Contracting Divisional Manager

Platinum Recruitment; Otago; On-site; NZD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Platinum Recruitment is seeking a senior leader to oversee civil contracting and rail operations in the Dunedin region, Otago. This role will shape operational performance, commercial outcomes, tendering, and project delivery across multiple projects while leading large multidisciplinary teams.

You will influence direction, culture, and capability of the contracting division, walking the talk on leadership—from front line sites to boardrooms—delivering safe, high-quality, profitable outcomes.

Qualifications

• Senior leadership experience in large-scale civil contracting and rail projects.
• Strong track record in tendering, pricing, and securing forward work.
• Proven ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams and drive safety, quality and profitability.

Responsibilities

• Lead project managers, engineers, supervisors, surveyors, foremen, crews, subcontractors and plant across multiple concurrent projects.
• Oversee tendering, pricing and securing future work.
• Build and maintain strong client and stakeholder relationships at all levels.
• Drive a high-performing safety and quality culture across projects.
• Manage budgets, forecasting and P&L performance.
• Develop capability and future leadership within the business.
• Ensure projects are delivered efficiently, safely and profitably.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Tendering & bidding

Commercial management

Stakeholder management

Civil construction & rail knowledge

Job description

Publication Date 13 / 10 / 2026 Location Otago Type Permanent / Full Time Sector Building & Construction

Other Lead a major civil contracting and rail operation delivering infrastructure projects across the Dunedin region.

This is a senior leadership role responsible for operational performance, commercial outcomes, tendering, project delivery, and leading large multidisciplinary teams across civil construction and rail projects.

You’ll oversee a broad portfolio including regional contracting works, maintenance projects, excavation, pavement construction, surfacing, utilities, safety improvements, and rail infrastructure delivery.

Some leadership roles are about keeping things ticking along.

This one isn’t.

This is a role where you’ll influence the direction, performance, culture, and future capability of an entire contracting division.

You won’t just be managing projects.

You’ll be leading people, driving commercial outcomes, securing future work, and building a high-performing culture that clients trust, and teams want to be part of.

This is the type of role where your reputation matters.

You’re someone who can walk onto a site, into a boardroom, or across a client meeting and command respect because you’ve done it before.

You understand contracting.

You know how to price work, win work, and deliver work profitably without compromising safety, quality, or relationships.

And importantly?

You know how to lead.

Not from behind a laptop.

From the front.

You’ll be responsible for leading project managers, engineers, supervisors, surveyors, foremen, operational crews, subcontractors, and plant resources across multiple concurrent projects.

You’ll also play a key role in:

• Tendering, pricing, and securing forward work
• Building strong client and stakeholder relationships
• Driving a high-performing safety and quality culture
• Managing budgets, forecasting, and P&L performance
• Developing capability and future leadership within the business
• Ensuring projects are delivered efficiently, safely, and profitably

This role requires someone commercially sharp, operationally strong, and highly credible within the New Zealand civil infrastructure market.

This company is recognised nationally for delivering complex infrastructure and investing heavily in their people, systems and long-term growth.