How to Apply to Ventia Services

15 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 221 open positions

Key Takeaways

  • Ventia Services Group (ASX: VNT) is a top-tier Australian and New Zealand essential infrastructure services business, formed in 2015 from the merger of Leighton Contractors Services, Visionstream, Thiess Services, and Silcar, listed on the ASX in November 2021, employing approximately 35,000 people, and reporting revenue of approximately A$5.6 billion in 2024.
  • The business is structured around Defence, Telecommunications, Transport, Infrastructure Services (utilities and environmental), and Resources, with major contracts including Australian Department of Defence Estate Maintenance and Operations Support, NBN Co network maintenance, Telstra and Vodafone telecommunications maintenance, motorway and tunnel operations, and water, electricity, and gas network services.
  • Most roles flow through careers.ventia.com, a custom Australian recruitment portal; create a single profile, tailor your application to the specific sector and state, and complete every field rather than relying solely on the uploaded resume, because recruiters filter heavily on structured fields including tickets, licences, security clearance, and work rights.
  • Defence-aligned roles typically require Australian citizenship and a Baseline, NV1, or NV2 security clearance under the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency framework; clearance sponsorship is available for the right candidates but the process can take six to twelve months and is the dominant gating factor for time-to-start.
  • Interviews are STAR-format competency interviews scored against Ventia's values (Safety, Integrity, Collaboration, Ingenuity, Sustainability); prepare three to five concrete stories that cover safety, customer and client service, accountability, teamwork, ingenuity in solving operational problems, and sustainability outcomes.
  • HSEQ is the dominant cultural signal across the Group; show specific examples of safety behaviours, use of Take 5s and JSAs, exercising Stop Work authority, just-culture reporting, and respect for standard operating procedures even in non-infrastructure past roles.
  • Pre-employment checks include national police, work rights, references, pre-employment medical with drug and alcohol testing for safety-critical roles, ticket and licence verification for trades, and security clearance sponsorship or transfer for Defence roles, which can add two to eight weeks to the time to start.
  • Compensation for trades, field services, and many supervisory operational roles is set by enterprise bargaining agreements (EBAs) negotiated with the AWU, CFMEU, ETU, AMWU, and CEPU among others, while staff and salaried corporate, engineering, and project roles are paid on individual contracts that are competitive within the Australian infrastructure services market.
  • CEO Dean Banks (in role since June 2020, succeeding founding CEO Joe Sofra) joined from Babcock International in the United Kingdom, and the strategic agenda is shaped by Australian defence services growth, NBN maintenance contract renewals, the federal infrastructure pipeline, and the move toward circular economy and remediation services.

About Ventia Services

Ventia Services Group Limited (ASX: VNT) is one of the largest essential infrastructure services providers in Australia and New Zealand, headquartered at North Sydney and employing approximately 35,000 people across more than 100 operational sites. The company was formed in 2015 through the merger of Leighton Contractors Services, Visionstream, Thiess Services, and Silcar, bringing together the operations and maintenance arms of CIMIC Group and Apollo Global Management into a single specialist services business, and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in November 2021 in one of the largest Australian IPOs of that year. Revenue in 2024 reached approximately A$5.6 billion, making Ventia a constituent of the S&P/ASX 200 and a direct peer of Downer EDI (ASX: DOW), CPB Contractors, John Holland, and the broader CIMIC services portfolio. The business is organised around four sectors: Defence, Infrastructure Services (transport, utilities, environmental), Telecommunications, and Transport. In Defence, Ventia delivers Estate Maintenance and Operations Support contracts to the Australian Department of Defence, including the long-running Estate Maintenance and Operations Services contract that maintains bases, training areas, and facilities across Australia. In Telecommunications, Ventia is a major maintenance and construction partner for NBN Co, Telstra, and Vodafone (TPG Telecom), maintaining the fixed-line, fibre, mobile, and tower networks that underpin Australian connectivity. In Transport, the business holds long-term operations and maintenance contracts on major motorways, tunnels, and rail assets, including network maintenance for state road authorities. In Utilities, Ventia maintains water, electricity, and gas networks for state-owned and private utilities, and the Environmental Services line operates waste, recycling, and contamination remediation businesses including the legacy Thiess Services environmental brand. The Resources arm services mining clients across Western Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales. Chief Executive Officer Dean Banks took the role in June 2020, succeeding founding CEO Joe Sofra and bringing a UK background from Babcock International, where he led the Aviation business and sat on the executive committee. Recent strategic context has been shaped by Australian defence services growth tied to AUKUS-adjacent base modernisation, multi-billion-dollar NBN maintenance contract renewals, the federal infrastructure pipeline, and growing demand for circular economy and remediation services. Candidates evaluating Ventia should expect a pragmatic, operationally focused, geographically distributed business with a heavy enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) skilled-trades workforce, government-contract pace, and a culture shaped by the realities of running essential services across remote bases, suburban networks, and tunnels twenty-four hours a day.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Search and apply through the Ventia careers portal at careers

    Search and apply through the Ventia careers portal at careers.ventia.com, which is a custom Australian recruitment system that hosts every role across the Defence, Telecommunications, Transport, Infrastructure Services, and corporate businesses; create a single candidate profile so you can track multiple applications across sectors and regions.

  2. 2
    Set location and sector filters carefully: roles are tagged by state (NSW, VIC,

    Set location and sector filters carefully: roles are tagged by state (NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA, ACT, TAS, NT, plus New Zealand) and by sector (Defence, Telecommunications, Infrastructure Services, Transport, Environmental, Resources), and many regional and remote roles such as Defence base maintenance or NBN field technicians sit in physical locations that metropolitan candidates routinely overlook.

  3. 3
    Expect the initial application review to be handled by an internal Ventia talent

    Expect the initial application review to be handled by an internal Ventia talent acquisition partner aligned to the relevant business line, typically within one to three weeks; high-volume trades and field-services requisitions are reviewed continuously while corporate and engineering roles move on a more deliberate cadence.

  4. 4
    Shortlisted candidates receive a recruiter phone screen calibrating motivation,

    Shortlisted candidates receive a recruiter phone screen calibrating motivation, salary expectations, work rights, mobility (especially willingness to work on Defence bases or in remote locations), driver licence class, ticket and licence currency for trades, and any security clearance position the role requires under the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency framework.

  5. 5
    For Defence-aligned roles, expect questions about Australian citizenship and exi

    For Defence-aligned roles, expect questions about Australian citizenship and existing or sponsorable security clearances (Baseline, NV1, NV2, or Positive Vetting); many Estate Maintenance and Operations Support positions require Australian citizenship as a non-negotiable condition because of base access and Defence client requirements.

  6. 6
    Hiring manager interviews are competency-based and grounded in Ventia's values (

    Hiring manager interviews are competency-based and grounded in Ventia's values (Safety, Integrity, Collaboration, Ingenuity, Sustainability) and behavioural frameworks, with strong emphasis on Health, Safety, Environment and Quality (HSEQ) mindset, accountability, and the candidate's understanding of operating in regulated, client-facing environments; senior roles add a panel interview, a presentation, or a commercial case study.

  7. 7
    Pre-employment checks for successful candidates include a national police check,

    Pre-employment checks for successful candidates include a national police check, right-to-work verification, reference checks, a pre-employment medical including drug and alcohol testing for safety-critical roles, ticket and licence verification for trades, and security clearance sponsorship or transfer for Defence roles, all of which can extend the time to start by two to eight weeks.

  8. 8
    Offers are typically extended within one to two weeks of the final interview thr

    Offers are typically extended within one to two weeks of the final interview through the careers.ventia.com portal with a written contract; trades and field services offers under enterprise bargaining agreements arrive with the relevant EBA referenced and the standard rates, allowances, and rosters specified, while staff and salaried roles receive an individual contract.


Resume Tips for Ventia Services

recommended

Lead with measurable HSEQ, operational, and contract outcomes rather than duties

Lead with measurable HSEQ, operational, and contract outcomes rather than duties: Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate reductions, asset availability uplift, network maintenance KPIs met, contract gross margin improvement, audit findings closed, environmental incidents prevented, or productivity gains, ideally with the baseline you improved from.

recommended

Make the sector fit explicit

Make the sector fit explicit. Defence values security clearance, base experience, and Department of Defence client knowledge; Telecommunications values NBN, Telstra, or carrier maintenance experience and field force management; Transport values motorway, tunnel, and rail O&M experience; Environmental Services values contaminated land, waste, and recycling experience; tailor the resume to the sector you are applying to rather than submitting one generic version.

recommended

Surface essential Australian credentials early: White Card (Construction Inducti

Surface essential Australian credentials early: White Card (Construction Induction), driver licence class (C, LR, MR, HR, HC, MC), forklift, EWP, working at heights, confined space, dogman/rigger, first aid, low voltage rescue, switching tickets, electrical licence (A-grade), plumbing licence, RIIWHS204D and other resources tickets, and any state-specific licences carry weight in the Ventia parser and with hiring managers.

recommended

For corporate, engineering, project management, and commercial roles, mirror key

For corporate, engineering, project management, and commercial roles, mirror keywords from the job advert and from Ventia's investor materials: NEC, AS4000, AS4902, GC21, EPCM, asset management, ISO 55000, ISO 45001, ISO 14001, lifecycle costing, condition-based maintenance, planned and reactive maintenance, KPI regimes, performance frameworks, and contract administration all signal the right experience.

recommended

Quantify field workforce or contract scale for any operational or supervisory ro

Quantify field workforce or contract scale for any operational or supervisory role: number of technicians supervised, geographic spread of the contract, value of the contract managed, number of work orders completed per month, fleet size, and SLA performance translate directly to Ventia's contract delivery model.

recommended

Show evidence of regulated environment experience: working under the Defence Sec

Show evidence of regulated environment experience: working under the Defence Security Principles Framework, AS/NZS standards, state work health and safety regulators (SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe Victoria, Resources Safety WA, etc.), state environmental regulators (EPA), the Telecommunications Act, and the relevant rail safety regulator (ONRSR) is a strong differentiator for technical, operational, and risk roles.

recommended

Keep the resume to two pages for most field and trades roles, three for engineer

Keep the resume to two pages for most field and trades roles, three for engineering and project roles, and four for senior leadership applications, with a clean chronological format, simple typography, and no graphics, columns, or text boxes; the Ventia portal handles plain layouts best, and recruiters review high volumes of applications quickly.

recommended

Include an explicit Australian work-rights statement (citizen, permanent residen

Include an explicit Australian work-rights statement (citizen, permanent resident, 482 visa holder, Working Holiday, etc.) at the top of the resume, plus security clearance status (None, Baseline, NV1, NV2, PV) and citizenship for Defence-aligned applications, because Ventia recruiters filter heavily on these for clearance-required roles.



Interview Culture

Ventia interviews are practical, behaviourally driven, and noticeably more grounded than those at most Australian professional services employers, reflecting the company's identity as an operational services business that delivers physical work on Defence bases, telecom networks, motorways, and utility assets every day. Almost every interview, regardless of role, opens with a Safety Moment or a question about a recent safety observation the candidate has made, signalling that HSEQ culture is the price of entry rather than a discussion topic. Interviewers are trained to ask competency questions in a STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result) and to score answers against a written rubric mapped to Ventia's values of Safety, Integrity, Collaboration, Ingenuity, and Sustainability. Vague, theoretical, or overly polished answers are penalised; interviewers want a specific past example, a clear description of your individual contribution, the measurable result, and what you learned. For trades and field-services roles, expect a practical conversation grounded in real scenarios from the relevant network or base, often with a supervisor or area manager present, plus questions about ticket currency, fitness for duty, willingness to perform on-call work, and comfort with the commute or fly-in fly-out pattern. For project and engineering roles, expect two to three rounds: a recruiter screen, a hiring manager interview anchored in HSEQ and contract delivery, and a panel interview that may include a commercial, operational, and client-side stakeholder, with senior roles adding a meeting with a general manager or executive. For corporate functions in finance, HR, IT, legal, and commercial, the process is similar in structure but with deeper technical questions and often a written case study or presentation for senior appointments. Behaviourally, Ventia interviewers respond well to candidates who show genuine respect for the field workforce, can speak credibly about working alongside tradespeople and operators rather than about them, demonstrate accountability for past mistakes including safety incidents, can explain commercial trade-offs in plain English, and understand the realities of working under client KPIs and EBA conditions. They respond poorly to corporate jargon, theoretical frameworks divorced from operational reality, dismissiveness about frontline operations, perceived disrespect for the trades workforce, and any sign that a candidate sees infrastructure services as a stepping stone to a more glamorous role. The tone is professional, warm in an Australian register, and direct; small talk about football codes, regional postings, and previous infrastructure projects is normal, but decisions are made on the recorded answers to the structured questions, so candidates should prepare specific stories rather than relying on rapport.

What Ventia Services Looks For

  • Safety-first thinking that shows up in concrete past behaviours: pre-start inspections completed honestly, hazards reported even when inconvenient, Take 5s and Job Safety Analyses used as living tools rather than paperwork, Stop Work authority exercised when conditions deteriorated, and near-misses treated as learning rather than embarrassment.
  • Operational pragmatism: a track record of getting essential work done in the rain, in remote locations, in restricted Defence environments, in live traffic, around live electrical, water, gas, or telecommunications networks, and inside long-term contracts with strict client KPIs and liquidated damages regimes.
  • Respect for the trades workforce and the EBA framework: candidates who can supervise, plan for, or work alongside electricians, plumbers, riggers, drivers, technicians, and field operators with credibility, and who understand that EBA conditions, RDOs, allowances, and travel time are part of the deal rather than obstacles to be argued with.
  • Commercial literacy appropriate to the role, including the ability to talk about contract margin, work order productivity, planned-versus-reactive maintenance ratios, asset availability, lifecycle cost, and variation management, and to connect daily decisions to Group financial performance reported through the ASX.
  • Sector awareness: candidates who clearly understand the difference between Defence Estate Maintenance, NBN field maintenance, motorway O&M, water network maintenance, and contaminated land remediation, and who target their application to the right sector rather than treating Ventia as one undifferentiated services business.
  • Comfort working in a heavily unionised, regulated environment with multiple stakeholders (Department of Defence, NBN Co, Telstra, state road and rail authorities, water utilities, EPA, ONRSR, SafeWork regulators, AWU, CFMEU, ETU, AMWU, CEPU), and a track record of building constructive working relationships across these groups.
  • Ability to obtain and maintain a Baseline, NV1, or NV2 security clearance under the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency framework for Defence-aligned roles, which in practice requires Australian citizenship, a clean criminal history, sound financial conduct, and patience with a process that can take six to twelve months.
  • Long-term mindset and pride in essential services: Ventia hires for tenure in many functions, and people who treat the role as a career inside the Australian and New Zealand infrastructure services industry rather than a stepping stone, and who can articulate why operations and maintenance work matters, tend to outperform in interviews.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Ventia headquartered, and where are most jobs located?
The Ventia head office is in North Sydney, New South Wales, and most corporate, commercial, technology, and group function roles are based there. Major operational and regional offices exist in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, Darwin, and Auckland in New Zealand. However, the majority of Ventia's roles are not in capital city CBDs at all; they are distributed across more than 100 operational sites including Australian Defence Force bases, NBN field depots, motorway operations centres, water and electricity network depots, mining services camps, and environmental services facilities. When applying, set state and location filters carefully because many Defence Estate Maintenance, telecommunications field, and resources roles sit in regional, remote, or fly-in fly-out locations that metropolitan candidates routinely overlook.
Does Ventia sponsor work visas for overseas applicants?
Ventia sponsors Australian work visas (typically subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage and Employer Nomination Scheme 186) for hard-to-fill specialist engineering, project management, technical, and senior commercial roles, and uses the Australian skilled migration pathway for trades on the Skilled Occupation List where local labour market testing supports it. Sponsorship for general field, trades, administrative, and entry-level corporate roles is uncommon because the local Australian and New Zealand labour pool typically meets demand. For Defence-aligned roles, sponsorship is essentially never available because Australian citizenship is required for security clearance. Always confirm sponsorship status with the recruiter during the initial screen, since policy varies by role family and by labour-market conditions.
How long does the Ventia hiring process take?
For trades, field services, and high-volume operational roles, the process can move quickly, often four to six weeks from application to start where the candidate is ticket-current and immediately available. For corporate, engineering, project management, and commercial roles, the process typically takes six to ten weeks from application to offer. For Defence-aligned roles requiring a security clearance sponsorship or upgrade, time-to-start is dominated by the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency processing time, which is currently six to twelve months for NV1 and NV2 and can be longer for Positive Vetting. Pre-employment medicals, drug and alcohol testing, and ticket verification can independently add one to three weeks.
What ATS does Ventia use, and how should I optimise my resume for it?
Ventia uses a custom Australian recruitment portal hosted at careers.ventia.com, which handles application capture, screening, interview scheduling, and offer management for every business line. Because it is a custom system rather than a global enterprise ATS like Workday or SuccessFactors, it is more forgiving of formatting variations but less structured in its parsing. To optimise: use a clean chronological resume in PDF or DOCX, with clear section headers (Experience, Education, Tickets and Licences, Security Clearance, Skills), avoid columns, tables, and text boxes, save under 5MB, and mirror exact keywords from the job advert. Crucially, complete every field of the candidate profile (work history, education, tickets, licences, security clearance, work rights, mobility) rather than relying only on the uploaded resume, because recruiters often filter applicants on structured fields when triaging high-volume requisitions.
What is the difference between applying to Ventia, Downer EDI, John Holland, and Spotless?
All four are major Australian infrastructure and services businesses, but they have distinct identities. Ventia (ASX: VNT) is a pure-play essential services business focused on operations and maintenance across Defence, Telecommunications, Transport, Utilities, and Environmental sectors, listed on the ASX since 2021 and structured as a specialist services group. Downer EDI (ASX: DOW) is a broader integrated services business that combines transport (rail rollingstock, road services), utilities, facilities, and resources, and acquired Spotless in 2017, integrating that brand into Downer Facilities. John Holland is a tier-one construction and engineering contractor owned by CIMIC Group (which owns CPB Contractors), with a stronger emphasis on major project delivery rather than ongoing services. CPB Contractors, also part of CIMIC, focuses on large civil and infrastructure construction. Ventia is closest to the services-only segment of Downer; if you are deciding between offers, compare contract portfolios, sector mix, EBA conditions, and career path rather than treating them as interchangeable.
What does Ventia pay, and how is compensation structured?
For trades, field services, technicians, supervisors, and many operational roles, pay is set by enterprise bargaining agreements (EBAs) negotiated with the relevant union (AWU, CFMEU, ETU, AMWU, CEPU among others), and includes base hourly rate, allowances for site, height, dirty work, on-call, after-hours, and travel, superannuation at the Superannuation Guarantee rate or above, and shift loadings; rates vary by sector, location, and EBA but are competitive within the Australian infrastructure services market. Engineers in mid-career roles typically earn A$95,000 to A$145,000 plus superannuation depending on discipline, sector, and location; senior project and contract management roles range from A$160,000 to A$250,000 plus superannuation and a short-term incentive; senior leadership and executive roles range from A$200,000 to A$400,000-plus with both short-term and long-term incentive plans linked to ASX-listed Ventia equity. Allowances, vehicle, and remote-location uplifts can materially change the effective package.
Does Ventia offer remote or hybrid work?
Field, trades, technician, supervisor, base maintenance, and operational roles are by definition on-site at the relevant Defence base, telecommunications depot, motorway operations centre, utility network site, or resources camp, and many include shift work, on-call, weekend, or fly-in fly-out patterns. Project management, engineering, and commercial roles attached to a specific contract are typically based in the contract office, with hybrid flexibility set at the contract level. Corporate, technology, finance, HR, and legal roles operate on a hybrid model, generally requiring two to three days per week in the North Sydney head office or the relevant capital city office, with the exact pattern set at the team level. Fully remote roles are uncommon and are usually limited to specific specialist or interstate positions.
What graduate, intern, and apprenticeship pathways does Ventia offer?
Ventia runs an annual Graduate Program covering engineering (mechanical, electrical, civil, environmental), project management, finance, commercial, HSEQ, technology, and human resources, with intakes starting in February each year and applications opening the previous March or April. The business is also a major employer of trade apprentices across electrical, plumbing, mechanical, telecommunications, and civil disciplines, partnered with state TAFEs, group training organisations, and the Australian Apprenticeships system; apprenticeship intakes are tied to specific contracts and locations rather than a single national program. Other entry pathways include school-based traineeships, the Career Trackers Indigenous internship program, the CareerSeekers refugee employment program, and direct entry trainee technician roles in the telecommunications and utilities businesses. Competition for the Graduate Program is intense; trade apprenticeships and field trainee roles are more accessible if you are willing to work in regional or remote locations.
What is a security clearance, and why does Ventia keep mentioning it for Defence roles?
An Australian Government security clearance is required for any worker who needs access to security-classified information, systems, or facilities operated by or on behalf of the Australian Department of Defence and other national security agencies. Clearances are issued by the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency (AGSVA) at four levels: Baseline, Negative Vetting Level 1 (NV1), Negative Vetting Level 2 (NV2), and Positive Vetting (PV), each requiring progressively deeper background checks including national criminal history, financial conduct, character references, overseas travel and contacts, and in some cases polygraph and psychological assessment. Australian citizenship is required for all clearance levels, and the process can take six to twelve months for NV1 and NV2 and longer for PV. Ventia sponsors clearances for successful candidates in Defence Estate Maintenance, Operations Support, and similar roles, but the offer is conditional on the clearance being granted, and a candidate with adverse history may be ineligible.
How are EBAs structured at Ventia, and what should I know before signing?
Enterprise bargaining agreements (EBAs) at Ventia are negotiated with the relevant union or unions for each business unit, contract, or workforce segment under the Fair Work Act 2009, and are registered with the Fair Work Commission. EBAs cover base hourly or weekly rates, classifications and progression, allowances for site, height, dirty work, on-call, travel, and remote location, shift loadings and penalty rates, ordinary hours and overtime, rostered days off (RDOs), leave entitlements, redundancy, dispute resolution, and consultation rights. The specific EBA depends on the contract, the sector (Defence, Telecommunications, Transport, Utilities, Environmental), the state, and the union (AWU, CFMEU, ETU, AMWU, CEPU among others). Before signing an offer, ask the recruiter for the specific EBA name and version, read the relevant classification table, confirm your starting classification and pay point, and understand the allowances and shift patterns that apply to your roster; experienced trades workers commonly compare effective hourly rates including allowances rather than headline base rates.
How should I prepare for a Ventia competency interview?
Study Ventia's values (Safety, Integrity, Collaboration, Ingenuity, Sustainability) and the role's competency framework published with the job advert, then prepare three to five STAR-format stories from your past that each demonstrate two or three values at once. Cover safety leadership, customer and client service, dealing with operational change, accountability for a mistake (including, where genuine, a safety incident or near-miss you were involved in), working in a multidisciplinary team, delivering against contract KPIs under pressure, and sustainability or environmental outcomes. Read the most recent Ventia Annual Report, ASX investor presentations, and recent ASX announcements so you can speak intelligently about contract wins, the Defence pipeline, NBN and telecommunications maintenance, and the company's sustainability strategy. Prepare to open the interview with a Safety Moment, avoid corporate jargon, be honest about past mistakes, and tie every answer back to a specific operational or commercial outcome. For trades and field roles, expect practical scenario questions about how you would approach a specific maintenance, fault-finding, or safety situation; rehearse walking through your thinking step by step rather than jumping to a conclusion.

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