NICOLE - People, Safety and Resilience

Initially starting with Jemena on a six month contract in 2014, Jemena’s family friendly culture has supported Nicole’s career progression, allowing her to pursue a number of career development opportunities through the birth of her first child, and the impending arrival of her second.

Having moved through four different roles in eight years, Nicole’s most recent appointment as General Manager Human Resources, was made while six months pregnant and about to commence 12 months parental leave. Nicole is proud to work for a company where building a family is not a deterrent to career progression.

“I’ve seen a shift in the culture of Jemena that has embraced flexible and hybrid working arrangements, enabling me to be confident and excited in the promotion to General Manager while building my family,” said Nicole.

“After parental leave, I will be returning to work four days a week with the full support of my manager, enhanced by family friendly initiatives that build an inclusive and supportive working environment.”

JAMIE - Works Program Manager

For the last 14 years Jamie has worked in the energy industry and transferred to the Zinfra team in 2019. In 2021 he took 14 weeks parental leave for the birth of his second child.

“Having the ability to take 14 weeks parental leave for the birth of my second child enabled my wife and I a better pathway to transition to parenthood while both working full time.

Despite my role being a difficult one to cover, my manager and team were fully supportive of my decision to take the full leave understanding the need for me to be at home was important.

It’s an opportunity I am grateful for and of which not many of my friends have access too. It truly shows Zinfra’s understanding of the need for a good work life balance.”

DAVID - Manager

Manager of Projects David has been with Jemena for ten years.

Size might not be everything, but it helps.

David points out that the scale of Jemena’s operations - 25,000 km of pipe to deliver over 100 petajoules of natural gas to 1.3 million customers - means there’s plenty of opportunity to move around the company, to influence industry standards and to lead the engineering changes that are helping to shape the future of power delivery.

Three of David’s current team members are chairing standards committees.

As David sees it, young engineers looking for security as well as exciting personal and professional development can find “a hidden jewel” in Jemena.

EMMA - Health and Wellness Manager

Two years into her role as Health and Wellness Manager at Jemena, Emma loves the flexibility and human touch that she has found here. It’s easy to be motivated to do great work when the company you’re with is as supportive and understanding as Jemena.

When she joined Jemena, Emma was struck by how many people have been working here for ten, twenty years and more. That’s got to be a good sign, right?

It also creates a family feel at the company, with people genuinely looking out for one another.

There’s less of a hierarchical feel at Jemena than at Emma’s last workplace. She lets on that she enjoys the odd chat in the lunchroom with the Managing Director, while she’s warming up last night’s fried rice. (Which might not go down too well with the nutritionist she’s brought in for Jemena’s latest health and wellness initiative...)

Above all, working at Jemena, in a new role that she has helped define and shape, has given Emma confidence in herself, and in her future.

MICHAEL - Gas Service Technician

A plumber by trade, Michael joined Jemena as a Gas Service Technician in search of change and the chance to climb a career ladder. Any doubts he had about job longevity evaporated when he found he was working alongside people with 20, 30 and even 40 years under their belts.

Michael praises the way Jemena opens doors for people who want to move into office work, but also always values the opinions of those who are out in the field.

At Jemena, says Michael, there’s a strong sense of belonging to the same team, and you can be sure that management and workmates have always got your back.

And in terms of finding something with a bit more of a challenge than plumbing, Michael hasn’t been disappointed. As he points out, there’s no such thing as “a typical day” for a Jemena GST.

TOM - Gas Service Technician

Tom is a Gas Service Technician with Jemena in Sydney, and he wouldn’t hesitate to recommend working for Jemena to any youngster seeking some excitement and “not just your run-of-the-mill job”.

“You’ll never be bored for a second,” he tells us.

And when it comes to the more challenging situations, it’s always great to know that there are plenty of experienced co-workers to call on, with many of Tom’s workmates having clocked up two, three and even four decades with Jemena.

Tom’s happy that safety comes first at Jemena. Job security and overtime opportunities also get the thumbs up. And he counts the friends he’s made at Jemena among the best he has.

For Tom, though, nothing beats the feeling he gets on answering a call from someone elderly or vulnerable, whose heating has gone down. When he turns up and sorts out their problems, he can walk away knowing he’s made a difference. Which is kind of satisfying.