Title:  Group Manager Government and Stakeholder Relations

About John Holland

At John Holland, our purpose is simple – we transform lives with everything we do.  

We’ve always known that infrastructure is about people — our customers, our employees, and the communities in which we work every day. 

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

Be part of the team that’s up for the challenge of transforming lives for good. 

Are you up for the challenge?

We have a unique opportunity for a Group Manager Government and Stakeholder Relations to join our Customer & Corporate Affairs team.  This position can be based in our Melbourne, Sydney, or Brisbane office. 

This role will play a key strategic leadership role within John Holland to develop and lead a business-wide government and customer engagement program to help shape, protect and enhance John Holland’s reputation externally and support our strategic and commercial objectives. 

You will lead customer research, advise internal stakeholders on government, stakeholder and customer strategy and behaviour to inform bid strategies to win work, manage issues and deliver against key strategic business priorities. 

About the Role

• Build and maintain effective relationships with government stakeholders on behalf of John Holland – including government ministers, ministerial staff & government departments to effectively position John Holland and support our commercial and strategic objectives   
• Act as a representative of John Holland to build John Holland's reputation within government and other customers as a high performing and trusted delivery partner 
• Provide political and customer insights and government relations support to business units, the pre-contracts process and tenders to support work winning 
• Advocate and influence government policy and decision-making regarding projects, procurement models and other key industry issues  
• Development and coordination of high quality and evidence-based policy papers and submissions to government and industry associations  
• Provide strategic advice and counsel to John Holland’s CEO and senior leaders to support engagement, advocacy and effective issues management with government and customers 
• Analyse and understand the political environment and provide strategic advice to manage any potential impact on John Holland’s business, operations or reputation.  
• Develop and implement enterprise-wide customer engagement policies, standards and practices to enhance customer connectivity, drive repeat business and acquire new customers 
• Coordinate and prepare for CEO and ELT engagement with political stakeholders and key customers including meetings, industry events, briefings and boardroom lunches     
• Manage the development and delivery of customer research activities that generate actionable insights to inform strategic decision-making and enhance customer experience. Work collaboratively with senior leaders across the business to ensure insights are embedded in how the business engages with customers 
• Act as a key contact and conduit for industry associations to manage John Holland’s overall relationship with key stakeholders and influence the strategic agenda in the interests of John Holland 
• Work closely with business units to provide strategic advice and input from government policy and drivers to support key business strategies, bids and work winning targets 
• Work as a senior leader in the Customer & Corporate Affairs function within the Office of the Chief Executive on integrated stakeholder and communications strategies to enhance and protect John Holland's brand and reputation and support work winning and project delivery 
• Work closely with the General Manager, Strategy, providing insights and advice to help inform enterprise strategy development including identifying unmet and emerging government and customer needs 
• Support enterprise-wide media, industry, customer strategy and crisis communications response with Executive leadership as required 

About You

You will have a tertiary qualification in politics, public relations, journalism, stakeholder management, marketing or a related discipline.  You will have significant experience providing strategic communications, advocacy, policy and engagement advice within in a State or Federal Minister’s office or a senior advisory position within a government agency. 

You will have extensive experience in strategic communications engagement, policy, and advocacy in an industry association, think tank or public affairs agency. Your experience across corporate communications, stakeholder relations, marketing communications, and customer engagement, along with your clear and confident written and verbal communication style, will help you succeed in the role. 

As part of the team, you can help us 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 options. 

Great leave benefits including 18 weeks paid parental leave with super and up to an extra 18 weeks of super paid on further periods of unpaid parental leave, multicultural leave exchange and two extra days to prioritise your 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. 

Learning and development opportunities where you’ll have access to emerging talent programs, building your career through clear career pathways, plus technical and leadership training and development opportunities. 

Inclusion, diversity and equity is part of how we work. We want everyone at John Holland to feel that they belong – that’s why we’re working hard every day to foster a more inclusive culture, backed by a business-wide inclusion strategy to bring about meaningful change. We’ve also got active employee resource groups that support our commitments including those around gender equality and reconciliation.

Flexibility means different things to different people. Whether it’s flexi-hours, flexi-parenting, flexi-leave, flexi-shifts or flexi-work, we’re committed to helping our people work flexibly.