By Harry Riddle*
The federal government is investing up to $183 billion in establishing a single sustainable Australian shipbuilding and sustainment enterprise. For this to succeed, the enterprise requires well-planned and well-managed projects with a capable workforce available to undertake the work with efficiency and effectiveness. The Naval Shipbuilding College (NSC) is part of a collaborative industry/government team working together to build the workforce needed for a sustainable naval shipbuilding industry in Australia.
One of the NSC’s directives is to formulate and support the execution of plans to address the workforce development needs of current and emerging priority roles across engineering, operations, project management, quality, procurement and supply chain, and support roles.
The NSC is quickly building its capacity to provide workforce solutions for the shipbuilding industry and, to support this endeavour, is partnering with a wide range of stakeholders including all spheres of government.
This level of collaboration is unprecedented and demonstrates a sector-level commitment to grow the talent pool by establishing workforce pipelines in every part of Australia. These relationships also support a coordinated effort towards the promotion of naval shipbuilding as a career of choice, ensuring jobseekers can up-skill themselves and become employment-ready for cutting-edge careers of the future.
Shipbuilding is a highly dynamic, challenging profession offering wide-ranging experiences where each and every day the results of your efforts can be seen as flat steel is transformed into a sophisticated, high-performance machine that will serve sailors, the nation and Australians for generations to come.
Australia’s Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise will employ over 15 000 people across the nation to design, build, integrate and sustain the Royal Australian Navy’s future fleet.
Shipbuilding jobs are high-reward, cutting-edge technology careers of long duration at modern, purpose-built world-class shipyards by world-class shipbuilders. A career in shipbuilding offers an excellent work/life balance along with many opportunities for professional and personal growth.
At any stage of your career, naval shipbuilding offers opportunities for individuals to develop and achieve their career aspirations.
An Australian Government initiative, the NSC was established in 2018 and collaborates with federal, state and territory governments, industry and the national training and education sector to help industry build a skilled Australian naval shipbuilding workforce. With increased collaboration and provision of workforce demand data from major shipbuilding companies including fleet sustainment, together with the maturing of project resource profiles, industry demand forecasts are more reliable than ever.
Managed by the Naval Shipbuilding Institute on behalf of the government, the NSC is a joint venture bringing the power of international company Kellogg Brown & Root Pty Ltd (KBR) together with the expertise of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) – America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry.
Each week an average of over 150 job vacancies across the sector are advertised on the NSC’s Workforce Register, and the NSC maintains a growing catalogue of shipbuilding and defence education and training courses available in Australia. These courses are complemented by the NSC’s suite of specialist courses including Naval Ship Systems for Designers, Naval Ship Systems for Engineers, and engineering bridging courses. The NSC has developed these specialist courses with industry, drawing on joint venture partner HII’s shipbuilding expertise.
The NSC provides career and training advice, referring courses from its training provider network to screened employment candidates. Over 1000 Workforce Register candidates have been referred to training offerings to date.
The recent announcement that the NSC’s new JobsPortal has been successfully rolled out is another significant milestone.
For over three years now, the NSC has been helping job seekers find jobs in naval shipbuilding, and the dedicated NSC team continues to work with Australia’s Naval Shipbuilding Industry to help build the future shipbuilding workforce.
We’ve now made it even easier for job seekers to search for shipbuilding jobs online and connect with employers with the launch of the NSC’s new JobsPortal, developed by the NSC and industry – and this easy-to-use online platform is a game-changer for job seekers and shipbuilding industry recruiters.
The NSC’s new JobsPortal means job seekers can find exactly what they are looking for, with shipbuilding job vacancies around the country posted by industry in one convenient place. This new functionality means job seekers can search for jobs, update their profile, select target organisations, and apply quickly and easily, with secure access from their computer or mobile device.
An exciting new feature to help industry connect with the best people is a search function where recruiters are now able to search for employment-ready talent on the NSC’s national Workforce Register.
If you (or someone you know) are interested in learning more about job opportunities in naval shipbuilding and advice about training and career pathways, connect with the NSC and join the Workforce Register.
Your first step to your future begins now. Let us help you build your future shipbuilding career.
To find out more about the NSC and job opportunities in Australia’s naval shipbuilding industry, please visit: www.navalshipbuildingcollege.com.au
