Permanent Recruitment
Harrison Barratt Group’s permanent division specialises exclusively in construction and building services recruitment. We place project managers, site managers, engineers, estimators, contract administrators, and foremen into roles that shape Australia’s built environment — with 250+ permanent placements and counting.
250+
Permanent Placements
128,000+
Candidates in Database
5
Offices Across AU & NZ
860+
Active Clients
Who We Place
From site-level foremen to project directors overseeing $500M+ pipelines — we recruit across every level of the construction hierarchy.
Our Process
A rigorous, transparent process designed to find the right person — not just a warm body. Every step is built around reducing your hiring risk and saving your time.
We meet with the hiring manager to understand the role, project pipeline, team culture, and non-negotiable requirements. No generic job specs — every brief is built from scratch.
Our specialist recruiters search our database of 128,000+ candidates, LinkedIn Recruiter, SEEK, and our industry network. We headhunt passive candidates who aren't actively looking but would move for the right opportunity.
Candidates are interviewed in depth — technical capability, project history, cultural fit, and salary expectations. You receive a shortlist of 3–5 qualified candidates with detailed profiles within 5–7 business days.
We coordinate interviews, manage candidate expectations, handle counter-offers, and provide market intelligence on salary benchmarking. Our job is to keep the process moving.
We manage the offer negotiation, reference checks, and transition timeline. Our relationship doesn't end at placement — we check in at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months to ensure both sides are satisfied.
The HBG Difference
Generalist recruiters waste your time. Our permanent team lives and breathes construction — it’s all we do.
Our permanent division recruits exclusively for construction and building services. Every recruiter on the team has deep sector knowledge — they understand project lifecycles, contract structures, and what separates a good PM from a great one.
Eight years of specialised construction recruitment has built us one of the largest candidate databases in the industry. Many of our placements come from candidates we already know — people we've placed before, or have been tracking for years.
Initial shortlists delivered within 5–7 business days. We move fast because we already know the market — not because we skip due diligence. Every candidate is thoroughly vetted before you see their profile.
Every permanent placement comes with a replacement guarantee. If a candidate leaves or doesn't work out within the guarantee period, we replace them at no additional cost. We stand behind every hire.
Sectors
We don’t just recruit “for construction” — we specialise within it. Our recruiters are aligned to specific sectors so they understand the nuances of each market: who’s winning work, what projects are coming, and where the talent gaps are.
With 860+ active clients and relationships across Tier 1, 2, and 3 builders, we have the network and insight to match the right person to the right opportunity — every time.
Commercial
New Build & Fitout
Tier 1 to boutique
Residential
Multi-Res & High-Density
Apartments to masterplans
Civil
Infrastructure & Utilities
Roads, rail, tunnels, bridges
Building Services
Fire, Mech, HVAC, Elec
Specialist subcontractors
Market Intelligence
Benchmark your team’s salaries against the market. Our latest salary guide covers project managers, site managers, engineers, estimators, contract administrators, and more — across commercial, residential, civil, and building services sectors in NSW, QLD, VIC, and WA.
Free download. Updated quarterly with live market data from our placements.
Market Insights
Australia’s construction industry faces a well-documented skills shortage that shows no sign of easing. The pipeline of infrastructure and residential projects across the eastern seaboard alone is valued in the hundreds of billions, yet the pool of experienced project managers, site managers, and engineers has not grown at the same pace. Retirement of senior professionals, limited apprenticeship completions in the building services trades, and increasing project complexity all contribute to a market where top talent has significant choice over where they work.
In this environment, a reactive approach to recruitment does not work. Posting a job ad on SEEK and waiting for applications will not surface the senior project manager who is happily employed at a Tier 1 builder but open to the right opportunity. Finding those candidates requires proactive headhunting, deep market knowledge, and genuine relationships built over years of sector-specific recruitment. That is exactly what HBG’s permanent division delivers.
Salary inflation in construction has been significant over recent years, particularly for project managers and estimators working on large-scale commercial and civil projects. Candidates with strong track records on projects valued above $50 million are commanding packages well above what many employers expect, and counter-offers from incumbent employers are increasingly common. Without accurate, real-time salary data, hiring managers risk pitching offers that are rejected before they reach the negotiation table. HBG provides salary benchmarking data drawn from our own placement history and market surveys, ensuring your offers are competitive from day one.
We also advise clients on non-monetary factors that influence candidate decisions, including project pipeline visibility, career progression pathways, flexible working arrangements, vehicle and phone allowances, and company culture. In a competitive market, the total value proposition matters just as much as base salary, and we help you articulate yours effectively.
Common Questions
Straightforward answers to the questions hiring managers and HR leaders ask most about our permanent recruitment service.
A bad hire costs more than a vacancy. Let HBG’s specialist construction recruiters find the candidate who will deliver on your projects, fit your culture, and stay for the long term. Replacement guarantee included.
Specialist construction recruitment since 2018. ABN 81 638 914 824.