Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Infrastructure Planner

🎯 Role Definition

As an Infrastructure Planner, you will lead strategic and technical planning for transport, utilities, public realm and civil infrastructure projects. You will translate policy, growth forecasts, asset data and stakeholder needs into integrated infrastructure masterplans, detailed corridor and precinct strategies, funding and delivery programs. The role requires strong skills in land-use and transport modelling, GIS, design coordination (AutoCAD/BIM), cost estimation and stakeholder management. Ideal for someone who can balance long-range planning and immediate delivery requirements while ensuring regulatory compliance, resilience and commercial viability.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Graduate Planner (Urban/Transport)
Junior Civil Engineer or Transportation Engineer
GIS Analyst / Spatial Planner

Advancement To:

Senior Infrastructure Planner
Principal/Lead Planner (Masterplanning & Infrastructure)
Infrastructure Planning Manager / Program Manager
Head of Planning / Director of Infrastructure Delivery

Lateral Moves:

Transport Planner/Modeler
Asset Management Lead
Project Manager (Civil / Infrastructure)
Development Coordinator / Infrastructure Funding Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the preparation of strategic infrastructure masterplans, precinct plans and corridor strategies that align with regional growth forecasts, land use planning, transport modelling outputs and statutory planning frameworks.
Prepare comprehensive infrastructure delivery programs and multi-year capital works schedules, integrating timing, staging and dependencies for transport, water, wastewater, drainage, energy and digital infrastructure.
Develop cost estimates, whole-of-life costings and financial strategies for infrastructure delivery including capital budgets, developer contributions, value capture options and grant funding submissions.
Coordinate multidisciplinary design teams and external consultants to deliver concept through detailed design documentation, ensuring design solutions meet technical standards, statutory requirements and affordability targets.
Conduct demand and capacity analyses using transport network models, population and employment forecasts, travel demand modelling and scenario testing to inform infrastructure priorities.
Prepare robust business cases, benefit-cost analyses (BCA), economic appraisals and funding submissions to secure internal approvals and external grants for priority projects.
Lead statutory and regulatory coordination, ensuring planning approvals, environmental permits, land acquisition processes and utility approvals are identified and progressed to meet program milestones.
Maintain and manage GIS and asset datasets, perform spatial analysis, produce mapping and evidence packages to support infrastructure strategies, planning applications and stakeholder engagement.
Apply BIM, AutoCAD or MicroStation workflows to coordinate engineering drawings, clash detection and design iteration across disciplines during the detailed design phase.
Prepare tender and procurement documentation for construction packages, supervise procurement processes, evaluate contractor submissions and recommend award decisions in line with procurement policy.
Provide technical review and quality assurance of consultant deliverables, engineering drawings, specifications and construction documentation to ensure compliance with project briefs and technical standards.
Lead stakeholder and community engagement processes, design consultation materials, facilitate workshops and respond to submissions to build consensus and address concerns about infrastructure proposals.
Liaise with statutory authorities, utility providers and private developers to coordinate network upgrades, service relocations and easements, ensuring integrated delivery and timely connections.
Integrate climate resilience, flood risk management, environmental constraints and sustainability targets into infrastructure design and long-term asset planning.
Manage project budgets, monitor expenditure, track progress against milestones and provide monthly program and finance reporting to senior management and funding bodies.
Oversee risk identification, mitigation planning and contingency management across infrastructure programs, documenting risks, triggers and escalation procedures.
Prepare technical briefs and scope of works for specialist studies (geotechnical, traffic, acoustic, hydrology, ecology) and manage the procurement and delivery of those specialist inputs.
Support development assessment processes by preparing technical infrastructure advice, conditionally worded infrastructure requirements, and negotiation of developer infrastructure contributions and works-in-kind agreements.
Provide expert advice on policy development, infrastructure contribution frameworks, land-use planning instruments, growth infrastructure plans and statutory plan amendments.
Monitor construction activities where required, provide design clarifications, review as-built documentation and support contract variations, defects management and practical completion processes.
Develop and maintain key performance indicators (KPIs) and monitoring frameworks to measure delivery performance, asset condition and outcomes against strategic infrastructure goals.
Mentor junior planners and engineers, providing on-the-job coaching, technical training and guidance on best practice planning and delivery processes.
Produce high-quality written reports, briefing notes and presentations for elected officials, executive leadership teams and public forums to secure approvals and communicate project benefits.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Maintain templates, standard operating procedures and knowledge repositories for infrastructure planning deliverables and tendering.
Provide input into procurement strategy for long-term service contracts and panel arrangements.
Assist in preparation of grant applications and funding acquittals, ensuring compliance with funding conditions and reporting requirements.
Support continuous improvement initiatives, including process audits, lessons learned workshops and capacity-building activities across the planning and delivery teams.
Represent the organization at inter-agency planning forums, technical working groups and industry conferences to advocate project priorities and share best practice.
Coordinate training and induction materials for new team members on infrastructure planning systems, GIS data standards and project governance.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Infrastructure masterplanning and precinct planning — demonstrated experience preparing multi-disciplinary infrastructure plans that align land use, transport and services.
Transport modelling and travel demand analysis — proficiency in tools such as VISUM, VISSIM, Aimsun, TransCAD, or equivalent, and interpreting model outputs for planning decisions.
GIS and spatial analysis — strong skills in ArcGIS Pro/QGIS, spatial data management, mapping and geoprocessing to support planning evidence and reporting.
Design coordination using AutoCAD, MicroStation and BIM/Revit workflows — ability to coordinate civil design packages and perform basic clash detection.
Infrastructure financial analysis — experience preparing cost estimates, whole-of-life cost modelling, benefit-cost analysis and funding strategies.
Statutory planning and approvals knowledge — familiarity with planning schemes, development contribution mechanisms, easements and land acquisition processes.
Environmental and flood risk assessment — understanding of hydrology, stormwater management, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and environmental impact considerations.
Project management — planning and delivering medium to large infrastructure projects using MS Project, Primavera or agile delivery frameworks; milestone management and reporting.
Procurement and contract management — preparing RFPs/tender documentation, evaluating bids and managing consultant/contractor performance.
Data analysis and modelling — competency with Excel (advanced), Python/R for data manipulation or scripting, and presenting data-driven recommendations.
Utility coordination — experience negotiating relocations, network upgrades and service connection timing with electricity, water, sewer, gas and telecom providers.
Technical writing and presentation — ability to produce clear, stakeholder-ready reports, technical memoranda and briefing papers.
Risk assessment and mitigation planning — applying structured risk frameworks to program delivery and construction-phase risks.
Asset management familiarity — knowledge of asset registers, lifecycle planning and condition assessment to inform long-term infrastructure investment.
Climate resilience and sustainability design — integrating adaptation measures, low carbon solutions and green infrastructure into planning design.

Soft Skills

Strong stakeholder engagement and interpersonal skills — ability to build trust with internal teams, community groups, regulators and developers.
Strategic thinking — ability to connect policy, demographics and technical analysis into coherent delivery plans.
Problem-solving and judgement — pragmatic decision-making when balancing competing priorities and budget constraints.
Communication and influencing — persuasive writing and presentation skills to secure buy-in from senior leaders and external agencies.
Collaboration and teamwork — experience working in multidisciplinary project teams and coordinating external consultants.
Time management and organisation — managing multiple concurrent workstreams and meeting strict program deadlines.
Leadership and mentoring — capacity to coach junior staff and lead workstreams to successful outcomes.
Negotiation and conflict resolution — skillful handling of complex stakeholder negotiations and competing interests.
Attention to detail — rigorous approach to reviewing technical documentation and contractual requirements.
Adaptability and resilience — ability to work in dynamic, politically-sensitive environments and respond to changing priorities.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Urban Planning, Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Architecture, or a closely related discipline.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree in Urban/Regional Planning, Transport Planning, Civil Engineering, Infrastructure Planning, Public Policy or equivalent professional qualification (e.g., RPII, AICP, PIANC membership).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Urban and Regional Planning
Civil Engineering (with a focus on transport or water)
Transportation Engineering and Modelling
Environmental Engineering and Hydrology
Architecture and Urban Design
Public Policy, Infrastructure Finance or Asset Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3–8 years for mid-level Infrastructure Planner roles; 8+ years for senior or principal positions.

Preferred:

5+ years’ demonstrable experience delivering infrastructure planning projects in local government, state agencies, consultancies or major developers, including masterplanning, funding strategy, statutory approvals and stakeholder coordination.