Project Manager

Kidd Civil Consulting – Christchurch, South Island

At Kidd Civil Consulting (KCC), we work at the front end of New Zealand’s most interesting civil and infrastructure projects — from windfarms and bridge construction to complex procurement, alliance projects and client-side delivery. We’re a small, highly capable consultancy that works directly with contractors, government organisations, and consultants across Aotearoa and the Pacific…….we have even supported a project in Antarctica!

We’re looking for a Construction Project Manager who wants to step into a role where your ideas shape how projects are actually delivered. This is a position for someone who values autonomy, and professional respect and who wants variety rather than sitting inside a single delivery team.

The Role

This is a genuinely diverse role covering both procurement and delivery support. You’ll be our clients' trusted advisor.

Your weeks may span preparing construction methodology and staging advice for a major tender, supporting a contractor’s team to mobilise a challenging site, or advising a client side organisation or asset owner on procurement strategy or constructability. You’ll help teams understand risk, shape construction programmes, review designs through a contractor’s lens and provide hands‑on support once work begins.

You won’t be siloed — but you will bring specialty in one major discipline such as bridge construction, ground engineering, marine construction, three waters or complex earthworks plus the commercial maturity of someone that been a few rounds. We don’t expect you to be an expert in every discipline. What matters is that you can bring real authority and practical insight in your field, and communicate it clearly to tender teams, delivery teams and clients as a trusted subject matter expert.

Current and upcoming projects includes a wind farm in north Canterbury, support to a Alliance, project in the lower North Island an 18‑month bridge construction project in Canterbury, and NZTA cost consultancy panel assignments, Pacific Islands project delivery and tendering packages.

There is a lot on and we will shape the role to the candidate.

Hybrid working is embedded in how we operate. You’ll divide your time between home, client offices and site depending on what the project requires.

While we are Christchurch based, we operate around the country and the South Pacific so if you live in a main centre then do not let not living on the mainland stop you from applying.

About You

You’ll likely have spent the last decade delivering large civil projects with a Tier 1 contractor as a Project Manager or Project Engineer on Major Projects. You understand how jobs truly get built — not just the drawings, but the sequencing, the resourcing commercial and construction risk, temporary works requirements, regulatory compliance and the personalities that make a project team.

You’ll bring :

• Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) or related qualification.
• 10+ years’ New Zealand construction delivery experience
• Strong experience in one major discipline — structural, marine, ground / foundations, heavy civils or complex earthworks.
• Confidence working through commercial and construction risk, methodology, staging and construction planning
• Familiarity with New Zealand forms of contract (actually opened NZS : 3910)
• Understand the importance of a construction programme and can use MS Project
• The ability to build credibility quickly with site teams, clients, supply chain and company owners.
• In depth understanding of compliance in terms of HSQE
• A full NZ driver’s license and right to work in NZ

Most importantly, you’ll be someone who can walk onto a new project, understand the moving parts quickly, communicate clearly, and help others make better decisions across all levels of a project.

What We Offer

KCC gives you the project scale and complexity you’d expect from a Tier 1 environment, without the layers, rigidity or organisational complexity that often come with it. You’ll work closely with the people making the decisions, and your influence on tenders, programmes and delivery will be immediate and visible.

A small, high‑trust team where you have direct access to decision makers. Work that spans contractor, consultancy and client-side environments, giving you exposure across the full lifecycle rather than being pigeon‑holed. Flexibility and hybrid working without bureaucracy. A role where your input genuinely influences strategy, risk and outcomes.

We support you with a competitive salary, KiwiSaver (government minimum + 1%), your choice of company vehicle or car allowance, mobile phone, a dedicated training budget, generous travel allowances if you’re away, and five weeks’ annual leave, including three company days during our Christmas shutdown. If travel becomes a regular part of your role, we’ll also provide Koru membership.

Why KCC?

Because this is somewhere you won’t get lost. You’ll know the people you work with, and they’ll know the value you bring. You’ll influence tenders, designs, programmes and delivery in a way that’s simply not possible inside the hierarchy of a national contractor.

If you enjoy the pace and challenge of Tier 1 delivery but want more variety, more impact and more autonomy — this is the role you’ve been looking for.

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