Construction Manager

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who wants genuine ownership of a civil operation.

You’ll be leading an established team of around 25 across a mix of water, wastewater, stormwater, utilities and wider civil infrastructure projects. There’s a solid base already in place, but there’s also plenty of opportunity to bring the teams closer together, strengthen how things operate and help shape where the business goes next.

You’ll have the freedom to make decisions, improve things that aren’t working and develop the people around you. For someone who likes the idea of running an operation rather than simply managing a portfolio of projects, there’s a lot to get your teeth into.

The role
Reporting into the senior leadership team, you’ll take responsibility for the performance of the construction operation across multiple projects and teams.

That will include:

• Leading Project Managers, Supervisors and site teams across multiple civil projects
• Keeping a close eye on programme, resources, productivity and project performance
• Owning budgets, forecasting, cost control and commercial outcomes
• Making sure contracts are being managed properly and risks are picked up early
• Building strong relationships with clients, consultants and other stakeholders
• Developing the people underneath you and creating clear accountability across the team
• Looking at systems, processes and ways of working and improving them where needed
• Supporting tendering, client relationships and opportunities to grow the operation
• Maintaining strong safety, quality and environmental standards

Who are we looking for?
You could already be operating as a Construction Manager, or you may be a strong Senior Project Manager, Contracts Manager or operational leader who is ready to take on a broader business.

You’ll need a solid civil construction background and experience leading multiple projects and people. Three Waters experience would be particularly useful, although we’re open to broader civil infrastructure backgrounds where the fundamentals are strong.

You’ll understand the commercial side of construction as well as delivery. Contracts, margins, forecasting, programming and resource planning shouldn’t be things that sit solely with someone else.

The person behind the experience matters too.

We’re looking for someone who takes ownership, works hard and has good judgement. You’ll be comfortable making decisions independently, but equally comfortable asking questions, listening to your team and bringing people with you when things need to change.

You don’t need to arrive with all the answers. You do need to be curious enough to work out what could be better and have the drive to do something about it.

Why consider it?
The attraction here is the amount of influence you can have. This is a smaller operation where you’ll be close to the people doing the work and close to the people making the decisions. Good ideas can actually be acted on.

There are established clients, an experienced team and a broad portfolio of civil work already in place, but there is also genuine scope to improve the operation and help build what comes next.

If you’ve spent time in a larger contractor and like the idea of having more ownership, or you’re already running teams and want a role with broader operational responsibility, it’s worth a conversation.

You don’t need to be actively looking. If this has caught your attention, get in touch with Ginny Ryder at RWR Construction for a confidential chat.