How to Apply to CIMIC Group

21 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 13 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • CIMIC Group is Australia's largest construction and services group, headquartered in North Sydney, approximately AUD 15 billion revenue and around 30,000 employees across its subsidiaries. It was formerly Leighton Holdings (renamed April 2015) and was delisted from the ASX in May 2022 after HOCHTIEF acquired the minority stake.
  • Ownership is a three-layer chain: ACS Group of Spain (Florentino Pérez) owns approximately 76 percent of HOCHTIEF AG of Germany, and HOCHTIEF owns essentially 100 percent of CIMIC. Every strategic decision at CIMIC ultimately reflects ACS Group priorities.
  • The CEO Juan Santamaría is an ACS/HOCHTIEF-appointed leader running the group as an operationally integrated subsidiary of the HOCHTIEF Group, not an independent Australian contractor.
  • The group operates as a federation of subsidiaries: CPB Contractors (the largest, civil and building construction across Australia and New Zealand), UGL (asset services, rail rolling stock, power, telecommunications, defence), Sedgman (minerals processing EPCM), Pacific Partnerships (PPP developer and equity investor), and Leighton Asia (Asian construction arm based in Hong Kong).
  • Thiess, historically CIMIC's largest subsidiary, is no longer part of the group. Elliott Investment Management acquired a 50 percent stake in 2020 and the remaining 50 percent in 2024. Mining services is no longer a core CIMIC vertical.
  • Applications go to each subsidiary's dedicated careers portal (cpbcon.com.au, ugllimited.com, sedgman.com, pacificpartnerships.com.au, leightonasia.com, cimic.com.au). There is no unified CIMIC careers portal or single candidate profile across the group.
  • CIMIC is a frequent sponsor of Australian Temporary Skill Shortage (482 TSS) and Employer Nomination Scheme (186 ENS) visas for senior engineers, tunnelling and PPP specialists, and minerals processing leads. Sponsorship for junior and mid-level roles is rarer.
  • Compensation for experienced engineers in Sydney and Melbourne typically ranges AUD 110,000-170,000 for mid-level, AUD 170,000-260,000 for senior project manager and commercial manager roles, and AUD 250,000-400,000 for construction manager and contract director roles, with short-term incentives and vehicle allowances on top.

About CIMIC Group

CIMIC Group Limited is Australia's largest construction, mining services, and public-private partnership (PPP) operator and one of the most consequential infrastructure contractors in the Asia-Pacific region. Headquartered in North Sydney, New South Wales, the group employs approximately 30,000 people across its subsidiary companies and generates around AUD 15 billion in annual revenue from construction, services, and PPP activities across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and selected international markets. CIMIC is the former Leighton Holdings, renamed in April 2015 to reflect the group's transition from an Australian listed company toward closer operational integration with its then-majority shareholder HOCHTIEF AG. The company was delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange in May 2022 following a successful minority squeeze-out by HOCHTIEF, which now owns essentially 100 percent of CIMIC Group. Ownership is the single most important fact to understand about CIMIC, and it is often misunderstood by candidates coming from purely Australian backgrounds. CIMIC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HOCHTIEF AG, the German construction giant listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. HOCHTIEF itself is approximately 76 percent owned by ACS, Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A., the Spanish infrastructure group chaired by Florentino Pérez (better known globally as the long-time president of Real Madrid). This three-layer ownership chain — ACS Madrid at the top, HOCHTIEF Essen in the middle, and CIMIC Sydney at the operational edge — is the structural reality of the company, and every strategic, capital, and talent decision at CIMIC ultimately reflects ACS Group priorities. For candidates, this matters because CIMIC is no longer an independent ASX-listed Australian contractor with its own listed-company governance and earnings calendar; it is an operating subsidiary inside a Spanish-German infrastructure conglomerate with a long view on infrastructure cycles, a conservative capital discipline, and a preference for scale, engineering rigour, and repeatable project delivery. The group's operating model is a federation of subsidiaries, each with its own leadership, brand, offices, and careers portal. CPB Contractors is the largest and most visible subsidiary — the Australian and New Zealand construction arm that delivers the group's marquee civil infrastructure projects, including Sydney Metro, WestConnex, West Gate Tunnel in Melbourne, Cross River Rail in Brisbane, North East Link, Snowy 2.0 civil works, and major stadium, road, rail, bridge, and tunnel packages. UGL is the asset-services and maintenance subsidiary, specialising in rail rolling stock (manufacturing, overhaul and maintenance), power systems, telecommunications, water, defence maintenance, and broader asset management across critical infrastructure. Sedgman is the minerals processing EPCM (engineering, procurement, construction management) specialist, delivering coal handling and preparation plants, mineral processing facilities, and studies for mining clients globally. Pacific Partnerships is the group's PPP developer and equity investor, originating, structuring, and holding equity in social and economic infrastructure concessions. Leighton Asia is the Asia construction arm, with a particular focus on Hong Kong, Singapore, India, and selected Southeast Asian markets, delivering civil, building, and specialist infrastructure work for public and private clients. An important boundary condition: Thiess, which was historically CIMIC's largest subsidiary and one of the world's largest mining services companies, is no longer part of the group. CIMIC sold down a 50 percent stake in Thiess to Elliott Investment Management in December 2020 in a joint-venture transaction, and Elliott subsequently acquired the remaining 50 percent in 2024, taking full ownership. Thiess is now an Elliott portfolio company and operates independently of CIMIC. Candidates who remember Thiess as a CIMIC brand should update their mental model: mining services is no longer a core CIMIC vertical, and group revenue mix has shifted accordingly toward CPB civil construction, UGL services, Sedgman minerals processing, and Pacific Partnerships PPP activities. The competitive context is Australian and Asian infrastructure. CIMIC competes directly with Lendlease on major civil and building packages, with Multiplex (owned by Brookfield) on commercial building and stadium work, with Laing O'Rourke on tunnelling and complex infrastructure, with John Holland (owned by CCCC, China Communications Construction Company) on rail and civil, with Downer EDI on rail, maintenance, and transport services, and with Ventia (which itself demerged from CIMIC and Apollo in 2015 and listed on the ASX in 2021) on services and facilities management. In Asia, Leighton Asia encounters Gammon Construction, Hsin Chong, Chun Wo, China State Construction, Shimizu, Obayashi, and Samsung C&T on major projects. The competitive pressure is intense: the Australian infrastructure market is oligopolistic, alliance and PPP contracting structures are complex, and margins on fixed-price work have been historically thin. Leadership has been decisively ACS/HOCHTIEF-appointed since the end of the Leighton era. Juan Santamaría has served as CEO since 2022. Santamaría is a long-tenured ACS/HOCHTIEF executive with deep experience across ACS operating companies internationally, and his appointment signalled the end of the transitional period and the beginning of a fully integrated operating model with the HOCHTIEF Group. Before Santamaría, Marcelino Fernández Verdes led the turnaround between 2014 and 2020, driving the rebranding from Leighton to CIMIC, the divestment of non-core assets (including partial Thiess and Ventia demerger), the resolution of legacy Leighton-era investigations in the Middle East and Indonesia, and a substantial cleanup of cost, cash, and contract discipline. This 2014-2022 restructuring era is still reflected in the CIMIC culture: a strong emphasis on contract rigour, cash discipline, bid discipline, and operational execution over growth-at-any-cost. CIMIC is a distinctively Australian-Asian-Spanish-German company with a North Sydney corporate spine. The CIMIC Group head office sits in North Sydney alongside the CPB Contractors executive office. UGL is headquartered in North Sydney as well, with major operating sites in Broadmeadow (Newcastle), Perth, and around rail and power assets nationally. Sedgman is headquartered in Brisbane with project offices in mining regions globally. Pacific Partnerships operates out of North Sydney. Leighton Asia is headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in Singapore, Jakarta, Hanoi, and Mumbai. For candidates who want a career that combines Australian civil engineering, Asian infrastructure delivery, PPP finance, minerals processing, and exposure to a European parent with a global infrastructure footprint, CIMIC is one of a very small number of employers in the Southern Hemisphere that can credibly offer all of it under one corporate umbrella.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Identify the right subsidiary before you apply

    Identify the right subsidiary before you apply. CIMIC Group itself has a small corporate office, and very few roles are posted against the parent brand. The vast majority of opportunities live inside CPB Contractors (cpbcon.com.au/careers), UGL (ugllimited.com/careers), Sedgman (sedgman.com/careers), Pacific Partnerships (pacificpartnerships.com.au/careers), and Leighton Asia (leightonasia.com/careers). Applying for the wrong subsidiary, or applying to a group-level posting when the work is actually inside CPB, is the most common mistake candidates make.

  2. 2
    Use each subsidiary's dedicated careers portal

    Use each subsidiary's dedicated careers portal. Unlike most ASX 200 peers, CIMIC does not operate a unified Workday or SuccessFactors front door. Each subsidiary runs its own careers site with its own ATS instance under the hood — a mix of generic_careers portals, Taleo/Oracle HCM (at some subsidiaries), and PageUp. Candidates generally need to create a separate account per subsidiary and upload their resume afresh. There is no single CIMIC candidate profile that carries across the group.

  3. 3
    Tailor your resume to the subsidiary's work

    Tailor your resume to the subsidiary's work. CPB expects civil construction and tier-one project delivery language: D&C, EPC, managing contractor, alliance contracts, Incentive Target Cost (ITC), Project Delivery Agreements (PDA), early contractor involvement (ECI). UGL expects asset services and maintenance language: rolling stock overhaul, Periodic Maintenance Examination (PME), condition-based maintenance, SCADA, asset management plans, ISO 55000. Sedgman expects minerals processing EPCM language: coal handling and preparation plants (CHPP), mineral processing, metallurgical testwork, commissioning, and ramp-up. Pacific Partnerships expects PPP finance and delivery language: consortium bidding, SPV, concession term, availability payment, equity investment, social infrastructure. Generic resumes that ignore this vocabulary tend not to progress.

  4. 4
    Submit a clean, single-column PDF resume

    Submit a clean, single-column PDF resume. Each subsidiary portal parses PDFs inconsistently — some use straightforward keyword matching, some use more aggressive structured parsing — and the lowest-common-denominator strategy is a clean, single-column, standard-font PDF with clear section headings. Avoid tables, text boxes, header graphics, and multi-column layouts that confuse parsers. Photos are not expected on Australian resumes and are actively discouraged.

  5. 5
    Expect a short structured question set per subsidiary

    Expect a short structured question set per subsidiary. Applications ask right-to-work status for Australia (and Hong Kong/Singapore/India for Leighton Asia), notice period, salary expectations, willingness to relocate to project sites (critical for CPB construction and Sedgman EPCM roles), security clearance status (important for UGL defence work), and any trade certifications or tickets (construction white card, high-risk work licences, rail industry worker cards, electrical licences). Answer every question honestly — these fields are used to triage the long list.

  6. 6
    Prepare for a recruiter screen within two to three weeks

    Prepare for a recruiter screen within two to three weeks. Each subsidiary runs its own talent acquisition team. CPB's Sydney-based TA team handles civil construction; UGL's TA team is distributed across Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, and Melbourne by business line; Sedgman's is Brisbane-based; Pacific Partnerships is Sydney-based; Leighton Asia is Hong Kong-based. The initial screen is typically 30 to 45 minutes focused on fit, role motivation, compensation alignment, mobility, and for sponsored candidates an early discussion of 482 TSS or 186 ENS visa pathways.

  7. 7
    Prepare for subsidiary-specific technical rounds

    Prepare for subsidiary-specific technical rounds. CPB civil engineering candidates face project delivery questions grounded in live projects: bid phase versus delivery phase, commercial and contract management, claims, variations, and earned-value tracking on megaprojects like Sydney Metro or Cross River Rail. UGL candidates face asset services technical questions: rolling stock maintenance cycles, reliability centred maintenance, power systems commissioning, telecommunications rollout. Sedgman candidates face metallurgical and process engineering questions, including testwork interpretation and plant ramp-up troubleshooting. Pacific Partnerships candidates face PPP financial modelling and bid strategy questions. Leighton Asia candidates face Asian project delivery context questions, with Mandarin or Cantonese language advantages for Hong Kong roles.

  8. 8
    Expect a panel interview with a senior delivery leader

    Expect a panel interview with a senior delivery leader. For CPB and Leighton Asia project roles, the panel usually includes the project director or general manager of the business unit, a functional head (engineering, commercial, or HSE), and an HR business partner. For UGL business-line roles, the panel includes the business line general manager and functional leadership. For Pacific Partnerships, the panel often includes a member of the executive team given the small size of the investment and origination team. Senior roles frequently involve the subsidiary managing director and occasionally the CIMIC Group CEO for the most senior appointments.

  9. 9
    References and background checks run to Australian construction-industry norms

    References and background checks run to Australian construction-industry norms. Expect verification of your ticket and licence register entries, nationally-coordinated criminal history check, right-to-work verification, and for senior commercial and financial roles a credit and conduct check. For UGL defence work, Australian Government security clearance (Baseline, NV1, or NV2) is required and CIMIC/UGL will either verify existing clearances or sponsor new clearances for suitable candidates. For Leighton Asia Hong Kong roles, Hong Kong Labour Department compliance and occasionally a local background check is required.

  10. 10
    Negotiate on total package, not base alone

    Negotiate on total package, not base alone. CIMIC subsidiaries offer competitive base salary, site allowances for remote and regional construction work, fly-in fly-out (FIFO) allowances where applicable, a short-term incentive tied to project and business performance, and for senior roles a long-term incentive arrangement aligned with HOCHTIEF Group schemes. Vehicle allowances and novated leases are standard for project-based roles. Relocation and sponsorship support is standard for senior engineering and specialist PPP or tunnelling roles.

Resume Tips for CIMIC Group

recommended

State the subsidiary and role family in your summary line

State the subsidiary and role family in your summary line. A one-line summary such as 'Senior Project Engineer — major rail civil works, targeting CPB Contractors Sydney Metro / Cross River Rail delivery teams' outperforms a generic 'experienced construction professional' opener by an order of magnitude. Hiring managers screen within their own subsidiary and function.

recommended

Use the Australian construction vocabulary precisely

Use the Australian construction vocabulary precisely. Design and Construct (D&C), Engineer-Procure-Construct (EPC), alliance contracts (including pure alliance and competitive alliance), managing contractor, Early Contractor Involvement (ECI), Incentive Target Cost (ITC), Project Delivery Agreement (PDA), Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP), and Project Alliance Agreement (PAA) are all distinct procurement models with specific commercial and risk implications. Naming them correctly signals you understand Australian tier-one contracting.

recommended

For CPB and civil engineering roles, lead with project names, dollar values, ton

For CPB and civil engineering roles, lead with project names, dollar values, tonnages, and scope. 'Project Engineer, Sydney Metro City and Southwest — Central Station package, AUD 955M scope, structural steel and diaphragm wall works, delivered to program with zero LTI' is stronger than any amount of generic language. If you have touched WestConnex, West Gate Tunnel, Cross River Rail, Snowy 2.0, North East Link, or any major stadium, name the project, your package, and your specific contribution.

recommended

For UGL roles, emphasise asset services metrics and accreditations

For UGL roles, emphasise asset services metrics and accreditations. Mean time between failure (MTBF), mean time to repair (MTTR), reliability-centred maintenance outcomes, ISO 55000 asset management certification, rail industry worker (RIW) card status, SCADA and ICS experience, and defence security clearance levels are the language. Rolling stock experience (EDI Rail heritage, passenger and freight overhaul) has particular weight for UGL's rail maintenance business.

recommended

For Sedgman roles, lead with plant tonnages, commodities, and commissioning outc

For Sedgman roles, lead with plant tonnages, commodities, and commissioning outcomes. 'Process Engineer, Curragh CHPP expansion, 25 Mtpa ROM throughput, commissioned to nameplate in 11 weeks' is the right register. Coal handling and preparation, iron ore, copper, gold, and lithium processing experience all count; EPCM lifecycle exposure from study through commissioning is the differentiator.

recommended

For Pacific Partnerships roles, show PPP bid and delivery experience

For Pacific Partnerships roles, show PPP bid and delivery experience. Naming specific PPP transactions — Sydney Metro, Canberra Metro, New South Wales schools and courts, Defence housing, social infrastructure — and your role in the consortium (lead developer, investor, SPV financial modelling, tender management) is essential. Familiarity with availability-payment structures, concession-term cash flows, and the equity-and-debt stack of infrastructure financing is assumed at all levels.

recommended

For Leighton Asia roles, signal regional project experience and language ability

For Leighton Asia roles, signal regional project experience and language ability. Hong Kong MTR packages, Singapore LTA tunnelling, Indian Metro work, and Indonesian or Vietnamese civil projects all carry weight. Mandarin, Cantonese, or Bahasa capability should be listed with CEFR levels or a clear proficiency description; business Mandarin is a genuine advantage for Leighton Asia senior commercial roles.

recommended

Show HSE as a first-class discipline

Show HSE as a first-class discipline. CIMIC subsidiaries are deeply serious about health, safety, and environment. Leading indicators (safety interactions, near-miss reporting, critical-risk audits) are valued more than lagging indicators (LTIFR alone). Reference CIMIC Group's 'HSE absolutes' or 'life-saving rules' cultural framing in your cover letter if applying to a site-based role — it demonstrates you have read the annual sustainability reporting.

recommended

Keep the resume to two pages for mid-career candidates, three pages maximum for

Keep the resume to two pages for mid-career candidates, three pages maximum for senior project directors. Australian construction resumes often run long because of project lists; the right approach is a concise two-page resume with a separate one-page 'project annex' that lists project name, client, value, delivery model, your role, dates, and one-line outcome. This layout is well understood by CIMIC recruiters.

recommended

List tickets, licences, and professional memberships honestly

List tickets, licences, and professional memberships honestly. White Card (Construction Induction Card), High-Risk Work Licence (HRWL) subclasses, rail industry worker (RIW) status, electrical licence (state-specific), Chartered Engineer status (Engineers Australia, IChemE, RPEQ), PMP, RICS MRICS or FRICS, and Australian Government security clearances are all meaningful. Misstating any credential is a hard disqualifier — CIMIC checks the registers.

ATS System: Per-Subsidiary Custom Careers Portals (CPB Contractors, UGL, Sedgman, Pacific Partnerships, Leighton Asia, cimic.com.au)

CIMIC Group does not operate a unified applicant tracking system across the federation. Instead, each major subsidiary runs its own careers portal with its own ATS instance under the hood, and candidates must apply to each subsidiary separately. CPB Contractors uses a careers portal at cpbcon.com.au/careers; UGL uses ugllimited.com/careers; Sedgman uses sedgman.com/careers; Pacific Partnerships uses pacificpartnerships.com.au/careers; Leighton Asia uses leightonasia.com/careers; and CIMIC Group itself uses a small corporate careers page at cimic.com.au/careers for the handful of group-level finance, legal, company secretary, and HSE roles. The ATS instances in use are a mix: some subsidiaries run on PageUp (a common Australian listed-company ATS), some on Oracle Taleo/HCM, and some on lighter bespoke portals. None of the subsidiaries currently front their external recruiting through Workday. Candidates typically need a fresh profile per subsidiary, and there is no cross-portal single sign-on. The practical consequence is that the PDF resume and a short structured question set are the main signals recruiters see, and the readability and keyword fidelity of that resume matters materially. Portals are mostly optimised for desktop applications; mobile-first candidates are advised to complete the application on a laptop for reliability. Internal transfers between subsidiaries (common for senior leaders moving between CPB, UGL, and Pacific Partnerships) go through internal talent processes rather than the public portals.

  • Apply directly on the specific subsidiary's careers portal, not through LinkedIn or indeed-style aggregators. CIMIC recruiters report inconsistent candidate data from aggregator applies, and a direct application is more reliable.
  • Use a single-column, standard-font PDF resume. Avoid tables, text boxes, header/footer images, coloured text, and multi-column layouts. Subsidiary portals parse layout-simple PDFs most reliably.
  • Mirror the exact language of the job description. Subsidiary recruiter triage is keyword-assisted, and 'Incentive Target Cost' is parsed differently from 'ITC' — use both the full phrase and the abbreviation where possible.
  • Answer all structured questions including optional ones. Right-to-work, notice period, salary expectations, mobility, tickets and licences, and security clearance status are used to filter the long list, and incomplete answers push applications down the queue.
  • Include a one-page cover letter for senior and specialist roles (senior project directors, PPP origination, tunnelling specialists, minerals processing leads, defence-cleared UGL roles). It is optional but read, and it is a high-leverage way to signal fit.
  • Create a separate profile per subsidiary you are targeting. Do not expect a CPB profile to be visible to UGL or Sedgman recruiters. They are independent systems.
  • Apply early in the posting window. Major tier-one construction roles are often filled within three to five weeks of posting; Pacific Partnerships origination roles fill slower because of the specialist nature of the work.

Interview Culture

Interviewing at CIMIC subsidiaries is unmistakably Australian tier-one construction: direct, commercially grounded, project-led, and respectful of craft.

Interviewers are typically senior engineers, project managers, or business-line leaders who have spent most of their careers on major civil, building, rail, power, or minerals projects, and they will know the industry, the competitors, the procurement models, and often the specific projects on your resume. The fastest way to earn credibility is to be genuinely prepared on the work: the projects the subsidiary is delivering right now, the commercial structures underpinning them, and the HSE posture the group takes. For CPB Contractors civil and building interviews, expect a deeply technical conversation in the first and second rounds. Typical prompts cover your experience across bid and delivery phases, your understanding of specific procurement models (D&C, EPC, alliance, managing contractor, ECI, ITC), your commercial and claims experience, your earned-value and program management discipline, and your approach to HSE and quality on live sites. Senior project engineer and project manager candidates will be asked to walk through a specific megaproject package end-to-end: scope definition, design management, subcontracting, construction methodology, commissioning, and handover. For tunnelling roles specifically, expect questions on TBM selection and performance, segment manufacture and logistics, excavation cycle time, ground conditions management, and jet grouting or ground improvement. For stadium and major building work, expect questions on structural steel procurement, façade interfaces, and concurrent-trade coordination. For UGL interviews, the technical bar is asset-services oriented rather than construction-oriented. Rolling stock candidates face questions on heavy maintenance cycles, overhaul program management, reliability-centred maintenance, and the specific rolling stock classes UGL maintains across the country. Power and telecommunications candidates face systems engineering, SCADA, commissioning, and outage management questions. Defence candidates face questions grounded in the Australian Defence Estate work UGL undertakes, with a careful distinction between what is publicly discussable and what is security-classified. Expect honest questions about your security clearance history and your willingness to undertake NV1 or NV2 clearances where required. For Sedgman interviews, the register is minerals processing and EPCM. Expect a metallurgical or process engineering discussion, a walk-through of a specific plant you have worked on, and questions on commissioning, ramp-up troubleshooting, and client relationship management during bid and delivery. Sedgman also runs a structured approach to study-phase work (scoping, pre-feasibility, feasibility, detailed engineering) and candidates should be able to articulate which phases they have contributed to and what decisions they owned. For Pacific Partnerships interviews, the conversation shifts toward PPP finance, bid strategy, and consortium management. Typical prompts: walk through a PPP transaction you have participated in, what role you played in the consortium, how the availability-payment or usage-risk structure worked, what the key commercial risks were, and how the equity and debt stack was constructed. Expect technical financial modelling questions for analyst and associate roles, and bid leadership and origination questions for director-level roles. Pacific Partnerships is a small, specialist team and the interview loop is correspondingly senior: candidates often meet the full investment and bid team. For Leighton Asia interviews, the register is Asian infrastructure delivery, often conducted in Hong Kong. Expect questions on MTR, LTA, or Mumbai Metro-style packages, local subcontracting dynamics, project governance across language and cultural boundaries, and specific local regulatory contexts. For Hong Kong roles, Cantonese is not required but English fluency is assumed; Mandarin capability is a significant plus for commercial and senior project roles. Culturally, CIMIC subsidiaries value directness, commercial rigour, safety leadership, and execution discipline. Senior leaders have come up through project delivery and expect you to talk about work at the level of contracts, program, risk, and cash. Generic 'leadership and teamwork' answers without commercial and technical specifics do not land well. Interviewers will push back on your answers and expect you to defend your position. References to the ACS/HOCHTIEF parent group strategy, or to the post-Leighton restructuring under Fernández Verdes and now Santamaría, signal that you understand the company is not an independent Australian contractor but rather the Asia-Pacific operating arm of a European infrastructure conglomerate. Dress for interviews at the North Sydney corporate office is business formal to business casual. For site-based interviews at CPB projects, UGL depots, or Sedgman plants, expect a PPE requirement: steel-cap boots, high-vis shirt, long trousers, and safety glasses provided at induction. Carry a notepad. Ask questions grounded in live projects and strategy: what are the most pressing delivery risks on the current package, how is the team structured across design and construction phases, what are the subsidiary's priorities for the next 12 to 18 months, and how does the role interact with ACS and HOCHTIEF governance. Do not ask about remote work or sabbaticals in a first round for site-based roles; major project delivery is a physical, on-site discipline.

What CIMIC Group Looks For

  • Genuine tier-one project delivery experience. CIMIC subsidiaries hire at scale for megaproject delivery and they value candidates who have seen the commercial, technical, and human-scale complexity of a AUD 500 million-plus package from bid through completion. Candidates who have only worked on small-to-mid-cap projects can still get roles, but the step-up to a CPB major package is taken seriously.
  • Commercial and contract discipline. The Australian infrastructure market runs on D&C, EPC, alliance, and managing contractor structures with specific commercial frameworks including ITC, PDA, GMP, and PAA. Candidates who speak the language of contract clauses, claims, variations, extension of time, and cash management without prompting signal maturity.
  • Uncompromising HSE leadership. CIMIC's operating philosophy places HSE as a non-negotiable first principle. Candidates who treat safety as a compliance exercise rather than a leadership discipline are screened out early. Evidence of personal safety interactions, critical-risk audits, and genuine safety culture work counts heavily.
  • Operational cash discipline. The post-2014 Leighton-to-CIMIC turnaround under Fernández Verdes was built on cash conversion, working capital discipline, and bid discipline. That culture persists. Candidates who think instinctively about upfront payment profiles, progress claim cycles, and subcontractor payment terms have a clear edge in commercial roles.
  • Comfort with a subsidiary-of-a-subsidiary governance reality. CIMIC is a HOCHTIEF subsidiary and HOCHTIEF is an ACS subsidiary. Decisions on major bids, capital, and senior hires route through European parent governance. Candidates who need full local autonomy and resist European oversight struggle; candidates who understand global infrastructure conglomerate governance thrive.
  • Regional and site mobility. CPB and Sedgman projects are frequently regional or remote (Snowy 2.0, regional Queensland coal, Pilbara iron ore, remote highway packages). UGL defence work is distributed across multiple states. Leighton Asia work is Asian-based. Mobility, and genuine willingness to spend extended periods on site, is a real differentiator.
  • Engineering depth paired with commercial judgement. The best CIMIC leaders are chartered engineers with strong commercial instincts. Candidates with pure engineering credentials but no commercial exposure are developed into commercially-literate leaders; candidates with pure commercial backgrounds but no technical credibility struggle to land senior delivery roles.
  • Cross-cultural fluency. The group spans Australian, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indian, Southeast Asian, Spanish, and German cultures. Candidates who operate comfortably across that footprint, and who navigate ACS/HOCHTIEF governance respectfully, move faster than those who treat CIMIC as a purely Australian company.
  • Resilience through cycle and restructuring. The 2014-2022 restructuring period was genuinely demanding. Candidates who have worked through a significant corporate restructuring, a major project dispute, or a difficult commercial claim and can talk candidly about what they learned signal maturity.
  • For graduate and early-career candidates, a clear engineering or commercial trajectory. CIMIC subsidiaries run structured graduate programs for civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, mining, and process engineers, as well as commercial, quantity surveying, and business graduates. Competitive applicants have a strong academic record, meaningful vacation or cadet experience on live projects, and a clear view of which subsidiary and function fits their skills.

Frequently Asked Questions

What ATS does CIMIC Group use?
CIMIC Group does not use a single unified applicant tracking system. Each major subsidiary runs its own careers portal with its own ATS instance underneath: CPB Contractors at cpbcon.com.au/careers, UGL at ugllimited.com/careers, Sedgman at sedgman.com/careers, Pacific Partnerships at pacificpartnerships.com.au/careers, and Leighton Asia at leightonasia.com/careers. CIMIC Group itself has a small corporate careers page at cimic.com.au/careers for group-level roles in finance, legal, company secretary, and HSE. The ATS instances behind the portals are a mix of PageUp, Oracle Taleo/HCM, and lighter bespoke systems. None of the subsidiaries currently front external recruiting through Workday, and there is no single cross-subsidiary candidate profile. Candidates generally create a separate profile per subsidiary they target.
Is CIMIC still a listed Australian company?
No. CIMIC Group was delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange in May 2022 following a successful minority squeeze-out takeover by HOCHTIEF AG, which already owned the majority of the company. Today CIMIC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HOCHTIEF AG, which is in turn approximately 76 percent owned by ACS, Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A. of Spain. CIMIC no longer publishes standalone ASX-facing full-year or half-year results; financial disclosure rolls up into HOCHTIEF's Frankfurt Stock Exchange reporting and, at the top of the chain, into ACS's Madrid-listed reporting. For candidates, this means governance, capital allocation, and major strategic decisions route through European parent processes rather than through an independent Australian listed company.
What happened to Thiess?
Thiess, historically CIMIC's largest subsidiary and one of the world's largest mining services contractors, is no longer part of the CIMIC Group. In December 2020, CIMIC sold a 50 percent equity interest in Thiess to funds managed by Elliott Investment Management in a 50/50 joint-venture structure. In 2024, Elliott acquired the remaining 50 percent, taking full ownership of Thiess. Thiess now operates as an Elliott portfolio company independent of CIMIC. Candidates who remember Thiess as a CIMIC flagship should update their mental model: mining services at scale is no longer part of the CIMIC portfolio, and the group's revenue mix has shifted toward CPB civil construction, UGL services, Sedgman minerals processing EPCM, and Pacific Partnerships PPP activities.
Does CIMIC sponsor work visas for overseas candidates?
Yes, CIMIC subsidiaries are frequent sponsors of Australian skilled-worker visas. The most common pathways are the Temporary Skill Shortage (482) visa for specialist engineering and project roles, the Employer Nomination Scheme (186) for permanent positions, and the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (494) visa for regional project locations. Sponsorship is most common for senior tunnelling engineers, large civil project directors, minerals processing specialists (Sedgman), senior PPP bid and origination professionals (Pacific Partnerships), and UGL rolling stock engineers with specialist overseas overhaul experience. Sponsorship for mid-level and junior roles is rare. For Leighton Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and India employment visas are available for senior roles. Candidates who require sponsorship should disclose it early in the recruiter screen — it affects shortlist decisions and avoids wasted time on both sides.
How has CIMIC changed since the Leighton era?
The transition from Leighton Holdings to CIMIC Group between 2014 and 2022 was one of the more significant corporate turnarounds in Australian listed-company history. Marcelino Fernández Verdes, appointed by HOCHTIEF, led the 2014 to 2020 phase, which included rebranding from Leighton to CIMIC in April 2015, divesting or demerging non-core assets (the Ventia services and facilities management business was demerged in 2015 with Apollo Global Management), resolving legacy Leighton-era investigations into historical bribery allegations in the Middle East and Indonesia, and restoring cash discipline and bid discipline after a period of significant write-downs. Juan Santamaría, also ACS/HOCHTIEF-appointed, took over in 2022 and has overseen the delisting and full operational integration with HOCHTIEF Group. The culture today is materially more disciplined, more engineering-led, and more integrated with European parent governance than the independent Leighton of the early 2010s.
What is the difference between CPB Contractors and UGL for my career?
They are different businesses with different rhythms. CPB Contractors is the civil and building construction subsidiary: heavy civil, road, rail, tunnel, bridge, stadium, and major commercial building work delivered through D&C, EPC, alliance, and managing contractor structures. Careers at CPB are project-led, typically cycle through major packages (Sydney Metro, WestConnex, Cross River Rail, West Gate Tunnel, Snowy 2.0), and reward commercial and technical delivery excellence. UGL is the asset services and maintenance subsidiary: rail rolling stock overhaul and maintenance, power systems, telecommunications, water, and defence maintenance. Careers at UGL are business-line-led, typically run on long-cycle maintenance contracts rather than finite-life projects, and reward reliability engineering, asset management, and long-term client relationship skills. Candidates who want to deliver massive one-off megaprojects lean CPB; candidates who want to run ongoing critical infrastructure service businesses lean UGL.
What compensation should I expect at CIMIC?
Compensation varies by subsidiary, function, and location, but Sydney and Melbourne benchmarks are useful reference points for experienced candidates. Mid-level civil, structural, mechanical, or electrical engineers (5 to 8 years of experience) typically earn AUD 110,000 to 170,000 base, with superannuation on top and a short-term incentive of 10 to 20 percent of base. Senior project managers, commercial managers, and engineering managers (10 to 15 years of experience) typically earn AUD 170,000 to 260,000 base plus a 15 to 25 percent short-term incentive, car allowance or vehicle, and site allowances where applicable. Construction managers, contract directors, and senior PPP bid leaders typically earn AUD 250,000 to 400,000 base with larger incentive quanta and long-term incentive arrangements aligned to HOCHTIEF Group schemes. FIFO and remote site roles carry additional uplifts. Leighton Asia Hong Kong compensation sets against Hong Kong infrastructure benchmarks and often includes an expatriate package for senior imported hires.
Does CIMIC run graduate programs?
Yes. CPB Contractors, UGL, Sedgman, and Pacific Partnerships each run graduate programs tailored to their respective disciplines. CPB's program is primarily civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering, plus commercial and quantity surveying graduates, with rotations across bid and delivery phases on major civil and building projects. UGL runs graduate programs for electrical, mechanical, and systems engineers, plus commercial and supply-chain graduates, aligned to its asset services business lines. Sedgman's graduate program focuses on process, metallurgical, mechanical, and civil/structural engineering for minerals processing EPCM work. Pacific Partnerships runs a smaller investment and bid analyst pipeline, usually recruiting from finance, engineering, and economics backgrounds. Applications open at each subsidiary annually; most programs align to Australian end-of-year university graduation cycles with a February or March intake.
What does Pacific Partnerships actually do?
Pacific Partnerships is CIMIC's public-private partnership (PPP) developer and equity investor. It originates, bids, structures, and holds equity interests in Australian social and economic infrastructure PPP concessions. Its activities span transport PPPs (roads, rail, and metro concessions), social infrastructure (schools, courts, hospitals, justice facilities, and defence housing), and other availability-payment or usage-risk concessions. It partners with construction teams — almost always including CPB Contractors and UGL as consortium partners — to deliver the build and operate phases. Careers at Pacific Partnerships are specialist: small team, deep PPP finance and commercial skills, long bid cycles, and direct interaction with government clients, sponsors, and financiers. It is a genuinely different career from CPB or UGL and attracts candidates with investment banking, infrastructure finance, PPP advisory, and PPP sponsor-side backgrounds.
How long does CIMIC's hiring process take?
Timelines vary by subsidiary and role seniority, but most mid-level and senior project roles at CPB, UGL, and Sedgman run from application to offer in approximately four to eight weeks. The process typically includes a recruiter screen, a hiring manager interview, a technical or panel interview, and a final leadership conversation. Pacific Partnerships roles can take six to ten weeks given the specialist nature of PPP bid and investment work and the small team size, which means more stakeholders meet each candidate. Senior director-level roles across all subsidiaries can take three to six months, particularly when external search firms are engaged, when security clearances need to be verified, or when international relocation and sponsorship are involved. Graduate programs follow an annual cycle with applications typically opening mid-year for an early-year intake.
Should I be concerned about the legacy Leighton investigations?
The legacy Leighton-era investigations into historical bribery allegations in the Middle East and Indonesia are part of the public record and were substantially resolved during the 2014-2020 turnaround led by Marcelino Fernández Verdes. The rebranding from Leighton Holdings to CIMIC Group in April 2015 signalled a definitive break from the legacy company culture that surrounded those investigations. Today CIMIC operates under robust group-wide compliance, anti-bribery, and anti-corruption standards consistent with HOCHTIEF Group and ACS Group governance. For candidates, the historical context matters only in the sense that it explains why CIMIC and its subsidiaries invest heavily in compliance training, contract transparency, and delivery governance today. Candidates joining CIMIC today are joining a substantially reformed organisation; the Leighton-era investigations are treated internally as resolved history rather than as live issues.
What Australian construction procurement terms should I understand before interviewing?
At minimum, candidates should understand the following Australian infrastructure procurement models. Design and Construct (D&C) is the standard model where the contractor takes responsibility for both design and construction to a defined performance specification. Engineer, Procure, Construct (EPC) extends that to engineering and procurement on a lump-sum basis. Alliance contracting is a collaborative model where owner and non-owner participants share pain and gain against a Target Outturn Cost; pure alliances select a single partner, while competitive alliances select through a competitive process. Managing Contractor is a cost-plus model with the contractor acting as an agent of the principal during design and sometimes construction. Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) brings the contractor into design phase with the intent of moving to a firm price. Incentive Target Cost (ITC) and Project Alliance Agreement (PAA) structures are variations on shared pain-gain contracts. Project Delivery Agreement (PDA) and Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) are further commercial frames. PPP and availability-payment concessions are the long-dated, financed versions used extensively by Pacific Partnerships.
Is Mandarin or Cantonese required for Leighton Asia roles?
Neither is formally required for most Leighton Asia roles, but they are genuine advantages depending on the position and location. Hong Kong roles default to English as the working language of the corporate office and most major projects, and Cantonese is not a hiring requirement for expatriate engineering, commercial, or project-delivery leaders. Mandarin is an increasingly useful capability for senior commercial and client-facing roles, particularly when engaging with Mainland Chinese contractors, suppliers, and joint-venture partners. In Singapore, English is the working language. In India, English is standard in engineering and project management contexts. For senior business development and origination roles in Greater China, Mandarin fluency becomes a meaningful differentiator. Candidates should list language capability honestly using CEFR levels (B2, C1, C2) rather than generic claims of fluency.

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Sources

  1. CIMIC Group — Corporate Website —
  2. CIMIC Group — Careers —
  3. CPB Contractors — About and Careers —
  4. UGL Limited — About and Careers —
  5. Sedgman — Minerals Processing EPCM and Careers —
  6. Pacific Partnerships — PPP Developer and Careers —
  7. Leighton Asia — About and Careers —
  8. HOCHTIEF AG — Corporate Website and Annual Reporting —
  9. ACS Group (Grupo ACS) — Corporate Website —
  10. HOCHTIEF completes acquisition of CIMIC minority stake, CIMIC to be delisted — Australian Financial Review —
  11. CIMIC removed from ASX as HOCHTIEF takeover completes — The Australian / news reporting, May 2022 —
  12. Elliott Management acquires remaining 50% of Thiess from CIMIC — Reuters, 2024 —
  13. Leighton sells 50% of Thiess to Elliott in mining services deal — Sydney Morning Herald, December 2020 —
  14. Leighton Holdings renamed CIMIC Group — company announcement, April 2015 —
  15. Juan Santamaría appointed CEO of CIMIC Group — HOCHTIEF / CIMIC announcement —
  16. Infrastructure Partnerships Australia — Industry context on PPPs and major projects —
  17. CIMIC Group reviews on Glassdoor Australia —
  18. Australian Government Department of Home Affairs — Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482) —