Group Manager Infrastructure Services

.City of Parramatta sits at the centre of Sydney’s Central City, a metropolitan council of significant scale and profile serving a community of 286,000. Its infrastructure services keep that city functioning: the roads, drainage, parks, fleet and facilities that residents rely on every day. Leading them is one of the most substantial operational appointments in New South Wales local government.

The Group Manager Infrastructure Services leads this portfolio at both ends: setting strategy and budget at the executive table and commanding the confidence of the operational workforce who deliver the work on the ground. It is a role that rewards genuine operational credibility as much as strategic capability.

The Role
Reporting to the Executive Director City Services and Projects, the Group Manager Infrastructure Services leads the operational heart of Council. The portfolio spans the maintenance of roads, footpaths, drainage, parks and open space, facilities, fleet and light and heavy plant, and depot and store operations, delivered through a multidisciplinary team of professionals, each section led by a Service Manager. Your direct reports lead a workforce of around 140 people.

The role carries whole-of-life accountability for Council’s fleet and plant assets, strategic direction and budget oversight for the business unit, and the position of Local Emergency Management Officer (LEMO), a function that grows more consequential each year as communities expect more of their council in preparedness and response.

This is a role for an experienced operational leader who understands that service delivery in a high-profile metropolitan environment is as much about judgement, stakeholder navigation and organisational influence as it is about technical competence.

About You
You are a proven leader of outdoor workforces and multidisciplinary teams. You bring depth in asset maintenance and operational service delivery, a clear grasp of the legislative environment, and the commercial discipline to manage significant budgets with rigour. Local government experience is preferred, though we welcome operational leaders from state government or other comparable environments who can demonstrate the same command of service delivery at scale.

Just as important is how you lead. You earn credibility rather than assert it. You are as comfortable providing authoritative advice to an Executive Team and Councillors as you are on the ground with the crews, genuinely at ease talking shop with an outdoor workforce and trusted by them for it. You move between those worlds with authenticity, and you bring alignment to capable teams, drawing structured and operationally minded people toward a common standard. You understand that embedded safety culture, asset sustainability and high-performing teams are not competing priorities but the product of the same disciplined, people-first leadership.

A degree in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Land Management/ Parks, Business Management or a related discipline, is required combined with relevant management and leadership experience

Why This Role
Parramatta offers something few councils can. This is a genuinely significant operational remit, an executive environment that takes infrastructure seriously, and the platform of one of Australia’s most recognisable local government brands at the centre of a city being reshaped. For the right operational leader, this is a defining appointment.

Applications and Confidential Enquiries
To access a copy of the comprehensive candidate brochure, please visit our website, locate the advertisement under the job search function, and then directly request the brochure.

Recruitment Timeline Closing Date: Midnight, 30th September 2026.