Business Manager

Welcome to HCE Engineers.

If you’re reading this there’s probably something that's not working for you where you are.

Whatever it is, if you’re the kind of person we’re looking for, you’re not just looking for any job.

You’ve got experience, energy and ideas.

And you want to join a team where you’ll be valued, get a chance to play to your strengths and feel a real sense of achievement - not just do busywork and constantly feel exhausted with nothing to show for it.

But no job is perfect for everyone, so we’re going to give you a preview of what it’s like to work for us, then you can decide if this sounds like a great fit for you or not.

Instead of the usual cliches and vague nonsense telling you how great we are to work for, we’re flipping the script.

Deal?

👉 Oh, and please read right to the end before hitting Quick Apply - you’ll see why.

We’re down-to-earth, no-nonsense civil engineers with a reputation for excellence we’ve built over the last 25 years.

Our MD Greg is quick-witted with a dry sense of humour and an unwavering integrity that keeps clients coming back and team members loyal.

The team we’ve got here now are all great at what they do, happy in their jobs and committed to the continued success of the business; this is what we’re most proud of and won’t compromise on.

Most people on the team have all been here about ten years and all our work comes from repeat clients and word of mouth, these two things help make working here enjoyable.

Practical, honest, and no fluff on the outside but world-class on the inside.

We’ve prioritised doing great work so we’ve never had to worry about fancy marketing because our clients are so happy they keep coming back and telling other people too.

Sound like your kind of place?

Great.

1. This role is never going to be fully remote, our business is very much on-site so you'll need to be in the office most days. We do however, support working from home if and when practical.

2. Our recruitment process is different, it’s designed to help you choose the role as much as to help us choose the right person to join our team. There are a few more steps than usual, but we think the right person will value this.

3. This is a newly created role, so we’re going to do our best to explain why it’s being created and key areas of responsibility, but we won’t be sharing a detailed list of tasks because we’re looking for someone who wants to work with us to determine the best ‘how’.

The main reason this role is being introduced is to make time for Greg, our MD, to work on strategic initiatives.

That means you’ll be taking over some of what Greg has been doing and that you’ll have capacity to do some of the things he didn’t have time for that are now priorities.

The Business Manager will work closely with the MD to ensure

• The business runs smoothly day-to-day

• Client work is completed on time and on budget and

• All members of the team have the support and resources they need to succeed at work

Optimising people management and internal processes will be your key focus over the first 12 months.

Key responsibilities

Planning: Work with the MD to understand business strategy and specific goals then create plans that will help achieve these.

People Operations: Set the team up for success with the right systems, processes and incentives to support better communication, smoother workflows and to provide plenty of feedback and support for each team member. Note: The Project Managers will be responsible for managing the delivery side of the business.

SOPs: Own the creation and documentation of all internal systems and processes.

Compliance and Quality Control: Implement and maintain quality assurance processes to meet regulatory compliance standards and customer expectations. This will include getting ISO 9000 certification within your first 9 months in the role.

Resource Management: Manage all resources effectively, help the team use their time effectively and keep other costs reasonable without impacting culture or client experience.

Performance Improvement: Always be on the lookout for ways to improve efficiency and quality of operations.

Vendor Relationships: Maintain relationships with vendors, and other external parties as to ensure smooth operations (e.g. IT and insurance).

👉 Your DISC profile probably includes a high C.

👉 You’ve got a growth mindset and enjoy learning.   

👉 You’d describe yourself as practical and self-reliant

👉 You can turn goals into plans but won’t execute them until you’ve got sign off.

👉 You’re a naturally organised person who genuinely enjoys systemising things.

👉 You’re comfortable making day-to-day decisions without checking in with the MD.   

👉 You don’t need a lot of validation and communication from your manager throughout the day.  

👉 You ‘get’ business and see the way things are interconnected, the knock-on effects of one thing being improved or another not working well; this helps you prioritise your work and make smart decisions. 

👉 You’ve worked with inspiring people, average people and toxic people; you’ve felt the impact each has made on your life and work and this keeps you focused on being the best leader you can be. 

✅ You’ve got integrity; you do what you say you’ll do, you never lie, you admit your mistakes. 

✅ You’ve got some relevant experience and can comfortably share examples of what you’ve done in the past. 

✅ You know that understanding people is mission critical and you pride yourself on your ability to build trust and improve collaboration. 

✅ You know that coming into this role you’ll need to listen and learnto earn the team's trust before you implement changes. 

❌ You’re generally a negative person and find it difficult to see the good in anything.

❌ Your perfect job is in a big team where you can just look busy but don’t actually have to get much done. 

❌ You think that it’s ok to treat some people badly because they’re more junior or work in a lower paid role. 

❌ You’re looking for a fully remote role (sorry but right now we’re all in the office - and yes - we know this might need to change but it’s where we’re at). 

💰 A generous package with a performance bonus - depending on your experience this will be between $125 - $168k pa. 

🌟 Be recognised and appreciated for your strengths skills and contribution. 

👊 Join an established, profitable business with a healthy culture. 

🚀 Focus on moving things from good to great (not from bad to good). 

🤝 Work side-by-side with an MD who genuinely wants to partner with you, not just keep you busy. 

📥 Set up the systems and processes you know work best without red-tape, politics or committee approval. 

Great news.

Taking a new role is a big decision, and not one we’d ask you to consider lightly.

💡And if you’re the kind of person we’re looking for, you’ll have more questions before you’ll feel ready to apply.

📥 So we put together the Business Manager Q&A Pack to help answer some of them for you - and - to help us learn more about who you are (beyond your resume).

✅ You get to do a bit of DD on us, ‘e-meet’ Greg (our MD), hear from our team about working for us and find out more about the role.

👉To get the pack and answer the final question in our application process, click Quick Apply and we’ll send it to you by email.

If you have any other questions there’s an email address in the pack and our recruitment partners will be there to help.

PS If you approach Greg directly, he’ll just send you back to the process. We've invested a lot of time and effort to make it a great experience for you, please work with us on this :-)