Surveillance Officer

Organisation: Road and Maritime Services

Job Title: Surveillance Officer

Location: Wollongong

Proven experience in Contract Administration of road, bridge or maritime works, including
sound knowledge of the safety and environmental issues, and quality systems relating to the
construction and rehabilitation of road and bridge works.
Throughout my career, I have acquired high level experience working in procurement
environments within the Public Service industry. As a Road Worker Grade 3 with Roads and
Maritime Services I have been involved with numerous civil constructions works since 2008. In this
time, I have gained experience in Contract Administration of road, bridge and maritime works
including operational experience in procurement, management and suppliers. Tasks involved
undertaking and overseeing contract coordination activities to support my management in
administering complex, contributing to the initial drafting of contracts and the development of
associated documentation, including briefs and evaluation plans. One of my obligations was to
firstly ensure that the tender met the stated requirements, that the supplier or contractor was
fulfilling their obligations and to administer any changes to the contract.
Whilst employed at Workforce International, I was able to demonstrate my array of skills relevant
to the civil construction industry in a contract management capacity including sourcing suppliers,
supplier management including the monitoring of pricing and performance. During a regular
supplier review I discovered that the printer who supplied our stationery was not providing the
correct paper for company letterheads and was using normal offset paper instead of digital offset
paper. I consulted the contract and confirmed the issue, contacted the supplier immediately and
was able to get the contractor to ship the correct paper type on the next delivery. I was promoted
to account manager for the contractor for my diligence in discovering the issue. With management
I was able to draft a new proposal to ensure that the existing procedure be modified to ensure the
same issue did not occur.
As a skilled Road Worker, a comprehensive knowledge of Work Health and Safety (WHS)
requirements in any origination I am employed is critical. Without this knowledge, there is a
definite risk to both team members and any visitors that are attending the site. At each work site I
am employed, I ensure that I am fully aware of the relevant policies and procedures pertaining to
Work Health and Safety. With formal qualifications in OHS I understand the importance of Work
Health and Safety, and believe that it is a shared responsibility for all team members and on site I
always ensure that workers are utilizing relevant Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). I
participate in regular WHS audits, lead, and perform continual risk assessments, as well as
documenting incidents or near misses and see this as an integral aspect of my position. In regards
to work safety I lead by example and have served as a mentor to many team members during my
employment at Workforce.
Environmental stewardship is an important aspect of my work and I always ensure that work is
performed in a responsible and sustainable manner from the reduction of waste and waste
collection to the correct application of work techniques to ensure there is a reduced
environmental impact. In any situation where I feel there is the potential for incorrect work
practices to cause an incident I inform management immediately and ensure that work is
performed as per regulations.
My significant experience within Contract Administration is evidenced through my strong
performance in the safe delivery of road, bridge and maritime works in my role with Workforce
International and I am confident I can continue to achieve this in the role of Surveillance Officer.

Demonstrated knowledge of and experience with road, bridge and maritime construction works
such as piling, concrete work, pre-casting, prestressing, steel fabrication and erection, concrete
pavements, drainage, earthworks, asphalting, Heavy Patching and spray sealing.
My qualifications, work experience, personal drive and strong work ethic have equipped me with
all the necessary requirements to carry out civil construction work. As an extremely motivated and
capable individual, I have shown considerable skill in the performance of my duties including
general labour, power and non-powered hand tools, traffic control and the operation of
construction machinery. As a well organised and competent person I am able to work in
conjunction with others and observe Work Health and Safety practices to ensure the smooth flow
of construction work.
As a Road Worker Grade 3, I had the opportunity to work with the RMS on the Picton Road
upgrade, a large $330 Million project at the time. The project’s focus was to increase road safety
by the removal of blind spots and the widening of the road to allow for safer overtaking. During
this project I was involved in a large variety of projects such as concrete work, laying of formwork,
pipework and the provision of drainage. Sections of the road were damaged and I participated in
the heavy patching of multiple sections and spray sealing of surfaces to engineered specifications.
I have a significant amount of practical experience in conducting the majority of road working
techniques, working with and around excavation equipment and high quality concrete finishing. In
addition, I have been involved in fault finding work during bridge maintenance investigating
weaknesses and faults in construction. In this and all other projects, I have performed all directed
repair and construction work to a high standard. On large scale projects, it is not only technical
competency but the ability to be self-motivated and communicate with other team members and
management on and offsite to ensure compliance with the relevant standards. I am a confident
team member and enjoy working collaboratively to achieve stated objectives.
As a confident and qualified professional I believe I can achieve strong results as a Surveillance
Officer for Roads and Maritime Services. My flexible outgoing personality enables me to
communicate effectively, my experience has provided the technical skills to both oversee work
and manage teams. I look forward to having the opportunity to further develop my knowledge of
road, bridge and maritime construction work for the Roads and Maritime Services in the area of
Surveillance and contract management.

Experience in planning and implementing surveillance and in monitoring and assessing
compliance against standards, policy and practices.
Sound planning and organisational skills have been critical in my current role as the Owner Builder
at JF Services in the construction of several duplexes for investment purposes. It is my
responsibility to provide the overall strategic plan, planning of milestones, training programs and
management of all external and internal resources. An integral aspect of my work is the
management of budgets, and scheduling as is surveillance of the project and the negotiation and
maintenance of contracts. I have a strong understanding of local covenants and with an extensive
background in building works, I am more than capable in assessing the quality of work and its
compliance against the relevant standards, policies and practices. For work performed outside of
my scope I utilise the services of subject matter experts such as building engineers and qualified
trades people who are able to ensure that work is legal and of a high standard.
Before commencing work on my properties I ensured that a detailed project plan was developed
detailing all work items, requirements, permits and compliance information established. Once
requirements are known I begin to assemble my project teams, understand what motivates them
and determine their level of skill what level of support and surveillance they will need to ensure
compliance. The performance of contractors and team members is of vital importance in the
building industry, and poorly performed and unscheduled work as well as no shows will produce a
negative cascade of outcomes that will cause major disruption to operations.
In order to manage this workload with no administrative support I focus heavily on personal
organisation and utilise a variety of methods to ensure work is correctly supervised and compliant
at regular intervals. Major project work milestones including scheduled site inspections are
maintained within the electronic plan and relevant events are entered into Outlook for
distribution to team members via calendar synchronisation or in paper form if no electronic means
are available. This calendar is used to breakdown the project into daily, weekly and monthly goals
targets and outcomes. I have developed templates for recurring tasks and other submission
together with project documentation to streamline project management duties to allow more
time on site to oversee progress. During site surveillance I ensure the correct oversight of the job
site ensuring work is performed and completed on schedule and to the required standard by
certifying bodies and the requirements of experts such as building engineers and local government
inspectors.
By the use of correct project planning methodology, I have been able to keep apprised of changes
and demands that constantly occur in the development environment. With the ability to anticipate
changes in schedule and site changes via correct planning I am able to maintain a high level of
effective surveillance and to date all my developments have been completed without any major
defects and a perfect safety record. I feel that I would be able to contribute in a similar fashion as
a surveillance Operator for the Roads and Maritime Service.

Demonstrated ability to interpret contract documents, drawings, plans and specifications and to
source and analyse information and keep effective records.
With nearly a decade working within the building industry I have a well-developed ability to read
an interpret contracts, drawings, plans and specifications. I am able to source multiple and
relevant source of information on potential suppliers, products and new construction techniques
as well as locate the relevant information to ensure compliance with relevant legislation. As an
avid technology user I have high levels of computer literacy and use this to gain insight into
current issues, new development opportunities and to keep effective computer based records in
applications such as the Microsoft Office Suite.
As an owner builder of several investment properties I am responsible for the entire governance
of the business including strategy planning, budgeting, sourcing suppliers and contractors as well
as providing design inputs in conjunction with engineers and architects. I am responsible for the
sourcing and subsequent negotiations with subcontractors such as builders, concreters, plumbers
and electricians to name but a few businesses involved in the construction process. Compliance
management to ensure that contracts are being adhered to and modifications to existing
agreements are an essential part of maintaining progress in construction and I excel at managing
these to deliver positive outcomes.
Liaising with construction and design professionals such as engineers and architects is often
necessary and I have significant experience in this, and my past position in civil construction with
the interpretation of architectural drawings, plans and design specifications. I am regularly
referring to the site plans and designs to check performed work against the specifications to
ensure contractor compliance. Any misunderstanding of plans in the process can cause large
regulatory headaches and to date my work in this area has been without error.
Being highly technically literate, I utilise computer based methods to store and retrieve relevant
data and all records are available to me via my laptop onsite. The use of application suites for
database, financial and the production of documents is a core part of my project methodology. For
redundancy I correctly maintain hard copy records in a secure filing system and ensure that any
computer based information is backed up regularly. As much of the information is now made
available online I utilise this method heavily, allowing me to efficiently manage my time. In
conjunction with this approach I do visit local government departments and suppliers to obtain
information directly and to develop strong and effective working relationships.
My construction projects to date have been characterised by high quality and compliant design
with very few issues in regards to communication issues due to misunderstanding of design and
non- compliance in regards to record keeping. With highly developed skills and experiences to
interpret technical information, source information quickly and efficiently, and excellent
information technology skills I am confident I can achieve significant results as a Surveillance
Officer for Roads and Maritime Services.

Effective communication skills, including interpersonal, conflict resolution and negotiation skills
with an ability to build effective relationships.
A confident communicator, I build rapport easily with a variety of stakeholders ranging from the
general public, suppliers, team members and senior executives. With over 12 years in working
within the private and government sectors, I have refined my communication skills, both written
and verbal, to a high level. A dedicated and strong team leader, I utilise active listening and
questioning techniques to foster a culture of open communication and I have received several
commendations from my supervisors on the quality of my communication.
In my previous position as a contract Road Worker employed by the Road and Maritime Services, I
worked under tight deadlines and required excellent communication and conflict resolution skills
to complete the scheduled work efficiently. I had been asked to prepare a plan and complete a
driveway for emergency vehicle access and to have this completed in a two day timeframe. I
communicated the requirements of the task to my team and they noted that due to technical
reasons of weather, access to equipment and interruptions to site access that the short timeframe
was unrealistic and would take an extra day to complete. After the meeting I communicated this
information to my manager and he agreed to extend the time frame and to complete it as soon as
possible. Two days later my manager arrived onsite and demanded to know why the job wasn’t
completed as agreed. I mentioned our previous conversation about the extended deadline,
however he stated that he had no recollection of this and reacted in an aggressive manner. Rather
than reacting in kind and arguing I was able to reframe the conversation to the difficult site
requirements and the hard work that the team was doing, and eventually back to our earlier
conversation to extend the deadline by a day. My supervisor when presented with the site
conditions and the details of our earlier conversation relented and the situation was defused and
the work was completed on the third day without incident. That same manager was impressed
with the calm manner in which I responded and how I managed my team and requested that I be
leading hand for several other jobs under his management.
Conflict in the workplace is unavoidable and requires patience, empathy and the ability to
compartmentalise emotions in order to resolve conflict and get the job done under stressful
conditions. I have a highly developed ability to read body language, build rapport and defuse
aggression and my communication skill, is continually noted on my performance appraisals. As a
result, I have often been tasked with higher duties to lead teams. The above example showcases
my ability to communicate with influence and negotiate effectively to achieve the desired
outcome and my ability to communicate with influence to negotiate favourable business
outcomes with internal and external stakeholders. With these skills and experience, I feel I can
make a positive impact on business operations on a day to day basis.

Demonstrated ability to work in a team environment and contribute to joint outcomes.
As a strong team player, and a multiple recipient of Employee of the Month at Workforce, I enjoy
contributing to the achievement of organisational goals with a team of like-minded individuals. I
believe in a collaborative approach and recognise that all team members can contribute to the
overall objective and solutions to complex problems can often come from a multitude of sources
within the team.
As a Road Worker Grade 3 for the RMS working on the Picton Road expansion project I was an
important contributor and was able to define direction of aspects of the project within my scope
and ensured that the team was working within an environment geared for success. I always
ensured the job site was clear, safe and ready for work to be performed, and was happy to
perform jobs deemed unpleasant and unpopular such as garbage collection to support the team.
My strong work ethic and can-do attitude was an asset on the job site and I was always a strong
contributor to work within my team and the wider development works.
Strong working relationships between team members and team morale is a significant contributor
to delivering project work on time and on budget. Whilst on Higher duties, I was leading a team
where significant friction was occurring between two team members resulting in poor quality
work and a disrupted work schedule for the rest of the team. To ensure that the situation did not
get out of hand I was able to re-assign duties temporarily to allow enough separation between the
two workers to defuse the emotional nature of the dispute. I organised a meeting to discuss their
grievances with a mediator present and to understand what was occurring to assist in the
resolution of the dispute. Initially I made it clear that their behaviour was not conducive to quality
work, that their dispute was affecting the wider team and that a compromise needed to be
reached. I then worked to further discuss the issue, allow the team members to find some
commonality and finally reach a compromise. I was able to coach both employees on avoiding a
similar situation in the future and to remind them that they needed to take a more professional
rather than emotional response to disputes at work in the future. With the situation defused, the
air of tension on the worksite was removed and everyone was able to commence work with a
renewed sense of purpose and teamwork.
With my strong work ethic, ability to work in teams and manage workflows, site issues and
disputes I believe I can make a strong contribution to the Road and Maritime Service as a
Surveillance officer. My naturally developed sense awareness and attention to detail will allow me
to provide high quality outcomes for the organisation.