At Sydney Water, we are dedicated to delivering world-class infrastructure and services that support our customers, communities, and the environment. Our vision is to be innovative, customer-focused, and forward-thinking, ensuring Sydney remains one of the most liveable cities in the world. We are seeking a highly skilled and strategic leader to join us as our Acting Head of Water, Environment and Infrastructure Performance, responsible for ensuring our $65B portfolio of assets is fit for purpose, delivering great environmental, public health and customer outcomes — now and into the future.
About the Role
As the Acting Head of Water, Environment and Infrastructure Performance, you will provide enterprise leadership across Sydney Water’s products and infrastructure, ensuring our assets meet service, compliance, and business priorities. Reporting to the Executive General Manager, Water and Environment Services, you will lead a team of 5 direct reports and up to 120 indirect reports, including contractors, and act as the enterprise custodian for asset management, public health, and environmental outcomes. This Acting role will last between 2 – 9 months, depending on business needs.
This is a critical leadership role at a major junction of implementation and change. The business group is in a period of transformation, both driving the Service Excellence program of uplift across the Enterprise, plus also aligning its own business unit processes and approaches to build new ways of working and prioritising the delivery of $2.5B per annum of capital works.
You will nurture and inspire your team to achieve outcomes—not as a passive caretaker, but as an active driver of purpose and value. This is not a Business-as-Usual role; it requires balancing delicate and complex issues, including environmental and public health challenges, PFAS management, and regulatory engagement (e.g., IPART) and driving uplift in asset management practices across the business, delivering the IPART price proposal and adjusting to the final envelope, You’ll work closely with engineers, planners, operations, delivery and infrastructure investment teams, driving the implementation of change while managing ongoing issues and building effective management operating systems.
Key Responsibilities
- Strategic Leadership: Continue to drive the implementation and delivery of a visionary service, product and asset management plan that translates customer and stakeholder requirements into actionable strategies across the value chain.
- Enterprise Stewardship: Oversee the performance of water, recycled water, wastewater, stormwater, and ancillary systems, ensuring assets deliver sustainable outcomes for 5.5 million people.
- Change Management: Lead the unit through reform, establishing new ways of working, building processes, and getting teams to collaborate differently.
- Team Development: Nurture and empower your team to deliver outcomes, maintaining a delicate balance as the business evolves—this is a hands-on leadership role where stability and progress depend on your active engagement.
- Issue Management: Oversee day-to-day issue management, including PFAS and regulatory matters, and continuously build the group’s purpose and value.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Build productive relationships with internal teams, regulators (EPA NSW, IPART, Health NSW), industry associations, delivery partners, and external consultants.
- Commercial Leadership: Make astute business and investment decisions, considering financial implications and maximising shareholder and customer value.
- Compliance & Governance: Ensure compliance with all relevant guidelines, regulations, and agreements, including operating licence and customer contracts. Uphold and drive strong governance of investment decision making.
- Capability Uplift: Drive transformation and uplift of asset management capability across the organisation.
About You
To succeed in this role, you’ll bring:
- Expertise: Approximately 10+ years of industry and leadership experience in engineering and infrastructure management, with a deep understanding of best practice asset management.
- Qualifications: Tertiary qualifications in engineering or a related technical discipline, complemented by business/management studies and relevant postgraduate qualifications or equivalent experience.
- Strategic Acumen: Demonstrated ability to balance risk, cost, and performance, and to translate customer and organisational priorities into tangible asset and service performance metrics and plans.
- Leadership: Proven experience leading large teams and complex programs, with a growth mindset and ability to inspire and empower others.
- Stakeholder Management: Outstanding communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills, with experience engaging internal and external stakeholders at all levels.
- Change Agent: Experience in business transformation, building new processes, and leading teams through change—not just maintaining the status quo.
- Analytical & Problem-Solving Skills: Innovative, solution-focused, and able to manage competing priorities in a high-volume environment.
- Integrity & Judgement: Sound judgement, proactive approach, and the ability to provide clear, independent advice to the Board and Executive.
Make a Lasting Impact
If you are passionate about shaping the future of Sydney’s essential services and have the leadership, vision, and expertise to drive enterprise-wide asset management excellence—especially in a dynamic, reforming environment—we invite you to apply now and make a meaningful difference at Sydney Water.
Please be advised that this opportunity is for an acting arrangement and is being advertised internally only. The acting arrangement is anticipated to run for a period of 2 to 6 months or longer, depending on organisational needs and timelines.
This is an excellent opportunity to step into a senior leadership role and contribute meaningfully during this interim period.
Dive into Our Great Benefits:
Competitive Remuneration: We’ll ensure that your skills and contributions are valued and rewarded appropriately.
Hybrid Work Environment: We offer a hybrid work model that balances remote work and office collaboration, supporting our team's productivity and well-being.
Continuous Professional Growth: We will invest in your career with leadership and development programs to propel your success.
24/7 Wellbeing Support: Access for you and your family to free and confidential mental health and general health support through our EAP portal.
Discounted Private Health Insurance: Unlock affordable access to top-tier health coverage with our discounted insurance plans.
Family First: Prioritise your family with up to 18 weeks of fully paid parental leave and a childcare allowance.
Fitness Passport: Achieve your physical fitness goals using our Fitness Passport, granting you access to a multitude of gyms and pools across NSW.
Novated Leasing: Get in the driver's seat of your financial future with our novated lease options.
Closing Date: Tuesday 3rd June at 11:59PM
Please advise if you require any adjustments to actively participate in the application and recruitment process.
For any further information please contact hayley.williams@sydneywater.com.au
Working at Sydney Water
At Sydney Water, we are passionate about making a difference to the lives of our customers and communities. We have a proud heritage and progressive future providing world class drinking water and services that are vital to our customers’ quality of life and safeguarding Sydney’s future. We see the world is changing, so we are changing too.
Our vision is to create better lives through world-class services, and we believe that starts with our people. Our people and their jobs are as diverse as the communities we serve. Our diverse skills, mindsets and backgrounds work together on exciting and challenging projects that make a difference and help ensure Sydney remains one of the most iconic and liveable cities in the world.
We welcome and encourage applications from diverse backgrounds, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, LGBTQIA+, people with disability, people with caring responsibilities, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and veterans.
As part of the application process, Sydney Water will be collecting your personal information to assess your suitability for the role. We will also use your personal information to establish a LiveHire talent profile in our Talent Community.
We look at our Talent Community first when new opportunities come up when you apply for a role. Your personal information will be collected in accordance with LiveHire’s Terms, Privacy Policy and Sydney Water’s Privacy Collection Statement – Job Application
Please see the position description for the role’s full accountabilities.