within the infrastructure market is the result of building long‑term client relationships. We listen and understand the specific needs of our clients and deliver a complete value chain of services to provide sustainable solutions across major infrastructure projects worldwide.

The Role

SMEC is seeking an accomplished and people‑focused Team Leader, Drafting – Rail & Metro to lead our drafting capability within the Melbourne Rail & Metro team. Working alongside industry-leading engineers, designers and project managers, you will provide leadership and direction to our drafting team while supporting the successful delivery of major rail and transport infrastructure projects. This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing Rail & Metro business with a strong pipeline of work across Victoria. You will play an important role in building team capability, developing our people and ensuring we have the right drafting resources, systems and technical standards in place to consistently deliver high‑quality project outcomes. Based in our Melbourne office, you will lead and support a team of drafters across a diverse portfolio of projects, balancing people leadership with technical oversight and project delivery. You will work closely with project and discipline leaders to coordinate resources, manage workloads, maintain quality and drive consistency in our drafting and digital delivery practices.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Lead, mentor and develop the Rail & Metro drafting team, supporting individual development, engagement and career progression.
• Coordinate drafting resources and workloads across multiple projects, working closely with project managers and technical leaders.
• Provide technical leadership and oversight of drafting deliverables, ensuring quality, consistency and compliance with relevant standards.
• Support project teams in the delivery of detailed design and construction documentation across complex rail and transport infrastructure projects.
• Establish and promote consistent drafting standards, workflows, templates and quality assurance processes across the team.
• Drive continuous improvement in drafting and digital engineering practices, systems and ways of working.
• Support workforce and capability planning, identifying skills gaps and future resourcing requirements across the project pipeline.
• Foster a collaborative, supportive and high‑performing team culture.
• Build strong working relationships across Rail & Metro and the broader business to support multidisciplinary project delivery.
• Provide hands‑on technical support and guidance where required on complex or high‑priority project deliverables.

About You

You are an experienced rail or transport infrastructure drafting professional who has progressed into people and technical leadership. You combine strong drafting expertise with the ability to lead teams, coordinate competing project demands and create an environment where people can develop and perform at their best. You are a collaborative and approachable leader who can maintain high technical standards while balancing the broader needs of the team and project portfolio.

You will bring:

• 8+ years' experience delivering drafting and digital engineering outcomes across Rail & Metro or major transport infrastructure projects.
• Demonstrated experience leading, mentoring and developing drafting teams within multidisciplinary environments.
• Strong capability in workforce planning, resource coordination and balancing priorities across multiple concurrent projects.
• Advanced proficiency with relevant industry software including MicroStation, OpenRail, AutoCAD, Revit or similar platforms.
• Extensive experience preparing, coordinating and reviewing detailed design and construction documentation.
• Strong knowledge of drafting standards, quality assurance processes and digital delivery practices.
• The ability to establish and maintain consistent technical standards and ways of working across a team.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to work effectively with project managers, engineers, designers and other technical disciplines.
• A genuine interest in coaching and developing people and building long‑term team capability.
• A proactive, solutions‑focused approach with a commitment to continuous improvement, innovation and technical excellence.

We recognise that talent comes from many different experiences and backgrounds, and we're committed to creating an inclusive culture for people from all walks of life.

SMEC background

SMEC is a global engineering, management and development consultancy delivering innovative solutions for our clients and partners. Leveraging our 70‑year history of delivering nation‑building infrastructure, we provide technical expertise and advanced engineering services to resolve complex challenges across major infrastructure and energy projects. SMEC has a long and proud history which dates back to Australia’s iconic Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme in 1949, one of the largest and most complex hydroelectric schemes in the world. Headquartered in Australia, we have offices across more than 35 countries in Oceania, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa and the Americas. Together with our clients and partners, we deliver projects that directly contribute to improving health, quality of life and development outcomes for communities and neighborhoods around the world. Driven by innovation, ingenuity and skill, our people have shaped these outcomes in some of the world’s most remote and challenging environments. Since 2016, SMEC has been a member of the Surbana Jurong Group, an Asia‑based global powerhouse of over 16,000 employees. Through our network of global specialists and by collaborating with local partners, we connect clients with the best teams and capabilities to deliver sustainable solutions.