Careers
Drill it, log it, test it, report it. Same firm, same week.
Drillers, offsiders, field technicians, engineers, laboratory staff and interns, across Victoria. Whatever you join as, you see the job from the ground to the report.
- Since
- 1987
- Victorian ground, metropolitan and regional
- Rigs
- Geoprobe, Comacchio, Hanjin
- Plus tight-access machines for the sites others turn down
- Laboratory
- Our own, established 1995
- NATA accredited, in the same building as the office
- The job
- Field, laboratory, report
- One firm. You see the whole of it
The work
The roles we hire
Nothing advertised right now. We hire steadily rather than in bursts — open a role and register your interest, and we call when there is a fit.
DrillerOperate track- and truck-mounted rigs on residential, commercial and infrastructure sites across Victoria and interstate, with occasional nights away.
What you will do
Set up and operate Geoprobe, Comacchio and Hanjin rigs, and the tight-access machines- Solid and hollow auger, wash boring, diamond coring, down hole hammer and push tube
- In situ testing: standard penetration, vane shear and dynamic cone penetrometer
- U-tube and bulk sampling
- Construct groundwater monitoring bores
- Keep the rig, the truck and the ancillary equipment running safely
What you need
- Proven experience in geotechnical drilling
- A current HR licence (manual preferred)
- Mechanical aptitude, and the problem solving that goes with a rig in the field
- Physical fitness for the work, and the willingness to spend the occasional night away
- To be based in metropolitan Melbourne, or to have accommodation here
- References
- An advantage: a Victorian Water Bore Licence, Class 1 or 2
- An advantage: operational experience on Geoprobe, Comacchio or Hanjin rigs
What we train
- Rig-specific competencies across the fleet
- Tight-access and low-headroom technique
- Sampling to a standard the laboratory can actually test
Driller's offsiderThe way most of our drillers started. No experience needed, and no pretence that it is a desk job. Sites across Victoria and interstate, with occasional nights away.
What you will do
- Work with the driller through the whole operation, from set-up to backfill
- Handle rods, casing, samples and the gear that goes with them
- Label and store samples so the laboratory gets what it needs
- Keep the site tidy and the exclusion zones honest
What you need
- A current MR or HR licence (manual preferred)
- Construction white card
- Mechanical aptitude, and the problem solving that goes with it
- Physical fitness for the work, and the willingness to spend the occasional night away
- To be based in metropolitan Melbourne, or to have accommodation here
- References
- Experience in the field is an advantage, not a requirement
What we train
- Everything about the rig, from the ground up
- Sampling and sample handling, to a standard the laboratory can test
- The path to the driller's seat, which is how most of our drillers got there
Field technician or graduate geologistThe role where you see the whole job. You are on the rig when the sample comes up, in the laboratory when it is tested, and on the report when it goes out. For graduates, or up to two years in.
What you will do
- Log boreholes and test pits, and describe soil and rock to AS 1726
- Field density testing by nuclear gauge on earthworks, to AS 1289.5.8.1
- Dynamic cone penetrometer and lightweight deflectometer testing
- Hand auger and the labouring that goes with fieldwork, some of it heavy lifting
- Travel to sites that may be remote or interstate
- Take the samples through to the laboratory and see them tested
- Support the senior engineers in report writing, and work to their instruction
- Build and keep good relationships with clients
What you need
- A degree in geology or geotechnical engineering, or equivalent
- A Victorian driver's licence and 4WD experience (manual preferred)
- Physically fit, and comfortable with manual handling and long days outdoors in all weather
- Attention to detail, and strong written and spoken communication
- To be reliable and able to work unsupervised
- Based within a reasonable commute of our Boronia office, as days start early from the yard
- Highly regarded: experience in soil sampling, soil and rock logging, site investigations and laboratory procedures in Australia
What we train
- Soil and rock description to the standard
- Nuclear gauge licensing and safe handling
- Laboratory methods across the AS 1289 suite
- Report writing, with a senior engineer reading over your shoulder at first
Geotechnical engineer or engineering geologistScope it, see it drilled, interpret it and write it up. An engineer at a large consultancy can spend a year writing up boreholes they never stood next to. That does not happen here. One to three years in, full time.
What you will do
- Conduct field investigations, logging soil and rock from boreholes and test pits, with sampling and in situ testing
- Coordinate with the drilling crews, the technicians and contractors
- Site classification to AS 2870 and staged investigation to AS 1726
- Pavement design, earthworks supervision to AS 3798, land capability to AS/NZS 1547
- Review field and laboratory results from our own NATA-accredited laboratory, and assist with the engineering assessment
- Prepare clear and accurate technical reports
- Talk to clients and site personnel, and help with project coordination
- Travel to metropolitan and regional sites
What you need
- A degree in civil engineering, geotechnical engineering, engineering geology, geology or an equivalent discipline
- About one to three years of relevant industry experience, with some soil and rock logging, sampling or site investigation in it
- Strong written and spoken communication, attention to detail, and a practical approach to problems
- To work well on your own and as part of a team
- A current Australian driver's licence (manual preferred)
- A current white card, or the willingness to obtain one
- Australian working rights
- Physically fit, and comfortable with manual handling and long days outdoors in all weather
- Based within a reasonable commute of our Boronia office, as days start early from the yard
- Highly regarded: Australian geotechnical experience, and familiarity with 4WD vehicles
What we train
- Structured support and on-the-job training, on a broad range of geotechnical projects
- A balance of field and office work, so the report is written by someone who stood at the borehole
- Professional development and career progression
Geotechnical engineering internField and laboratory in one placement. Sampling, testing, interpretation and the report, with the people who do each of them, for a career in geotechnical engineering.
What you will do
- Support the field team on geotechnical investigations: soil and rock sampling alongside the driller and the engineer
- Work in the laboratory on the testing that follows the fieldwork
- Help interpret the results and prepare the report
- See a job from the ground to the signed document, not one stage of it
What you need
- Enrolled in a civil or geotechnical engineering degree
- Construction white card, or the willingness to obtain one before starting
- A driver's licence (manual preferred)
What we train
- Sampling and logging in the field, to a standard the laboratory can test
- Laboratory testing to the AS 1289 methods, in an accredited laboratory
- Data interpretation and report preparation, with an engineer
Laboratory technicianOur laboratory was established in 1995, is NATA accredited, and is in the same building as the office. Samples do not sit in another firm's queue, and the people who tested them are down the hall from the people who drilled them.
What you will do
- Testing to the AS 1289 methods: moisture, particle size, Atterberg limits, compaction, CBR
- Shrink-swell testing, which is what drives a site classification
- Routine field testing as well as laboratory testing, when the job calls for it
- Correlate the test data and help prepare the reports that go to clients
- Maintain the equipment, its calibration records and its maintenance schedule, to the accreditation's requirements
- Keep records to the standard an audit expects, and work to the health and safety requirements
What you need
- Experience in a geotechnical or construction materials laboratory, or a diploma or degree in civil engineering, geology, engineering geology, earth sciences or a related discipline
- A working knowledge of the Australian Standards for geotechnical laboratory testing
- High attention to detail, and a commitment to quality
- Strong organisation and time management
- Clear written and spoken communication
- A proactive approach to problems, and to improving how things are done
- A valid driver's licence (manual preferred)
- An advantage: experience in a NATA-accredited laboratory, and an understanding of ISO/IEC 17025
What we train
- Every method in the accredited scope, and the NATA requirements behind them
- Ongoing professional development and training
- Career progression, in a laboratory that is growing
Would rather talk than type? Call (03) 9879 2999, Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm, and ask who does the hiring.
Common questions
Frequently asked
- What is a day on site actually like?
Field days start early. The rig is loaded before most offices open, and a regional job can mean an hour and a half of driving before any drilling happens. Victorian weather does what it likes and the work goes on in it: the ground does not stop being reactive because it is raining on it.
It is physical. There is mud, there is gear to shift, and there are sites where the only way in is through a side gate narrower than the rig you would rather be using.
What people stay for is the other half. You find out what is under a street nobody has drilled before, you watch the sample you took get tested down the hall, and you read your own logs in the report that goes out. Not many firms this size let one person follow a job the whole way, and not many firms that size have their own laboratory to follow it into.
- Do I need experience?
Not for an offsider. That is how most of our drillers started, and we train from the ground up. For an engineer or a laboratory technician, yes, or a relevant degree and the willingness to be taught how it is done here.
- Where is the work?
Across Victoria, metropolitan and regional. Some days are twenty minutes from the Boronia office and some are a long drive with an early start. Field roles involve travel; laboratory and office roles do not.
- Do you take graduates?
Yes, and it is one of the better places to be one. A graduate here scopes, drills, logs, tests and writes, rather than being handed one stage of a job someone else saw.
- What happens after I apply?
A person reads it. There is no filter in between.
If there is a fit, a phone call. Then a site visit or a look through the laboratory, so you see the work before you commit to anything. Then an offer.