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Civil Engineer / Surveyor

Land Development | Civil Design | Project Delivery

Location: Invercargill (with projects across Southland)

Role type: Full-time, permanent

Absolute Land is a small, rapidly growing consultancy in Invercargill. We’re seeking a Surveyor (with engineering and project management experience) or Civil Engineer to play a key role in our business. Partnership is a possibility. We are part of the Southern Land group, with a head office in Wānaka and additional presence in Queenstown, Cromwell and Auckland.

If you enjoy taking ownership of your work, contributing to project delivery, and working closely with clients and other team members, we’d love to hear from you.

Your key responsibilities

• Project Delivery – Provide engineering input to support the delivery of projects through all stages, consenting, design, tendering, construction, and titles. Help coordinate inputs from other disciplines.
• Design and Technical Delivery – Prepare detailed civil designs for land development projects, including earthworks, three waters, and roading. Work closely with senior engineers to ensure designs meet quality, safety, and compliance standards.
• Contract Administration – Prepare tender and contract documents, schedules of quantities, and estimates. Administer NZS3910 construction contracts.
• Construction Monitoring – Carry out site inspections during construction and liaise with contractors to confirm works meet design intent and technical specifications.
• Certifications and Titles – Manage or contribute to s223 and 224c applications.
• Client and Stakeholder Coordination – Build strong relationships with clients, councils, contractors, and other consultants.
• Quality Assurance – Contribute to quality control processes, ensuring documentation, drawings, and models are accurate and fit for purpose.

What you’ll bring

• Qualifications – A degree/ diploma in surveying or civil engineering, e.g. B.Surv, BE (Hons), BEngTech (Civil), or NZDE (Civil).
• Experience – 3+ years in civil engineering, ideally within the land development sector.
• Technical Skills – Solid understanding of three waters, earthworks, and roading design, with experience using 12d or Civil 3D.
• Project Exposure – Experience in delivering subdivision and land development projects, from consenting and design through to construction.
• Communication – Confident working within a team and engaging with clients, councils, and contractors.
• General – Organised, proactive, and adaptable, with the ability to manage workload across multiple projects.

Why join Absolute Land

• Competitive remuneration and a friendly work environment, with support from our local and national team of experienced professionals.
• Establish yourself in a welcoming and affordable city, that boasts affordable housing, a lower cost of living, and wonderful recreational opportunities with the Catlins, Fiordland and Stewart Island nearby for hunting, tramping and boating.
• Enjoy working alongside and serving salt-of-the-earth Southlanders, who have a reputation as NZ’s friendliest Kiwis for good reason!

Who are we

Absolute Land is a multi-disciplinary land development consultancy with strong local roots and national reach. We help landowners realise the potential of their land through practical, high quality and sustainable development solutions. We value curiosity, collaboration, and follow-through.

We provide clients with comprehensive development services, including topographical and cadastral surveying, set-outs and resource management planning, project management, civil design and engineering. We enjoy contributing to Invercargill’s development and take pride in assisting our clients in achieving their goals and progressing from smaller to larger scale projects.

Let’s talk

We know the best people aren’t always actively job hunting. If this role sounds like the right step for you, let’s start a confidential conversation.

Email annabel@absoluteland.co.nz or Call: 027 237 5011