Chief Infrastructure and Projects Officer

About Southern Ports
Southern Ports is a Western Australian Government-owned port authority operating three gateway ports in Albany, Bunbury and Esperance, facilitating more than 32 million tonnes of trade each year. Guided by its vision of strong regional ports, strong regions, Southern Ports connects regional strengths to global opportunities.

The Opportunity
Southern Ports is redesigning its Executive Leadership Team and regional leadership model to drive sustainable growth and capture emerging trade opportunities across regional Western Australia. This evolution is underpinned by a $100 million-plus capital program and ongoing investment in digital and operational technology.

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer as a member of the Executive Leadership Team, the Chief Infrastructure and Projects Officer holds single point accountability for the end-to-end planning, development and delivery of Southern Ports' asset base. In a newly consolidated portfolio, you will bring port planning, engineering, project delivery and asset management together into one unified framework establishing a centre of excellence that spans the full asset lifecycle from concept and business case through to project delivery, operational handover and sustaining asset management. You will lead the build of an enterprise Project Management Office, ensure infrastructure investment is commercially aligned and technically robust, and partner closely with the Executive Leadership Team to deliver Southern Ports' capital pipeline with discipline, consistency, and in line with broader enterprise priorities.

About You
This is an exceptional opportunity to build and lead a new centre of excellence for infrastructure and asset delivery across one of Western Australia's most significant regional trade networks.

You are an enterprise leader with senior executive experience in infrastructure, engineering, capital delivery, asset management or related sectors. You have led large-scale capital programs and complex project portfolios, bringing strong commercial acumen to align infrastructure investment with strategic and financial outcomes. You have established or led enterprise-wide project management and infrastructure planning functions and have a deep understanding of asset lifecycle management and engineering governance. You are experienced operating in complex, multi-stakeholder and regulated environments, and bring exceptional stakeholder engagement, negotiation and influencing capability. You demonstrate resilience and sound judgement under pressure and bring a track record of driving organisational alignment and reducing duplication across functions.

The following will be highly regarded:

• Experience leading the enterprise asset management function in an infrastructure-intensive business such as ports, transport, mining or similar.
• Experience integrating digital and technology solutions into infrastructure and asset management.
• Postgraduate qualifications in engineering, business or a related discipline.
  
  

Location
This role can be based in Albany, Bunbury, Esperance or Perth and will require regular travel across all site locations. Each port location offers distinctive regional lifestyle opportunities with strong community connections, excellent schools and healthcare, and proximity to pristine natural environments.

To Apply
Please lodge your application via the link in this advertisement. Please click on the "Additional Information" button to download a copy of the Candidate Information Pack. For more information, please contact email lwoods@derwentsearch.com.au quoting reference number 34336. 
To apply: Please provide a cover letter highlighting your suitability for the role and a resume by the due date. Applications close: 15th October 2026.