Senior Designer, Roads & Highways (OpenRoads Lead)

About the job

• Join a global consultancy delivering iconic infrastructure projects
• Work alongside industry-leading specialists in a collaborative, flexible environment
• Shape your career with genuine professional growth opportunities

About SMEC

SMEC is a global engineering consultancy renowned for delivering complex, sustainable infrastructure solutions across transport, water, energy, and urban development markets. Our teams are empowered to innovate, solve technical challenges, and contribute to projects that positively shape communities across Australia and worldwide.

We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive and gender‑equitable workforce and encourages applications from people of all backgrounds across engineering and technical disciplines. SMEC provides a supportive and flexible working environment that recognises individual contribution, supports career progression, and enables our people to balance work and life at all stages of their career.

As a family‑friendly employer, we offer flexible working arrangements and benefits including 18 weeks of universal paid parental leave. We are proud to foster an inclusive culture that supports gender equity, LGBTI+ inclusion and First Nations representation, with access to strong professional networks, role models, and mentoring and sponsorship programs.

Infrastructure

At SMEC, we understand that our continued success within the infrastructure market is the result of building long-term client relationships. We listen and understand the specific needs of our clients and deliver a complete value chain of services to provide sustainable solutions across major infrastructure projects worldwide.

The Role

We are currently seeking a Senior to Principal Designer, Roads & Highways (OpenRoads Lead) to join our team in Perth, Melbourne, or Adelaide and play a key role in the continued growth and advancement of our national Roads & Highways design capability.

In this role, you will provide technical leadership across the design function, driving the adoption, development, and optimisation of OpenRoads across major transport infrastructure projects throughout Australia. Working closely with Project Managers, Engineers, Designers, and Digital Engineering leaders, you will lead the delivery of innovative, high-quality design solutions while helping shape the future direction of our digital design capability.

As our OpenRoads Lead, you will influence design standards, workflows, and best practice across the business, supporting project teams through all phases of project delivery while fostering technical excellence and capability development. While OpenRoads will be your primary platform, you will also bring a strong foundation in 12d and an understanding of how both platforms can be leveraged to deliver efficient, coordinated, and commercially successful project outcomes.

This is a unique opportunity to combine project delivery with technical leadership, contributing to some of ANZ's most significant infrastructure projects while helping define and strengthen SMEC's national OpenRoads offering.

About You

You will be recognised as a senior technical practitioner within roads and highways design, bringing extensive experience delivering major transport infrastructure projects and a passion for advancing digital engineering capability.

Suitable applicants will demonstrate:

• 8+ years' experience delivering major transport infrastructure projects within a consulting environment, with significant roads and highways design experience.
• Advanced proficiency in OpenRoads Designer, with demonstrated experience leading its application, implementation, and optimisation across complex projects.
• A strong working knowledge of 12d and AutoCAD, with the ability to guide teams operating within multi-platform design environments.
• Proven experience leading design development across concept, detailed design, and construction phases.
• Strong knowledge of Australian road design standards, specifications, and design governance frameworks.
• Demonstrated capability in establishing and improving design workflows, modelling standards, templates, and digital delivery processes.
• Experience mentoring and developing designers and drafting teams, providing technical leadership and fostering best practice.
• Proven ability to coordinate multidisciplinary project teams and manage design interfaces across large-scale infrastructure projects.
• Commercial awareness, including management of programme, scope, deliverables, quality, and project performance.
• Well-developed stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships with clients, project teams, and industry partners.
• A passion for innovation and continuous improvement, with the ability to influence the future direction of digital engineering and design delivery within a national business.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills with the ability to influence outcomes and drive technical excellence.
• Diploma, Advanced Diploma, or equivalent qualification in Civil Design / Drafting (Bachelor of Engineering advantageous).

How To Apply

All applications must be submitted online. To apply, click on the "Apply Now" link below and follow the prompts.

For a confidential discussion regarding this opportunity, please contact Carl Thiedeke – carl.thiedeke@smec.com

To find out more about SMEC, please visit our careers page at www.smec.com/careers

All recruitment activities go through our Resourcing function and currently, this role doesn’t require agency input. Please do not forward resumes directly to SMEC employees/managers; we do not accept unsolicited resumes and are not responsible for any associated fees.

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