"Principal Project Manager"

• Continuing Position | Full-Time
• Higher Education Officer Level 10 | $144,266 - $152,903- p.a.
• Location: Bedford Park / Kaurna Country
• View Position Description

About the Role

Step into a role where your leadership contributes to the future of a world‑class university. As our Principal Project Manager, you’ll be the client side lead of multiple complex infrastructure projects that transform how our students learn, our researchers innovate, and our community connects. This is an opportunity to own the full project lifecycle — from planning to delivery and operationalising — while guiding a talented team of project managers and influencing outcomes at the highest level.

You’ll lead a diverse program spanning specialised laboratories, cutting‑edge teaching and research environments, vibrant public spaces, and essential campus services. Your expertise in financial management, governance, reporting, and stakeholder engagement will ensure each initiative lands with precision, integrity, and momentum.

If you thrive in complexity, enjoy bringing ambitious ideas to life, and want your work to leave a lasting mark on a major institution, this role puts you at the centre of it all.

Key areas of responsibility include:

• Lead, mentor and coach a team of project managers, including supervision and performance development, program and workload management, and career development.
• Lead end-to-end delivery of nominated complex infrastructure projects including the  design, construction, financial management, stakeholder engagement, governance, reporting and operationalisation of projects.
• Develop collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders to understand and deliver business needs and objectives.

For a more detailed list of Key Position Responsibilities, please view the Position Description, (available at the top and bottom of this ad).

About You

We are seeking a seasoned leader with extensive experience delivering several complex infrastructure projects at once in a fast‑moving environment. You will have strong people‑leadership capabilities, with a track record of mentoring, coaching, fostering collaboration, and building cohesive teams that consistently perform at a high level.

The right person for this role will be an effective communicator with exceptional interpersonal skills who builds productive and collaborative relationships and can identify needs and priorities of stakeholders. You will be capable of exercising judgment, problem solving and using initiative to achieve results.

Some of the key position capabilities of the role are:

• Extensive and successful experience and technical capabilities as a senior project manager leading, delivering and managing numerous large, complex, concurrent projects simultaneously in dynamic and fast paced environments in order to deliver places and spaces typical in a university environment.
• Proven stakeholder management skills including the ability to establish and maintain high levels of stakeholder trust, to positively influence stakeholders and demonstrated experience in working in a customer service focussed environment.
• A high level of business acumen - including the capability to develop a genuine understanding of business needs and play a consultative role to engage the appropriate people, processes and tools in the delivery of solutions.

An engineering or architectural background, while not essential, would be advantageous

About Property, Facilities and Development

This role is part of the Property, Facilities and Development (PFD) team at Flinders.  Our team works across all of Flinders' places, spaces, and physical infrastructure. We work across five key areas: Strategic Planning and Customer Experience; Capital Development; Customer and Site Services; Sustainability and Strategic Projects.  The team are responsible for the planning, development, capital delivery, management, and maintenance of all University spaces to ensure they are fit for purpose and support Flinders to deliver its strategic objectives.

Life at Flinders

We're transforming and investing in people and facilities to create contemporary, stimulating, and satisfying learning and work environments that reflect our core values of excellence, innovation, courage, and integrity. Flinders is refocusing its strategic priorities with the aim of elevating its performance to be a top ten Australian university, and amongst the top 1% in the world.

Reaching beyond the limits of buildings, borders, and backgrounds, ours is an inclusive culture that believes absolutely in equality and opportunity for all. We don't just accommodate differences; we embrace and celebrate them. So, why work at Flinders?

• 17% Superannuation + salary packaging options
• Flexible working arrangements
• Our commitment to wellbeing through our Thriving@Flinders initiative
• Wide range of professional development activities and services, including exclusive staff study offers
• We embrace diversity and promote equity and inclusion for all students and staff, as shown through our three SAGE Cygnet Awards.
• Vibrant campus life and amenities including on campus health care services, gym and childcare centre (Bedford Park, South Australia)

Our Commitment to Reconciliation and Indigenous Employment

Flinders University is proud to be an organisation that is committed to our Reconciliation Action Plan and Indigenous Workforce Strategy. Our vision is to be a preferred employer for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  We are committed to progressing Indigenous advancement in education, research, employment, and wellbeing, and strongly encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for all Flinders vacancies.

• Please see here for our Reconciliation Action Plan
• Please see here for our Indigenous Workforce Strategy

Prescribed Conditions for Employment

• A current Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check which is satisfactory to the University will be required by Flinders University before the successful applicant can commence in this position*. A criminal record will not automatically disqualify a candidate from consideration. Each case will be assessed on its individual merits and relevance to the inherent requirements of the role.*

How to Apply and Information

• You are required to submit a Suitability Statement addressing the Key Position Capabilities of the position description.
• For more information regarding this position, or a confidential chat, we highly encourage you to contact Ali Dwyer.

Certification

Applications to be submitted before 10.00pm:

10 Feb 2026

At Flinders we embrace and celebrate diversity and encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and people of all ages, ethnicities, abilities, sexual orientations, and gender identities.

Flinders. Fearless.