The Engineering Roles That Didn’t Exist in the Hunter Five Years Ago

Why the local market has quietly transformed, and what it means for both engineers and employers

Five years ago, in early 2021, you couldn’t have hired for any of these roles in the Hunter: grid forming BESS controls engineer, electrolyser commissioning engineer, REZ network connection engineer, coal asset transition engineer, F-35 sustainment systems engineer, OT cyber security engineer, mining battery electric vehicle engineer, decarbonisation lead.

The projects weren’t built. The technology wasn’t commercially viable. The regulations didn’t exist. The funding wasn’t approved.

Today, every one of those role categories is advertised constantly across Australia, and the candidate market for them is among the tightest in the country. Engineers Australia is publicly calling for a national workforce strategy, citing an existing engineering shortfall and a projected gap of around 200,000 engineers by 2040. Jobs and Skills Australia has flagged the clean energy transition alone as requiring an additional 32,000 electricians by 2030 and roughly 85,000 additional workers across the broader renewable build. The defence sector is forecasting 30,000 new roles by 2030, with citizenship requirements narrowing the available pool further. Over half of Australia’s electrical engineers were born overseas, and the Clean Energy Council has identified labour availability as the single largest constraint on renewable project delivery, ahead of grid connection, planning approvals and equipment supply.

In five years, the Hunter has shifted from a market built around thermal power, conventional heavy industry and established defence to one defined by energy transition, renewables integration, sovereign defence and decarbonisation. The job titles have moved with it. The businesses that recognise that are already adjusting their hiring strategies, while plenty of others are still writing job ads for the 2019 version of the market.

Here are eight engineering role categories that barely existed locally in 2021, what they actually do, and what they mean for engineers and employers thinking about the next three years.

1. Grid Forming BESS Controls and Commissioning Engineers

This is the clearest “didn’t exist five years ago” role on the list. AGL began commissioning the 500 MW, 1,000 MWh grid forming Liddell battery in early 2026, with the first 250 MW operational and the balance progressing through commissioning. Origin’s first stage of the Eraring battery (460 MW, 1,770 MWh) began commercial operations in January 2026, with the full 700 MW project expected by early 2027. Akaysha Energy’s 850 MW, 1,680 MWh Waratah Super Battery at the old Munmorah site is partially live, with full capacity scheduled by the end of 2026. Around 74 per cent of Australia’s 33 GW battery pipeline now uses grid forming inverters. Five years ago this was a research topic, not a job. AGL’s own principal grid engineer said publicly that when they started the Liddell project there was “a lack of understanding in the market” about how grid forming inverters even behave. The role needs power electronics depth, AEMO connection knowledge, and familiarity with standards like AS/NZS 4777 and IEEE 2800. Almost nobody in Australia has five years of grid forming experience. The technology has only been deployed at scale for that long.

2. Electrolyser Process and Commissioning Engineers

The Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub at Kooragang Island, Orica’s 50 MW electrolyser expected to produce around 4,700 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year, received NSW planning approval in May 2024 and a $432 million ARENA Hydrogen Headstart commitment in July 2025. These are the first commercial electrolyser process engineering roles the region has ever needed. The work covers PEM and alkaline electrolyser system design, hydrogen safety case, hazardous area classification, and integration with the Orica ammonia plant via a dedicated pipeline of around 720 metres. The role mixes process engineering with hydrogen specific safety, and almost everyone qualified to do it is either being trained in house or attracted across from overseas.

3. REZ Network Connection and Transmission Engineers

Renewable Energy Zones only became a legal NSW construct in 2020. The Hunter Central Coast REZ began preparatory works in 2025, with construction commencing in February 2026 and full capacity expected by 2028. Ausgrid is the network operator, building two new 132 kV substations at Sandy Creek and Antiene in the Muswellbrook LGA, upgrading existing substations including Kurri Kurri, and upgrading around 85 kilometres of existing transmission. The project will enable 1.8 GW of new renewable generation and storage to connect to the grid and is expected to create around 590 construction jobs annually, plus around 220 ongoing local roles once operational. A whole discipline is emerging around it: connection studies, AEMO modelling, commissioning testing and REZ specific transmission design didn’t exist in name five years ago.

4. Coal Asset Transition and Repurposing Engineers

Liddell’s chimneys came down in May 2026. AGL’s Hunter Energy Hub strategy is to repurpose both Liddell and Bayswater, including the land, water rights, transmission connection and plant infrastructure, into integrated solar, BESS and green industry hubs. Bayswater is scheduled to close at the end of 2033. Eraring now runs to August 2027 under the NSW Government’s extension. What’s emerging is a role type that didn’t really exist in 2021: engineers who specialise in transitioning a coal asset rather than operating one. The work covers decommissioning planning, environmental remediation, brownfield electrical reconfiguration, and grid connection retention. Five years ago this work sat almost entirely with consultancies. Now it’s an embedded function inside the major energy companies.

5. Sovereign Defence and F-35 Sustainment Engineers

AUKUS was announced in September 2021, and the sovereign defence industrial buildout that followed has reshaped the Williamtown precinct. Astra Aerolab, an aerospace and defence hub of around 76 hectares adjacent to RAAF Base Williamtown (one of Australia’s two F-35A home bases, alongside RAAF Base Tindal), now hosts BAE Systems Australia, Lockheed Martin Australia and a growing list of supply chain players. The University of Newcastle has built an Aerospace Systems Engineering program around the demand. The new role categories include sustainment systems engineers, sovereign capability program engineers, and defence systems engineers working in ITAR and classified environments. The volume of these roles in the Hunter has multiplied in five years.

6. OT/ICS Cyber Security Engineers

Australia’s Security of Critical Infrastructure (SOCI) Act expanded its scope through 2021 and 2022 to cover 11 sectors including energy, water, ports and communications. Most of these are heavily represented in the Hunter, including Port of Newcastle, Hunter Water, AGL, Origin and Ausgrid. Australia has now formally adopted AS IEC 62443 as the national operational technology cyber standard, and the Critical Infrastructure Risk Management Program (CIRMP) is a brand new compliance obligation. The role this creates sits at the intersection of electrical engineering, controls and cyber. You need to speak SCADA, PLC and DCS fluently, alongside IEC 62443. Five years ago “OT cyber engineer” was barely an Australian job title. Today it’s one of the hardest profiles to find in the Hunter.

7. Mining Electrification and Battery Electric Vehicle Engineers

The Hunter Valley produces both thermal and metallurgical coal, which makes mining electrification more relevant here than almost anywhere in Australia. ResTech, the Ampcontrol and University of Newcastle joint research facility at Callaghan campus, has over 30 staff including 24 R&D engineers focused on battery electric mining vehicles and clean energy technologies. Underground BEVs have moved from R&D to deployment in the past three years. The role mixes high voltage mobile plant, fast charging infrastructure design, autonomy integration and, surprisingly often, mine ventilation engineering, because BEVs change ventilation requirements significantly. Five years ago this was a curiosity. Today it’s a discipline.

8. Decarbonisation Leads and Sustainability Engineers in Heavy Industry

Orica (40 per cent emissions cut by 2030, net zero by 2050), Tomago Aluminium (100 per cent renewables target by 2029), Origin (the Eraring transition and battery build), AGL (the Hunter Energy Hub strategy at Liddell and Bayswater) and Snowy Hydro (the Kurri Kurri Power Station with stated hydrogen blend ambitions) all now have published decarbonisation plans or transition strategies tied to their Hunter operations. Five years ago, almost none of the region’s major heavy industry sites had a dedicated decarbonisation function. Now most do. The work covers abatement engineering, scope 3 accounting, ISO 14064 inventories, electrification strategy and energy contract optimisation. It’s one of the fastest growing mid to senior engineering categories in the region, and it didn’t exist as a discrete role here in 2021.

What This Means If You’re an Engineer

Look at where you are now, look at this list, and ask yourself one question. In three to five years, do you want to be the engineer doing what you do now, or the engineer doing one of these? Most of these roles can be reached from where you already are. A mechanical maintenance engineer can move into mining electrification or coal asset transition. An E&I lead can move into BESS commissioning or OT cyber. A process engineer can move into hydrogen or decarbonisation. The pathway is rarely a leap. It’s usually one role, one project, one piece of additional study away. The engineers I see getting ahead in this market are the ones who recognised these emerging disciplines early and made one deliberate move toward them.

What This Means If You’re Hiring

You can’t recruit for any of these roles by rewriting a 2019 job ad. The skill profile doesn’t exist that way yet, the candidate pool is small, and the people who do have the experience know exactly how valuable they are. The employers winning here are doing three things differently. They are hiring for adjacency rather than direct experience. A power systems engineer can become a grid forming engineer. A process engineer can become a hydrogen engineer. They are investing in upskilling rather than waiting for a perfect candidate who doesn’t yet exist. And they are being upfront about what’s genuinely exciting in the role, because in this market, engineers choose projects as much as employers choose engineers.

The Hunter Advantage

The Hunter is quietly becoming one of the most complete engineering ecosystems in Australia. Energy transition projects, sovereign defence, advanced heavy industry, port infrastructure, mining, and a serious university and TAFE pipeline, all within an hour of each other. For an engineer looking at the next decade, very few regions in Australia offer this combination. The roles in this list will be the backbone of that ecosystem for the next ten years.

 

 

ARE YOU CURRENTLY LOOKING TO HIRE?

ASR Recruitment is a boutique recruitment agency specialising in Technology & Digital, Marketing and Communications, Accounting & Finance, Construction, Human Resources, Engineering, Safety, Procurement, Transport & Logistics, Manufacturing, Legal & Risk, Administration & Customer Service.

Find out more by visiting our Clients page!

Looking for a new role? Search Jobs here.