CJC Management’s third Quarterly Strategy Workshop of 2023

Fostering a collaborative environment, the team came together at our Sydney head office for the third Quarterly Strategy Workshop of 2023. This event holds significant importance on CJC Management’s calendar, offering a platform for collective brainstorming and innovation. It’s also a valuable opportunity for team members from different offices across the country to come together and share insights.

The day began with a Welcome to Country and a warm welcome to our new team members. The morning workshops focused on solidifying the business strategy and defining our 90-day goals. We also engaged in lengthy discussions about upcoming opportunities and strategies for global business growth. Our objective was to ensure the team was set up to success with the relevant knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in their roles.

One of the highlights of the day was an insightful presentation from Michael Kilgariff, former CEO of Roads Australia and Managing Director of the Australian Logistics Council. He provided valuable insights into the upcoming changes in the infrastructure sector, emphasising industry shifts and policy refinements. These insights served as a solid foundation for our collaborative discussions.

As part of our ongoing commitment to employee well-being, we introduced Foremind, our new Employee Assistance Program (EAP). This program is a valuable resource designed to support our team’s mental health both in and out of the workplace.

To add a dynamic touch to the afternoon, we facilitated a Mentor’s Walk, a popular activity that allowed for a mutual exchange of experiences and advice, ultimately strengthening our team’s relationships. After the Mentor Walk, we came back all together to our head office in North Sydney. Reflecting on the past three months, our Managing Director, Michael Eager, presented the company wins, project updates and KPI’s from the past quarter and the company goals for the upcoming one.

As part of our Employee Appreciation Program, we had a special moment to celebrate the team member who joined our 5-year Club. Our success story wouldn’t be complete without the unwavering loyalty of our team. These outstanding professionals have shown dedication for half a decade, and we are proud to applaud their achievements. The day concluded with a team dinner, marking the end of a productive and rewarding event. We extend our gratitude to everyone for delivering exceptional services to our clients and for their achievements this quarter.

With this framework in place, we eagerly anticipate what the next quarter will bring!

Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day

Promoting Diversity and Inclusion at CJC 

At CJC, we believe in the power of diversity and inclusion to drive innovation and create a better engineering industry for all. Last month, on International Women in Engineering Day (23rd June), we organised a special event to celebrate the achievements of women in engineering where we discuss the importance of breaking barriers and fostering inclusivity in the workplace. Our team gathered for Morning Tea, followed by an engaging panel discussion where Dheavini Naicker, Sarah Stante, and Rachael Oertel, three exceptional female engineers, shared their experiences and insights on diversity and inclusion.

Dhe, with a passion for site engineering and experience in the Marine sector, emphasised the value of hands-on learning and applying multidisciplinary skills to solve real-life challenges. Rachael, who knew from a young age that she wanted to be an engineer, highlighted her experiences in various projects and her current focus on constructability. Sarah, originally aspiring to be an environmental scientist, found her calling on-site, embracing daily challenges, and finding innovative solutions in her work on numerous remarkable projects.

The panel discussion brought to light the importance of diversity in the workplace and the positive impact it has on creating a more inclusive engineering industry. Dhe stressed that diverse perspectives lead to a richer work environment, enabling teams to approach situations in different ways, fostering creativity, and ultimately increasing job satisfaction.

Sarah shared her journey as one of the few female leaders in the industry, emphasising the responsibility we all share in promoting diversity and bringing more women into leadership roles, which all start with the importance of ensuring equal opportunities for all graduates as they embark on their engineering careers. Sarah encouraged identifying and nurturing talent, providing growth opportunities, and learning from the experiences of other leaders as sources of inspiration.

The discussion also touched on the significance of involving men in conversations about diversity and inclusion. Rachel pointed out that collaboration between all is essential in creating an equitable work environment.

At CJC, we firmly believe that diversity is an essential value that drives innovation and success. Our commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion is evident in our initiatives, ensuring that every individual feels valued, respected, and empowered. Click here to learn more.

Michael Eager appointed as Managing Director at CJC

Due to rapid growth across all areas of the CJC business and our continued focus on exceptional service for our clients, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Michael Eager to the position of Managing Director at CJC.

Michael has been an invaluable member of our team for the past two years, with a proven track record of strong leadership and a collaborative and strategic approach to solving the challenges faced by our clients. With his extensive experience in the Aviation and Infrastructure sectors, working with contractors and clients and successfully leading multi-disciplinary teams and departments for the past three decades, Michael brings a wealth of expertise to this role.

Michael will report to Colin Calder, who continues as our Group Managing Director, with a focus on our global expansion efforts and building capability around innovation, technology, energy and other focus areas across the group.

CJC is an experienced pre and post award management team. Our global civil and structural expertise provides oversight and control on major infrastructure and building projects across the globe from concept, delivery to operations. In his new role as Managing Director, Michael will focus on key growth areas and enhancing our service offering for all our existing and new clients.

As CJC continues to grow and expand our service offering, investing in our top talent and adapting to future changes are integral parts of our strategic plan.

“CJC has extensive experience across many sectors which we apply to each unique project challenge”, says Colin. “Michael’s appointment as Managing Director will help us put focus in the right areas and ensure we have the best expertise and advisors in the industry to meet our clients’ needs and deliver value. I am excited to work alongside Michael during our next exciting phase of growth”

Regarding his new role and expectations, Michael says, “Having been with the company for close to two years and seeing firsthand the dedicated people and work culture, I am extremely proud and excited to be able to lead the CJC business into the future. We have immense and varied experience within the team, and we will continue to add to this to support our business growth in new and existing markets”.

With these management changes in place, we are confident that we will be better equipped to meet our clients’ needs and deliver against project goals, each and every time.

Empowering Women in STEMM: Insights from the Women in STEMM Leadership Summit


by Sumesha Durais, Area Manager

Sarah and I attended a Women in STEMM Leadership Summit in March this year, which aims to equip emerging and established leaders with the tools and inspiration needed to become influential, visionary, and forward-thinking. Featuring accomplished women leaders from all STEMM sectors, insights offered valuable perspectives for attendees at all career stages. The conference was interactive, thought-provoking and inspiring, and I would like to share a few personal highlights from some of the speakers, including the real-time illustrative capture of the summit content.

Empowering Women in STEMM: Insights from the Women in STEMM Leadership Summit
Sarah Stante, NSW State Manager – CJC & CaSE, and Sumesha Durais, Area Manager, attended the Women in STEMM Leadership Summit held in Melbourne on the 21st and 22nd of March 2023.

Jane MacMaster from Engineers Australia shared her views on work-life integration, providing flexibility to employees while establishing personal boundaries within the workplace. She highlighted different arrangements implemented by employers and shed light on their effectiveness. This was followed by a mini masterclass on working women’s guilt which focused on identifying our personal values.  When our personal values align with those of our workplaces, we are more likely to have a satisfying career.

Mahin Sonia (AWS), presented a masterclass on practical techniques for team motivation. Her expertise and authenticity resonated, addressing common challenges faced by female leaders in the industry. I found the following speakers enlightening even though their industries were not the same as mine:

  • Kerry Louise Philips, a longstanding Qantas pilot on overcoming double standards in the workplace.
  • Brenda Denbesten, from BHP, explained sponsors and their role in her career over the years.
  • Sonia Adams, GHD CCO, on “no straight lines from A to B” as she described the squiggle that was her career path.

The panel discussion on “The role of leadership in setting a healthy workplace culture that attracts female talent” featured leaders from Arup, Aurecon, GHD, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation. This session revealed that only 11.2% of working engineers in Australia are women, and that gender equity will drive better business performance. Sarah’s key take-outs included:

  • Make inclusion and cultural safety a real and visible organisational value
  • Increasing diversity and intersectional participation is everyone’s responsibility
  • Active listening as a leader to lived experience is a key indicator on the success of inclusion initiatives is within the teams

The two-day summit featured a range of engaging activities, including bite-size masterclasses, roundtable conversations, and thought-provoking “fireside” discussion panels presented by accomplished women in various STEMM disciplines. These speakers shared insights at different stages of their careers, offering valuable perspectives for attendees to consider. The summit was a great occasion for knowledge exchange and networking, inspiring participants to forge their paths toward success in STEMM fields.

The summit also featured interactive workshops on managing intimidation, understanding the impact of gender norms, and mentoring training, fostering a collaborative learning environment.

An illustrator captured the discussions and presentations in real-time, creating visual representations that served as valuable reminders of the event’s content.

Sarah and I enjoyed the connectivity across STEMM sectors that the Women in STEMM Leadership Summit offered, and sharing the unique challenges faced in STEMM sectors. We now have some extra tools to build our leadership capabilities and ideas for increasing diversity in our business. To learn more about CJC’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, read our blog post: CJC Wins Top Award for Diversity and Inclusion.

Career progress: From undergraduate to Project Engineer

Career progress: From undergraduate to Project Engineer 

The successful journey of John Le at CJC Management

The successful journey of John Le at CJC Management 

Starting a career in engineering can be both exciting and intimidating. It’s a big decision that requires careful consideration and research.  

The fact is that choosing a company that invests in their undergraduates and fosters the development of foundational skills through ongoing support can make all the difference in launching a successful career. John Le’s story is a testament to the importance of finding the right graduate role with the right company to enable growth and career progress. 

John Le joined CJC Management as an Undergraduate Engineer and since completing his degree at the end of 2022 has moved into the role of Project Engineer – a fantastic opportunity for him. We invited John to share a little about his experience, journey and progress that can inspire and guide other aspiring engineers. 

Why do you believe that undergraduate roles are important?  

Undergraduate roles are important as they provide numerous new opportunities and career pathways for students and individuals who are graduating from their degrees. Undergraduate roles offer training and mentoring, delivering technical skills required for the job. An undergraduate role also presents career progressions as it will provide the given tools and knowledge, such as the training, opportunities, and leadership for the individual to succeed into another role. And lastly, networking. With an undergraduate role comes the importance of networking which will present the opportunity to build professional relationships in the office, allowing you to grow throughout the industry.  

Tell us a bit more about why you chose to stay with CJC after completing your undergraduate role.  

I chose to stay with CJC after my undergraduate role as it will allow me to expand and broaden my experience and knowledge on the purpose of constructability and how it’s further implemented into projects. I believe this experience that CJC offers me will also help me grow and develop into future roles and I enjoy the company culture and breadth of projects I can gain exposure to. 

What are you excited about with your new role?  

Working with new people within the civil engineering industry and solving problems and challenges. 

What area are you enjoying most in your new role?  

Working with the Constructability and Design Team, both areas demonstrate logical and problem-solving aspects that I quite enjoy while working with CJC.  

John’s successful journey with us demonstrates how a company’s support for its graduates can have a huge impact on an engineer’s career. At CJC, we are proud to provide future engineers opportunities to develop their skills and gain practical experience whilst receiving mentorship and guidance from our team of experienced engineers.  

If you are a graduate or undergraduate engineer seeking a supportive environment to develop your skills and learn from industry leaders, we encourage you to apply for our opportunities and start your engineering pathway with us. Complete this form on the Careers Page of our website to let us know you are interested.  

Director, Colin Calder recognised as an Engineering Executive by Engineers Australia

Director, Colin Calder was this week recognised as a leader in the engineering field by Engineers Australia receiving the title of Engineering Executive.

As an additional level of recognition of his impact on the industry Colin will also hold the title of Chartered Engineer.

An invitation only opportunity, the recognition as Engineering Executive is a credit to Colin’s years of experience leading teams on some of the most complex projects around the globe.

Read more about Colin here. Congratulations Colin!