Precontracts Manager

About John Holland:

At John Holland, our purpose is simple, we transform lives with everything we do. We've always known at its heart infrastructure is about people — our customers, our employees, and the communities in which we work.

That's our difference. Deep experience and capability with a genuine care about creating better lives for people along the way.

Be part of a team that thrives on rising to the challenge of transforming lives for good.

About the role:

We are seeking an experienced Precontracts Manager based in Pyrmont, Sydney to lead the development, delivery, and conversion of major road infrastructure tenders across projects ranging from $300M to $2B.

In this critical leadership role, you will be responsible for driving winning strategies, managing multidisciplinary bid teams, and ensuring opportunities are turned into successfully delivered projects. You will oversee the end-to-end bid lifecycle while shaping the pre-contracts phase to align with client priorities and project drivers.

You’ll be working across high-profile transport projects, shaping the way large-scale road infrastructure is delivered across Australia. This role calls for a leader who thrives in high-pressure environments and is passionate about delivering outstanding results.

What you will do:

• Lead the end-to-end bid delivery process, from initial opportunity identification through to submission, award, and handover.
• Develop and execute winning bid strategies aligned with client priorities and project objectives.
• Manage and coordinate multidisciplinary bid teams, including engineering, commercial, planning, and design functions.
• Drive the preparation of high-quality, compliant tender submissions in line with client requirements.
• Oversee programme development, cost planning, and risk management throughout the pre-contracts and bid phases.
• Ensure robust commercial and financial governance, including margin, cost, and risk optimisation.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, partners, and key stakeholders to ensure alignment and buy-in.
• Lead bid negotiations and oversee the contract formation process.
• Continuously review bid and pre-contract performance, implementing lessons learned to improve future outcomes.
• Act as the key interface between the pre-contracts and delivery teams, ensuring effective handovers post-award.

To be successful in this key role, you must have:

• Extensive experience leading bids and pre-contract activities for major infrastructure projects, preferably in road and transport sectors, with values ranging from $300M to $2B+.
• Demonstrated ability to work with key government clients, including Transport for NSW (TfNSW).
• Strong expertise in commercial strategy, tender governance, and risk management.
• Proven success in managing large, multidisciplinary teams in high-pressure environments.
• A deep understanding of road infrastructure delivery methodologies, construction staging, and client expectations.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement, negotiation, and influencing skills.
• Tertiary qualifications in Engineering, Construction Management, or a related discipline.
• A collaborative leadership style with a strong focus on team performance and outcomes.

As part of the team, you help us deliver on our promise to transform lives

Your success is reflected in ours, so we’re committed to being an employer of choice. We pride ourselves on having a diverse and inclusive workplace, as we understand that different perspectives and ideas are critical to our long-term success.

We want you to be with us for the long term, so providing you with rich career experiences and ongoing development is our priority.

What’s in it for you

We’re about connecting your sense of purpose to ours. We understand that your career is one of the biggest ways to have an impact on the world. We also believe in supporting you as a whole person, not just an employee.

We reward and support our people in so many ways. This starts with being flexible about how different people like to work. From generous leave policies to wellbeing and relationship support, your needs sit at the heart of our employee benefits.

We offer:

• Competitive remuneration with salary continuance, and salary sacrifice packaging options available
• Great leave benefits including 18 weeks paid parental leave with superannuation and up to an extra 18 weeks of superannuation paid on further periods of unpaid parental leave, multicultural leave exchange and two additional John Holland Days to prioritise health and wellbeing
• Career progression underpinned by our exciting pipeline of work means you'll have the opportunity to work on iconic projects that are shaping cities and communities
• Inclusion and diversity is part of how we work and do what we do at John Holland. Our active commitment to being an employer of choice is evident in the delivery of our Gender Equality Strategic Plan supported by our Pride, Celebrate Women, RAP and Grow networks
• Flexible working that works for you as we know flexibility means different things to different people. Whether its flexi-hours, flexi-parenting, flexi-leave, flexi-shifts, flexi-work, we're committed to helping our people work flexibly.