Director, Building Services

Location: Adelaide, South Australia

Employment Type: Full Time

Client: Confidential

Division: Properties and Buildings

Discipline: Building Services, Mechanical

About our client

GraceWell Group is partnering with our client, a leading multidisciplinary engineering and technical services consultancy, to appoint a Director, Building Services for their South Australian team.

This is a senior leadership opportunity for an experienced Building Services professional who can combine technical credibility with commercial leadership, client relationship management, business development and team growth.

The role is based in Adelaide and sits within the Properties and Buildings division, with a focus on Building Services and Mechanical Engineering. The successful candidate will play a key role in strengthening our client’s presence across South Australia, developing client relationships, winning new work and leading high quality project delivery.

About the role

The Director, Building Services will be responsible for leading and growing our client’s Building Services capability in South Australia.

This is not a purely technical position. It is a senior, market-facing leadership role requiring someone who can identify opportunities, build strong client relationships, lead bids and fee submissions, convert opportunities into projects and support the ongoing growth of the local team.

The Director will also act as Project Director on key projects, maintaining a high level of client engagement while overseeing project delivery, commercial outcomes, risk, quality and team performance.

Key responsibilities

Business development and client relationships

You will take an active role in growing our client’s client base across South Australia. This includes identifying new clients, creating opportunities, preparing fee proposals, converting opportunities into secured projects and maintaining a strong presence within the local market.

You will also be expected to develop key strategic client relationships and promote our client’s broader multidisciplinary capability across relevant sectors.

Bid leadership and work winning

You will lead and coordinate bids, fee submissions, presentations and project interviews. A key part of the role will be ensuring submissions and client presentations are commercially sound, technically credible and aligned with client needs.

Project Director leadership

You will provide senior oversight as Project Director, ensuring projects are delivered with a strong focus on client engagement, quality, commercial performance and risk management.

This includes maintaining high level client contact, identifying project risks, solving problems, communicating issues clearly and delivering practical solutions.

Team leadership and people development

You will provide leadership to the Building Services team, mentoring and coaching staff while helping shape the future structure and capability of the team.

The role will involve supporting recruitment, staff allocation, performance reviews, development planning and the retention of quality technical staff.

Commercial and operational management

You will be involved in the day to day management of the business, including financial management, staffing budgets, gross margin targets, project resourcing, process improvement and innovation.

Quality, safety and compliance

You will ensure work within the sector is delivered in line with our client’s internal management systems, including documentation standards, improvement initiatives, occupational health and safety requirements and internal compliance processes.

About you

The ideal candidate will be a senior Building Services, Mechanical or MEP leader with strong technical credibility and an established network within the South Australian market.

You will bring a combination of:

• proven experience in Building Services consulting
• strong South Australian market relationships
• demonstrated ability to win work and develop new clients
• experience leading fee proposals, bids and client presentations
• project leadership experience at Project Director or senior delivery level
• strong commercial acumen, including budget, margin and project financial awareness
• people leadership experience, including mentoring, coaching and team development
• excellent communication, negotiation and presentation skills
• confidence working with senior stakeholders and clients
• a collaborative, respectful and results focused leadership style

Qualifications and professional requirements

The successful candidate will ideally hold:

• an Advanced Diploma or Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Science or a related discipline
• substantial industry experience within Building Services or a related consulting sector
• membership, or eligibility for membership, of a relevant national or international accreditation body
• registration, or eligibility for registration, in the relevant state professional engineer register for the building and construction industry

Personal attributes

Our client is seeking a leader who is commercially minded, client focused and motivated to grow both people and business.

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• strong business development capability
• excellent commercial judgement
• a solutions focused approach
• motivation and drive to succeed
• ability to recognise and develop talent
• commitment to innovation and continuous improvement
• respectful and professional communication
• ability to build trust with clients, colleagues and teams

Why this opportunity

This is an opportunity to step into a senior leadership role with a respected engineering consultancy and contribute directly to the growth of their Building Services presence in South Australia.

For the right person, the role offers:

• a senior leadership platform in Adelaide
• the opportunity to grow a Building Services team
• exposure to multidisciplinary projects and clients
• genuine influence over business development and client strategy
• the ability to mentor and shape a high performing technical team
• a role that combines technical leadership, commercial responsibility and market-facing influence

For a confidential discussion, please contact:

Liesel Bredenkamp

Director

GraceWell Group

0426 400 895

liesel@gracewellgroup.com.au

Please note, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.