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Planning Manager
- 501906
- Adelaide, SA
- Metro Growth Cap Del
- Growth
- Ongoing- Full Time
- Closing at: Feb 8 2026 - 23:55 ACDT
About the Company
SA Water is a successful, modern water utility wholly owned by the Government of South Australia. We employ more than 1,700 people across a broad range of disciplines who operate more than $14 billion worth of infrastructure to deliver essential water and sewerage services to more than 1.8 million South Australians.
We operate in a geographically and climatically diverse service area, with sites and locations from Ceduna through to Port Augusta, the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, across to the Riverland, down to Mount Gambier, and most places in between.
Our strength and expertise have been shaped by our history. For more than 165 years, South Australians have depended on us to innovate and deliver efficient and sustainable water services. With nationally and internationally recognised industry expertise, we’re focused on understanding and meeting our customers’ expectations.
As well as safely delivering smart and reliable services for our customers of today, we innovate to shape the water solutions of the future that will support thriving economies and healthy communities.
We are driven by our values; we value our people, we do work that matters, we keep it real, we know that our work has impact and we are future focussed. Staying true to our values ensures that we consistently deliver positive outcomes for all South Australians.
About the job
The Planning Manager plays a critical role in enabling SA Water’s transition from early planning through to delivery of government-funded priority water and waste infrastructure that supports housing growth across South Australia.
Working within the Integrated Growth Planning team, and reporting to the Metro Growth Program, the role coordinates and supports district and project planning activities to ensure timely, low-risk construction commencement aligned with government schedules, budget and expectations.
The Planning Manager will collaborate with Growth Planners, Engineering, Commercial and delivery teams to guide projects from concept design through to detailed design and construction, refining scope, cost, schedule and risk along the way.
About the Person
The ideal candidate will hold a formal qualification in project management or engineering and bring significant experience managing complex projects or programs across the full lifecycle, ideally within a large-scale infrastructure environment.
They will demonstrate strong leadership capability, with proven experience leading and developing teams to deliver outcomes in high-accountability settings. The candidate will have strong relationship management and interpersonal skillsets.
Comfortable working across planning, design and delivery phases, the ideal candidate will combine technical credibility with sound governance, risk and stakeholder management skills, enabling them to coordinate effectively across multiple teams and align competing priorities to achieve timely, high-quality infrastructure outcomes.
About Growth
The Growth group is at the heart of shaping South Australia’s future. This team plays a key role in supporting the state’s housing and infrastructure growth by delivering trusted water services that unlock land for development, create thriving new communities, and sustain existing regions. With a strong focus on single-point accountability, they ensure efficiency, consistent decision-making, and seamless connections for our customers. By bringing expertise and innovation together, they help drive smarter solutions and stronger partnerships that support South Australia’s growth for generations to come.
In addition, your responsibilities will include:
Fostering trust with our people, customers and community by providing expert advice and service that ensure we effectively communicate and engage audiences with our business strategy and its delivery across South Australia, every day.
You will:
- Ensure a strong, constructive working relationship with Asset Planners, Commercial team, Engineering, Safety, Delivery Team, Operations and maintenance, and Industry Partners to support the development of infrastructure solutions achieving customer outcomes.
- Develop and implement an approach from planning to delivery for all new Government approved metropolitan growth projects, including but not limited to, major project controls, accountabilities for decision making, compliance with existing governance, workflows and task management for technical contributors across lifecycle to construction phase.
- Lead in the development of a Program schedule in consideration of Government schedule commitments, operational network and/or supply chain constraints.
- Lead a team providing delivery insight into the planning phase of a project/district including, but not limited to supporting project scope options development, investigation, validation of schedules, cashflows, stakeholder analysis and gaining initial project development funding.
- Ensure external community and stakeholder risk assessment is considered in planning including mitigation and actions to be taken and support Metro Growth engagement team planning.
Your success in this role will come from:
- Formal qualifications in Project Management, Engineering or other relevant Qualifications / experience.
- Experience in working as part of a team, leading and developing teams
- Experience in complex project/program management across the asset lifecycle- ideally within an infrastructure construction environment.
- Highly developed interpersonal and relationship building skills and demonstrates ability to work with diverse stakeholders.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Demonstrated leadership skills with the ability to effectively manage and develop a team.
- Stakeholder management and interpersonal skills, including a demonstrated ability to influence internal and external stakeholders, effect long lasting relationships, and drive mutually acceptable outcomes.
Further information can be found in the attached PD – Planning Manager - PD
To apply, click 'Apply'. Please submit and complete the application form, upload a cover letter and current resume.
For enquiries, please contact Steph Haines from the Talent Acquisition team steph.haines@sawater.com.au.
Applications close 11:55pm, 8 February 2026.
A great customer experience is best achieved by having a diverse and inclusive team that reflects the community we serve. Applications are encouraged from everyone, including people living with disability, job seekers of all ages, members of the LGBTIQA+ community, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and people from culturally diverse backgrounds.
Our Industry is like no other. Dive into the wonderful world of water and explore the boundless opportunities. Learn more about the water industry at careersinwater.com.au.
Please note: We request that recruitment agencies do not submit candidates for this position, as they will not be accepted.
