Deputy Program Director - Water & Mining Infrastructure

Job Description

What you'll be doing

As a Deputy Program Manager, you'll play a key leadership role in supporting the successful delivery of complex mining and water infrastructure programs. Working closely with the Program Manager, you'll provide oversight across multiple projects and work packages, ensuring effective coordination of scope, cost, schedule, quality, risk, safety and stakeholder expectations.

You'll operate across the broader program, working with Project Managers, technical specialists, contractors and clients to drive delivery performance, manage interfaces and ensure individual projects remain aligned with overall program objectives.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Support the Program Manager in leading the overall delivery of complex infrastructure programs, providing direction, coordination and oversight across multiple projects and work packages.
• Support the establishment and implementation of program delivery strategies, execution plans, budgets, schedules, resources and governance arrangements.
• Monitor the performance of individual projects, working closely with Project Managers to ensure delivery commitments, milestones and objectives are achieved.
• Provide oversight of contractor performance across safety, productivity, quality, resourcing, progress and contractual compliance, identifying and addressing underperformance.
• Oversee program-level commercial performance, including procurement strategies, contract administration, variations, claims, cost forecasting and commercial negotiations.
• Maintain oversight of program performance across cost, schedule, risk, change and progress, ensuring accurate reporting and meaningful insights for clients and senior leadership.
• Drive program risk management, assurance, change control and governance processes, ensuring emerging issues, dependencies and opportunities are proactively managed.
• Work with engineering and technical leaders to maintain design integrity, constructability, quality and compliance across project delivery.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, contractors, consultants, regulators and operational stakeholders, supporting effective communication and decision-making.
• Coordinate project interfaces, dependencies, shared resources and delivery priorities, ensuring alignment across the broader program.
• Champion a strong safety culture across the program, ensuring appropriate controls are embedded throughout design, procurement, construction and commissioning.
• Provide leadership, guidance and support to Project Managers and multidisciplinary delivery teams, fostering accountability, collaboration and consistent delivery standards.

Qualifications

You're an established project or program delivery professional who combines strong technical and commercial capability with the confidence to lead multidisciplinary teams, influence stakeholders and oversee complex infrastructure delivery environments.

You'll ideally bring:

• 15 years' experience in project management, program management or major project delivery.
• Demonstrated experience delivering or overseeing projects across mining and water infrastructure.
• Experience working in both client-side and contractor-side environments.
• A strong understanding of major program management environments and multi-project portfolios.
• Proven capability coordinating multidisciplinary teams across engineering, procurement, commercial, project controls and construction.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing contractor performance, including progress, productivity, safety, quality and contractual compliance.
• Strong program and project controls capability, including cost management, scheduling, forecasting, risk and change management.
• Experience with procurement, contract administration, variations, claims and commercial negotiations.
• Experience overseeing projects through design, construction, commissioning and operational handover.
• The ability to manage complex interfaces, dependencies, competing priorities and delivery risks across multiple projects.
• Exposure to brownfield or operational environments will be highly regarded.
• A relevant tertiary qualification in Engineering, Project Management, Construction Management or a related discipline.

You'll also bring a practical, delivery focused mindset, strong stakeholder management skills and the confidence to influence decision-making, challenge performance and support the Program Manager in driving successful outcomes across complex infrastructure programs.

Additional Information

Why You’ll Love Working with Us

• Flexible work arrangements, including alternative start/finish times, job-sharing, and hybrid work options.
• Purchase up to 6 weeks of additional annual leave per year.
• Volunteer and representation leave.
• Flex public holidays - swap Easter or other holidays for those that suit you better.

Ready to Push the Limits of What’s Possible?

We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, including those with disabilities, additional health or mental health needs, and/or neurodiverse conditions. If you require any adjustments during the hiring process, please let us know.

Applications are reviewed as they come in, and the role may close earlier than expected. If this opportunity resonates with you, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible!

Learn More About Life at AECOM

Explore our AECOM voices, employee stories, latest projects, and much more on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube!

At AECOM, we are committed to maintaining a secure and trustworthy recruitment process and take any fraudulent hiring activity seriously. To support this commitment, all newly hired employees are required to attend an in-person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location as a condition of employment.

AECOM acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which we, our clients and our communities live and work around Australia. We pay our respects to their cultures and to their Elders — past, present, and emerging. We are committed to connecting to Country in our work through meaningful engagement with First Nations peoples and businesses.  Find out more about our Australian Reconciliation Action Plan here: https://aecom.com/au/our-vision-for-reconciliation/.

About AECOM

AECOM is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2025. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM.

Freedom to Grow in a World of Opportunity 

You will have the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether you’re working from an AECOM office, remote location or at a client site, you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed.

You will help us foster a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion – a safe and respectful workplace, where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents, backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients.

AECOM provides a wide array of compensation and benefits programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. We also provide a robust global well-being program. We’re the world’s trusted global infrastructure firm, and we’re in this together – your growth and success are ours too.

Join us, and you’ll get all the benefits of being a part of a global, publicly traded firm – access to industry-leading technology and thinking and transformational work with big impact and work flexibility. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person’s potential, and we’ll help you reach yours.