Temporary 18 month job
Critical Role in Managing Council & Community Key Strategic Property Projects
Hybrid working environment

About Us

City of Ryde, just 12 kilometres from Sydney CBD, is a place of unique lifestyle and opportunity. It is home to an engaged and culturally diverse community of around 130,000 people, and a strong and growing Smart City economy including more than 13,000 local businesses, Macquarie Park, world-class hospitals, and a leading university. All balanced with beautiful bushland, riverfront parks, open spaces, and sport facilities.

Our council delivers a broad range of services, projects, programs, and events. We are actively committed to innovation, sustainability, resilience and providing exceptional customer experiences, and this relies on attracting and keeping great people. We offer a range of benefits, including flexible work arrangements, health and wellbeing programs, a learning and development program including study support, and a reward and recognition program.

Currently located at North Ryde, we will be relocating to Macquarie Park in 2026.

About the Role

City of Ryde’s Strategic Property team is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Senior Strategic Project Manager to plan and manage the initial stages of Council’s key strategic land and property development projects.

In this role, you will manage the strategic assessment, planning, and initial stages of several complex, high-value, and community-focused land and property development projects. You will balance strategic priorities, stakeholder engagement, and regulatory compliance while realising exceptional outcomes for Council and the communities it serves.

As a key member of the Strategic Property team, you will get to:

work with a multi-disciplinary team on property development projects that aim to create significant public value,
develop the strategic direction for several key property development projects by managing feasibility studies, business cases, due diligence investigations, master plans, and designs,
manage the planning and initial stages of these projects in accordance with Council policies and regulatory requirements,
work with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders to realise project objectives, and
contribute to developing Council’s strategic project planning capabilities.

About the Strategic Property team

City of Ryde’s Strategic Property team was established in 2024 to:

strategically oversee and advise on Council’s property portfolio,
manage the strategic assessment and planning stages of several strategic property projects, and
administer Council’s Planning Agreement and development contributions processes.

The team comprises staff drawn from a range of professional backgrounds including property development, valuation, acquisitions and divestments, architecture, and urban planning.

About You

As a Senior Strategic Project Manager, you are a specialist in the initial stages of complex and high-value property development.

You will have extensive experience in establishing and managing the initial stages of these projects with a focus on strong governance, strategic alignment, and public-value creation.

You enjoy working with multi-disciplinary teams and contributing to the development of organisational capabilities in property and project management.

You are comfortable establishing and implementing strong project governance, engaging with and coordinating stakeholders in a matrix organisation, and driving project outcomes in accordance with leadership direction and long-term strategic plans.

In addition, you will also have:

Excellent project planning skills, including developing problem statements, identifying project benefits and risks, developing, and evaluating strategic options, developing project plans and governance frameworks, and making evidence-based recommendations on how a project should proceed.
Significant project management experience, including implementing project plans and governance frameworks, procurement, stakeholder engagement, managing project finances and budgets, and risk management.
Proven experience overseeing feasibility studies, business case development, and due diligence investigations informing complex, high-value, and precinct-scale property development projects.
Excellent stakeholder engagement skills across a wide range of built environment and planning disciplines.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and a proven ability to communicate to audiences with varying degrees of technical knowledge.
Degree level qualification in property development, project management, law, urban planning, architecture, urban design, or extensive equivalent experience.
Wide-ranging technical knowledge of property development, strategic planning, and urban design.
Proven conceptual, analytical, and problem-solving skills, including the ability to analyse and interpret information from diverse sources to pro-actively identify issues and risks and formulate strategies to address them.

You may also have the following (desirable but not required):

Familiarity with NSW Office of Local Government’s Capital Expenditure Guidelines and the NSW Treasury’s NSW Government Investment Framework.
Experience planning capital projects in a public or institutional setting.
Experience with or demonstrated understanding of a range of authority approval processes in NSW, including planning proposals.
Familiarity with government property acquisition processes.

Your commencing annual salary will range from $150,568.45 to $170,207.81 + Superannuation, dependent on your experience and qualifications.

How to Apply

Please ensure you give full answers to the online application questions, showcasing your abilities and experience. Your answers, in conjunction with your resume, will determine if you are invited to an interview.

Please note you do not need a “password” to use our on-line application system, however you have the option save and return to your application prior to the closing date. In addition to answering the online questions, this position requires you to attach your Resume to complete the application process. Please note, you are not required to submit a cover letter or a statement addressing selection criteria.

Closing Date: Sunday 15 March at 11:59pm

If you would like to know more, please see the position description or contact Justin Cawley, Chief Property Officer on 0401119382 for a confidential discussion.

City of Ryde is committed to Equal Employment and Child Safety