TECHNICAL LEAD

Telstra; Newcastle; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Telstra is seeking an experienced Technical Lead to operate in a complex Defence delivery environment, with emphasis on governance, design assurance and engineering reviews. You will lead technical decision-making across network and infrastructure projects, coordinating with Defence stakeholders and delivery teams while ensuring security and delivery governance requirements are met.

With NV2 clearance and Juniper SSR certification, you will drive risk management, reduce rework and promote clear

Qualifications

• Significant technical leadership within Defence or regulated environments.
• Proven delivery of complex network and/or infrastructure engineering outcomes.
• Strong capability in network and infrastructure engineering with governance experience.
• Demonstrated experience in design assurance, technical reviews and engineering governance.
• Stakeholder management across Defence customer stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and ownership across the Defence project delivery lifecycle.
• Lead engineering assurance, design reviews and governance to maintain quality of engineering deliverables.
• Provide technical direction across network and infrastructure engineering activities.
• Coordinate with engineering, operations, customer and delivery stakeholders to progress technical dependencies and outcomes.
• Identify and manage technical risks, issues, dependencies and resource constraints.
• Drive timely technical decisions and establish clear technical accountability.
• Reduce rework and delivery friction through governance and early issue identification.
• Communicate complex technical information across forums for engineering, delivery and Defence customer governance.
• Operate autonomously while complying with Telstra security, privacy, safety and governance requirements.

Skills

Technical leadership

Defence/regulatory environment

Network & infrastructure engineering

Design assurance & governance

Stakeholder management

Risk & dependency management

Technical decision making

Clear written & verbal communication

Autonomy & accountability

Juniper SSR certification

NV2 security clearance

Job description

Job Summary

Employment Type: Fixed Term (Fixed Term). Closing Date: 7 Nov 2026 11:59pm. Job Title: TECHNICAL LEAD

Job Description

The Opportunity

This is an opportunity to take a leading technical role within a complex and highly governed Defence delivery environment.

You will help strengthen engineering quality and technical decision-making across the Defence project, ensuring designs and technical deliverables are appropriately reviewed, assured and progressed through governance.

Working across multidisciplinary teams and senior stakeholders, you will help resolve complex technical challenges, manage dependencies and risks, reduce avoidable rework, and support the successful delivery of contracted project outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and ownership across the Defence project delivery lifecycle.
• Lead engineering assurance, technical design reviews and governance to maintain the quality and consistency of engineering deliverables.
• Provide technical direction and specialist guidance across network and infrastructure engineering activities.
• Coordinate with engineering, operations, customer and delivery stakeholders to progress technical dependencies and agreed outcomes.
• Identify and manage technical risks, issues, dependencies and resource constraints, escalating where appropriate to protect delivery milestones.
• Drive timely technical decisions and establish clear technical accountability across complex delivery activities.
• Reduce rework and delivery friction through effective engineering governance, review discipline and early identification of technical issues.
• Communicate complex technical information clearly across engineering, delivery and Defence customer governance forums.
• Operate autonomously while ensuring technical activities align with Telstra security, privacy, safety and delivery governance requirements.

About You

You are an experienced Technical Lead who is comfortable operating in complex, security-sensitive and highly governed environments.

You combine deep technical capability with strong delivery judgement and are confident influencing technical outcomes across multidisciplinary teams without relying on formal people leadership.

You are comfortable engaging directly with Defence customer stakeholders, challenging technical assumptions where appropriate, and creating clarity when working through complex engineering issues and competing delivery priorities.

To be successful in the role, you will bring:

• Significant technical leadership experience within complex Defence or regulated environments.
• Proven experience delivering complex network and/or infrastructure engineering outcomes.
• Strong network and infrastructure engineering capability, supported by practical delivery governance experience.
• Demonstrated experience in design assurance, technical reviews and engineering governance.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including experience engaging effectively with Defence customer stakeholders.
• Experience managing technical dependencies, risks and issues across multidisciplinary delivery environments.
• The ability to influence technical outcomes and provide direction without formal people-management authority.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex technical matters to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• The ability to work autonomously with broad direction and take accountability for technical outcomes.
• Juniper Session Smart Routing (SSR) certification.
• A current/transferable NV2 security clearance as a minimum requirement.
• Ability to comply with Telstra security, privacy, safety and delivery governance requirements.