Powerlink Queensland Graduate Programs

Powerlink is a leading Australian provider of high voltage electricity transmission network services, combining innovation with insight to deliver safe, cost effective and reliable solutions. Our purpose is to connect Queenslanders to a world-class energy future, providing electricity to five million Queenslanders and 238,000 businesses. We own, develop, operate and maintains the high voltage electricity transmission network in Queensland. Our network extends 1,700 kilometres from Cairns to the New South Wales border, and comprises 15,345 circuit km of transmission lines and 147 substations.  

Through our unique central position in the power system, we are guiding the market to help influence the energy system of the future that effectively balances customer needs, while moving to a low carbon future comprising a diverse array of generation technologies, batteries and storage solutions, new grid technologies and demand management. 

Join our team and power a career that enriches the lives of more than five million Queenslanders. Our people play a key role in the future of energy and with a rapidly changing energy landscape, it is now more important than ever that we are at the forefront. 

By joining us at this exciting time of growth and energy transformation, you can play a part in creating a cleaner and greener energy future! 

We know that our people are our greatest asset, and their health and wellbeing is vital to our business success.

At Powerlink you can expect:

• to feel a part of our supportive and friendly employee community
• to learn from and collaborate with professionals who are experts in their fields 
• a diverse and challenging job with a sense of accomplishment - see the direct and tangible outcome of your hard work
• to have your work-life balance supported through our flexible and hybrid work arrangements
• a wide range of development opportunities including internal secondments to gain experience in other teams, professional development, formal and informal training, mentoring and much more!

As Queensland’s only state wide high voltage network provider, Powerlink’s Graduate Program will provide you with learning and career development opportunities unrivalled by other organisations, and giving you the best grounding for a career in electricity transmission and renewable energy. By joining us at this exciting time of growth and energy transformation, you will play your part in creating a cleaner and greener energy future!

Our structured graduate program is designed so that you will rotate through multiple divisions and teams, enabling you to fully immerse yourself into the business and unleash your potential. You will build a broad foundation of engineering knowledge in a company that is considered globally a pioneer in system strength and renewable integration.  The expertise that exists within Powerlink will give you a key voice in the development and future of the National Electricity Market.  

Throughout the program, you can expect to acquire a broad range of skills through on-the-job experiences, internal training and development opportunities, as well as formal training. You will work with, and learn from, talented and supportive engineering and development professionals, giving you every opportunity to thrive as a key member of Powerlink's future and the future of the energy sector.

Why are graduates important to us?

We embrace the new ideas and fresh perspectives our Graduates bring to the business, recognising the important role innovation and creative thinking plays transforming our energy future. As an industry leader in high voltage electricity, we recognise the important role Powerlink plays in developing the next generation of talented engineers and leaders. 

What are our past Graduate Engineers doing now?

Over the past seven years all Development Engineers completing the program have gone onto permanent careers at Powerlink, in roles such as Engineer, Team Leader, Project leadership, Senior / Specialist and one Principal Engineer.

Q&A Session with our Current Graduates

Join us at our Q&A Session with our current Powerlink Graduates on Wednesday 6 July at 3pm!

This virtual session will provide you with the opportunity to chat to our current graduate cohort, ask any burning questions, get application tips and advice, and find out more about the work we do here at Powerlink!

To register, please send an email to [email protected]. You will receive an email containing a link to join the session. 

About our Graduate Program

Engineering Stream

Our Graduate Program (Engineering Stream) will provide you with a breadth of experience in all areas of our business.

The areas you will have the opportunity to rotate through include:

Asset Strategies - Our Asset Strategies group is responsible for optimising the lifetime performance of Powerlink network assets from inception through to end of life, to ensure reliability and cost efficiency.

Network Planning - Our Network Planning group is responsible for all aspects of planning the Queensland and interconnected transmission network which includes network analysis, demand and energy forecasting, operational advice and assessment of customer connections to Powerlink’s network. 

Infrastructure Delivery - Our Infrastructure Delivery group is responsible for the management and delivery of design, procurement, construction and commissioning of all projects at Powerlink. They ensure the safe and fit for purpose delivery of all projects and compliance with our environmental, community and landholder commitments.

Design Solutions - Our Design Solutions group is responsible for delivering cost-efficient and contemporary design solutions for Powerlink’s infrastructure including our substations and transmission lines, as well as protection, automation (monitoring and control), telecommunication and other auxiliary systems.

Technical and Network Solutions - Our Technical and Network Solutions group provides innovative professional engineering, and information and communications technology services to facilitate the safe, reliable and efficient operation of Powerlink's statewide transmission network.

Field Delivery - Our Field Delivery group are the team on the ground who commission, inspect, maintain and refurbish network assets in southern Queensland (and at times other parts of the state), essential for the safe and reliable supply of electricity to Queenslanders.

Network Operations - Our Network Operations group manage the real time operation of our statewide transmission network, as well as plan, schedule and coordinate outages and requests to access our network, and provide a rapid response service for power system incidents and faults on our network.

Operational Technology Stream

Our Graduate Program (Operational Technology Stream) will provide you with specialist experience, knowledge and skills within the Operational Technology Services team. The team provides state wide 24x7 Digital Technology services for Powerlink’s critical SCADA systems. These systems facilitate the real time operation of our transmission network to achieve our objective of connecting Queenslanders to a world-class energy future.

The teams you will have the opportunity to rotate through include:

OT Cyber Security - Our OT Cyber Security team protect Powerlink’s considerable asset base from a dynamic cyber security threat landscape.

Energy Management Systems (EMS) - Our EMS team is responsible for 24 x7 support of Powerlink’s Energy Management System, which is the system we use to control the whole Queensland transmission network. The system utilises SCADA to remotely control and interrogate substation equipment.

Network Management Applications (NMA) - Our NMA team is responsible for the 24x7 support and development of real-time and near-real time applications used for operation of Powerlink's electricity network.

Systems Integration (SI) - Our SI team is responsible for the 24 x 7 support of Operational Technology infrastructure for both the Network Operations control room and substation services.

Digital and Telecommunication Networks (DTN) - Our DTN team is responsible for the 24 x 7 support of the operational Digital and Telecommunication Networks including the configuration, performance and fault management of all Powerlink telecommunications DWDM, SDH and PDH networks to satisfy Powerlink's operation and commercial obligations.

As an industry leader in high voltage electricity, we recognise the important role we play in developing the next generation of talented professionals. As such, we have multiple development program available to suit your individual career aspirations. For more information on our other development programs, please see the links below.

• Vacation Program:  jobs.powerlink.com.au/go/Undergraduate-Vacation-Program/4624210/
• Apprenticeships: jobs.powerlink.com.au/go/Apprenticeships/4623510/
• Administration Traineeships: jobs.powerlink.com.au/go/Traineeships/4624110/

Please use this as a guideline. Exact dates for stages throughout our recruitment process may change.

Eugene - Graduate Engineer (Completed a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Hons) and a Bachelor of Commerce) 

5:45am

Buzz… Buzz… Buzz… What’s happening? This pillow doesn’t feel like mine. This bed doesn’t either! Oh yes, that’s right, I’m on site today. Let’s get going, it’s going to be a big day! 

6:30am

Everyone’s standing by the car ready to go in their orange cotton shirts and PPE. Breakfast time – we are off to the bakery!

6:45am

Hmm, one or two sausage rolls? Or do I want the bacon and cheese rolls instead? No, no treat yourself. I’ll have one sausage roll, one bacon and cheese roll, one brownie and a chicken focaccia. I just want to be clear that the chicken focaccia is for lunch. 

7:00am 

Aaand we’re off! What a beautiful morning in the Atherton Tablelands. Driving along a ridge line, we can see clouds resting on the sweeping valleys beside us. Out on the horizon, 
you can almost make out the silhouette of a wind turbine. 

7:45am

We check in at the security gate and I get handed the UHF radio to make the call outs as we drive through the wind farm project site. Our own construction work is situated on the other end of the project site. As we drive through we get to see trenches getting dug, cables being laid and on a lucky day, a wind turbine being assembled. 

8:00am

We’ve rolled up and parked in the site office compound. Time to dig out my hard hat in the back, sign in and get to work! My first task today is to get an update on the work our contractor has been doing over the last month. We walk around with the site supervisor and they point out the work that has been completed and the tasks that are still ongoing. 

Today they have a huge 100 tonne crane on site that is going to be used to assemble a transmission line tower in the afternoon.  

8:45am

We have finished our tour with the site supervisor, so I now go and have a chat with a few of the crew and ask them what they’re working on and how they’re faring. One person I speak to is terminating the control cables in a circuit breaker kiosk. These cables carry critical information between the protection relays in the control building. 

They say it takes a full week to finish each kiosk. There must be over a thousand terminations to get through, so there is a lot of work to be done! 

That reminds me… I need to duck into the control building and check that one of the relays has been replaced with the correct model. I go in to check it out and confirm it has been replaced - all in order here! 

9:00am

It’s time for our monthly contract meeting. I grab my laptop out of my bag and open up our meeting prep. We go through any safety, environmental or cultural heritage related items that have occurred over the last month and we ask how the work is tracking on site. Any disputes are laid out on the table and deliberations take place. 

11:00am

Okay, the tower work is starting soon. Time to get a couple of cameras set up around the site so we can get some footage of the work.

11:30am

Where did I put that chicken focaccia? I hope I didn’t leave it in the car…

12:00pm

Before the lines work starts, I have a chat with our lines facilitator to better understand the specifics of the planned tower work. He’s seen this work be performed a few hundred times. I have seen it done approximately zero times. It’s pretty exciting to see how it’s done! The goal today is for the linespeople to assemble the tower superstructure and hopefully a cross arm or two as well. 

1:00pm

It begins! The steel assembly is lifted up and the linespeople on the tower get to work. 

2:30pm

The linespeople up there get it done fast! Our flight back to Brisbane is at 6pm so we better get going. I grab the data off the cameras and begin packing up. 

3:00pm

We leave the site and begin our drive back to Cairns, down the Gillies Range. As we are driving, we do a debrief of the day. It looks like I got my work cut out for me tomorrow!

5:00pm

We are back at Cairns airport. Time to grab some food before our flight home!

8:30pm

As I walk through the door, I’m greeted by the sound of Family Guy on TV. Home sweet home!

Janhavi - Automation Engineer (Completed a Bachelor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Hons)

8:30am

I’m currently in the process of scoping and estimating for one of our new Battery Energy Storage System connections. Once a project scope is established, it’s passed down to the design and delivery teams for scoping and estimating. 

I meet with our strategists to review the scope and explore a potential saving to get the best outcome for the customer.

9:30am

Belated birthday morning tea with a few colleagues at a local patisserie across the road from our office. So many choices to make with the amazing selection of sweet and savoury treats (and gelato)! It's nice to take time out and celebrate with the team occasionally!

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10:00am

Team catch-up

An informal bi-weekly check-in with the team to see how we’re all going and if we need any support. It’s a quiet day in the office with half the team working from home and/or on leave.

1:00pm

After lunch, I hop onto some control and configuration designs for a new Wide Area Monitoring, Protection and Control (WAMPAC) scheme that is being established for a new Solar Farm that connects to one of our substations. 

The Secondary Systems Field Test team have completed some preliminary testing and have identified some improvements that need to be made. I work closely with them and our Principal Control Engineer to revise the design to ensure it is fit for purpose.

2:00pm

InterEnergy Wear it Purple Day 2022 Meeting

As Chair of Pride in Power (Powerlink’s LGBTIQA+ network), I represent Powerlink at the InterEnergy meetings.

The InterEnergy LGBTIQA+ community was established to champion LGBTQ+ inclusion through energy industry collaboration. We meet bi-monthly or ad-hoc as required. We are currently planning our first event for Wear it Purple Day 2022.

3:00pm

Continue with the WAMPAC scheme configuration design.

5:00pm

It’s 5:00! I complete my timesheet for the day and head home. :)

Denise - Asset Performance Engineer (Completed a Bachelor of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering)

I am an electrical engineer working in the Queensland electricity industry for Powerlink.  My work in the Asset Performance team starts at 6.30am and my work tools are a laptop and a mobile phone.  Our transmission network operates on a 24/7 basis and my first task each morning is to check my emails for information that has come in overnight.  My role is focussed on seeking out emerging asset condition and performance issues and co-ordinating resources to mitigate the emerging risk.

At 7am I walk down to the on site cafe and purchase a barista prepared long black with warmed oat milk and take this back to my desk where I work through a list of people I need to meet with. 

At around 7.30am I begin my first meeting, a virtual meeting using MS Teams. I work alongside the other eight colleagues in my team.  On any given day, part of the team works remotely or on site and some team members work in our office.  Our Team Leader checks in with each person in the team each day, either in person or with a virtual meeting.  In a flexible working environment connection with others using adaptive communication methods has become more important than ever before.

Early afternoon I work on my asset investigation tasks. Investigation and data analysis is a very big part of my work. Tasks are re-prioritised on the run if a critical asset condition issue or failure occurs. 

 I spend an hour at the end of the busy day addressing emails and closing out technical questions or tasks if time permits. I often have a chat and laugh with my work colleagues at this time. I then spend time working on productivity tools and analytics to help me find emerging issues faster going forward. When I think that all that needs to be done, has been done for that day, then my work day ends. Working in operations is extremely busy, exciting and rewarding. You can end your day knowing that you have contributed to a positive difference for everyone who calls Queensland home.

Sustainable Projects

We manage our day-to-day operations in ways that are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable, by incorporating these key aspects into our fundamental business processes and procedures. Through our Environmental Management System, we develop asset-specific plans for activities that may have an environmental impact and continuously monitor our construction and maintenance activities.

Climate change and the electricity sector

Government climate change policies are driving a shift in generation sources. As part of Powerlink’s planning processes we consult with industry on network alternatives, assess alternatives and identify the solution that delivers the least long-run cost to electricity consumers, while meeting reliability requirements.

Climate change is a dynamic issue and ongoing developments such as electric cars and the impacts of factors such as demand side management are continually changing the external landscape. Powerlink has a planning cycle that can accommodate and manage change while delivering a cost effective and reliable transmission service.

Land Management

We take environmental matters seriously, and have rigorous processes in place to ensure we minimise any environmental impacts. All construction and maintenance activities are managed in accordance with our Environmental Management System, the Queensland Electrical Supply Industry Code of Practice – Maintenance of Electricity Corridors and Infrastructure (QESI) and our Wet Tropics Management Authority Permit, where applicable.

Stakeholder Engagement

We are committed to genuine and timely stakeholder engagement that leads to improved decision-making and better outcomes for our stakeholders.

Cultural Heritage

We acknowledge and respect the ongoing connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to their traditional lands. We respect the communities in which we work and their Cultural Heritage values. We actively consult with Aboriginal Parties, their representatives, relevant authorities and other community groups to identify and manage significant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage areas and objects, and places of historical significance to Queensland’s communities.

To find out more about any of these initiatives, visit: www.powerlink.com.au

Our benefits program available to all Powerlink employees includes: 

• A range of flexible working options
• Professional reimbursements such as:
  • professional and trade skills licensing fees where required by legislation
  • Registered Professional Engineer Queensland (RPEQ) registration and annual registration fees
• Free undercover secure parking with onsite charging stations for electric vehicles
• Access to Powerlink’s social club where you can meet new people, have fun and take part in some great activities
• Health and wellbeing programs including our Employee Assistance Program which is a confidential, professional counselling service available to all Powerlink employees and their immediate family
• Access to a Corporate Health Plan employee discounts. 
• Free annual flu vaccinations
• Discounted membership to our onsite gymnasium 
• Onsite lockers, bike racks, table tennis, badminton, pool table

We are committed to creating a workforce that reflects the community we serve and supports our people to be the best they can be.

We know that by harnessing the diversity of our people, we will be better positioned to deliver the innovative solutions required for the complex problems we face now, and in the future. We also know that by ensuring our culture and practices are inclusive we will enable our people to fully contribute, bringing their diverse backgrounds and experiences to everything they do.

Powerlink is recognised as a Work180 accredited organisation. We’re proud to be included in a growing network of endorsed employers who understand the importance of supporting diversity, inclusion and equality.

To help us improve our outcomes we are focused on the following diversity and inclusion areas:

• Gender equality
• People with disability
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• Cultural and Linguistic Diversity
• LGBTIQA+
• Flexible work
• Parents and carers
• Domestic and Family Violence

As a Work 180 pre-screened employer, we are a company committed to raising workplace standards for all women.  

At Powerlink we offer to women and in fact all employees the ability to access:

• Paid pre-parental leave
• Paid parental leave up to 14 weeks or 28 weeks half pay
• Paid and unpaid parental leave for non-primary care giver
• 10 days paid keeping in touch days while on extended parental leave
• Swap public holidays to times when it suits you and your personal needs
• Flexible working arrangements, which can include a mix of options including work from home, compressed working weeks, part time hours, job share, purchased annual leave scheme, flexible start and finish times

Powerlink strives to achieve balanced representation of gender and diversity across leadership groups, work teams, committees and panels.  We are committed to improving the representation of women in our workplace and have targets in place to support our focus on women in leadership. All interview panels require diverse panel membership, and intakes for annual development programs including Apprentices, Engineering Officers and Developing Engineers all focus on attracting a mixed applicant pool representative of the community we serve.  Powerlink supports an active Woman in Engineering group consisting of passionate women that advocate and promote opportunities for women in the engineering industry, and recently launched Gender Diversity in Energy; a group that will support gender equity initiatives across the employee life cycle, building gender balance across all work streams and activities that support Powerlink to be an employer of choice for all genders.

Career development, training programs and succession planning are all underpinned with a focus on supporting and developing women to be their best.  Powerlink currently supports a woman engineer participating in a national Powerful Women program, a new industry-focused and delivered leadership program for technically oriented roles in the power sector.
Powerlink actively and visibly support events aimed at raising the profile and opportunities of women, including International Women’s Day,  inspiring the next generation of women at University level and vocational forums, and regular feature stories published by Work 180, external news articles and employee communication channels.

At Powerlink we value and celebrate the diversity of our community. Our commitment to reconciliation reflects our belief that Powerlink should reflect the communities in which we operate and be inclusive of those communities.  

A key part of our reconciliation commitment is acknowledging the impacts of past acts and the continuing legacy of intergenerational trauma. Respecting the more than 60,000 years of history that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples share as the Traditional Custodians of this land and learn from their rich traditions and customs. 

Powerlink is committed to creating a work environment in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s cultures, beliefs and values are acknowledged and respected, and in which the individual career goals and personal aims of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff are identified, promoted and achieved in an environment of cultural safety. 

Powerlink Queensland joins a network of more than 1,100 corporate, government, and not-for-profit organisations that have made a formal commitment to reconciliation through the RAP program.   These outcomes contribute towards the five dimensions of reconciliation: race relations; equality and equity; institutional integrity; unity; and historical acceptance.   It is critical to uphold all dimensions of reconciliation, and to increase awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories, knowledge, and leadership across all sectors of Australian society. 

Powerlink actively and visibly support events aimed at raising the profile and opportunities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples, including National Reconciliation Week, NAIDOC Week and more.