Technical Director- Highways

Together, we open opportunities with our connected thinking.  

Mott MacDonald is a vibrant and forward-thinking engineering, management, and development consultancy. Working together as a global team we plan, design, deliver and maintain the transport, energy, water, buildings, and wider infrastructure that is integral to people’s daily lives. We value excellence in every dimension of our business and continuously seek opportunities to improve what we do and how we do it. 

We employ brilliant people who combine their diverse skills and experiences to achieve brilliant things. Whether you want to specialise or broaden your experience, you'll be supported by global specialists eager to share their expertise. With numerous opportunities to learn and grow, the possibilities are as diverse as our people. Working as a connected global team, we deliver impactful projects that shape the future. 

Your Opportunity  

Building on our recent growth in the Highways Alliance and Design & Construct market across Australia, our Roads and Highways team is seeking an experienced Technical Director – Highways Project Manager in Sydney to manage and deliver Iconic Australian projects, where you’ll have the opportunity to shape and grow our design management offering, and support growth within our wider transport team, focusing on embedding technical excellence at the core of everything we do.   

The Technical Director – Highways Project Manager role will provide leadership and development to support the further growth across the business unit by way of quality project delivery relating to civil, roads and highways, project management and design management functions. You will be responsible for the strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, contract management, and ensuring that projects meet scope, budget, and quality expectations. The position demands strong leadership, technical understanding of highways design and construction, and the ability to manage multidisciplinary teams across various phases of project delivery on complex highway and road infrastructure design projects . 

 Depending on your specific expertise, your responsibilities will include various aspects of:  

• Project Leadership: Oversee the full lifecycle of highway projects, including planning, design, procurement, construction, and close-out. 

• Stakeholder Management: Engage with clients, contractors, consultants, and internal teams to ensure alignment and timely decision-making. 

• Contract & Commercial Oversight: Administer contracts, manage compensation events, and ensure commercial reporting and budget control. 

• Programme Management: Lead the development and maintenance of project schedules using tools like Primavera P6, ensuring milestones are met and risks are mitigated. 

• Governance & Compliance: Ensure adherence to safety, environmental, and regulatory standards. 

• Team Coordination: Lead multidisciplinary teams across civil, structural, geotechnical, and digital disciplines, ensuring collaborative delivery. 

• Continuous Improvement: Apply lessons learned to improve planning, delivery, and governance processes. 

• Digital Engineering: Leverage tools such as ProjectWise and BIM platforms to interrogate and manage digital design data, workflows, and deliverables. 

• Team Development: Mentor junior engineers and contribute to capability building through the Highways Academy and internal knowledge-sharing platforms. Manage the developments of multi-disciplinary design coordination and project management. 

• Quality & Assurance: Diligent approach to quality assurance including team selection, competency management, and design requirements allocation/verification 

About you   

• Degree in civil engineering or equivalent qualifications 

• 10+ years of experience in the delivery of Transport infrastructure engineering for design for construction contractors, PPP’s or Alliances. 

• Proven ability to manage complex design interfaces and multidisciplinary teams. 

• Familiarity with typical client and stakeholder requirements (stage gates, comment close-out, appropriate level of design maturity) 

• Understand key technical requirements and identify deliverables and outcomes required to fulfil the client’s scope. 

• Strong communication, negotiation, and client relationship skills.