Finance Manager

• Ongoing, full-time role
• LOCATION: Coffs Harbour, Lismore or Port Macquarie
• Our employees work principally in the workplace
• Clerk Grade 9/10, salary from $129,464 to $142,665 plus super and leave loading

This role offers flexible, people-first working conditions

• 35‑hour base working week
• Flexible start and finish times between 6am and 10pm, with core hours of 10am–3pm
• Flex time, allowing additional hours worked to be accrued and taken back as flex leave
• Generous leave arrangements, including carers’, parental and adoption leave

About the role

NSW Public Works (NSW PW) is part of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and supports many different local and state government agencies to deliver critical infrastructure initiatives by providing expert advisory, planning, design, delivery and support services.

We are currently seeking a Manager, Commercial and Finance Operations to join NSW Public Works (NSW PW) within the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD).

This role has responsibility for leading finance operations across a defined territory, spanning three offices and a small team of finance professionals, and works closely with project teams, operational leaders and central finance functions.

In this role, you will be accountable for delivering the core finance fundamentals—accurate financial reporting, strong financial controls, and reliable month‑end, forecasting and budgeting outcomes—while also lifting commercial insight and financial discipline at the frontline of delivery.

About you

You are a hands‑on finance and commercial leader who can run a tight operational function while improving how project and financial information is produced, analysed and used.

You will:

• Lead and develop a small, geographically dispersed finance team, building capability, consistency and confidence
• Own financial performance across your territory, including forecasting, cost control, margin visibility and project financial health
• Work closely with project managers and local leaders to improve cost transparency, forecast accuracy and commercial decision‑making
• Support effective project controls practices, including cost‑to‑complete risk, trend identification and variance analysis
• Partner with central finance, systems and commercial teams to embed improved tools, reporting and ways of working

Experience in the construction and infrastructure sector, particularly in project controls or commercial finance roles, is highly favourable. This may include experience in:

• Supporting or leading financial management on capital works, infrastructure or major asset projects
• Working alongside project managers, engineers and commercial leads in delivery environments
• Developing and maintaining project forecasts and cost‑to‑complete risk
• Translating project‑level data into forward‑looking insight that supports timely intervention and better outcomes.

Experience may come from government, contractors, consultancies or asset owners.

While this role is first and foremost a finance and commercial leadership position, advanced analytics capability is also highly favourable. We are particularly interested in candidates who can:

• Use Power BI to design and develop robust data models, reports and dashboards for project and commercial insights
• Apply Power Query to automate data extraction, transformation and reconciliation
• Query or work with SQL‑based data sources or structured datasets
• Use lightweight scripting or automation (where appropriate) to reduce manual reporting effort and improve repeatability
• Translate complex data into clear, decision‑ready insights for non‑finance stakeholders.

This capability will be used to augment and uplift finance and project controls processes, rather than replace formal systems or enterprise platforms.

If you are motivated by improving how finance supports project delivery and want to help build a more insight‑driven, commercially mature operation, we would love to hear from you.

Applying for the role

Apply by submitting a current resume and cover letter (maximum 2 pages) that outlines your skills and experience relevant to the role.

For more information about the role, please click here to view the role description .

Additionally, if you would like to hear more about this role please contact Sam Thomas Director, Business Operations & Strategy at ***email_hidden*** or on 0436 673 024.

Closing Date: Monday 22 June 2026 at 11:55pm