PRESS RELEASE: FSC Group Proves Job Share Can Work on a Live Construction Site
Melbourne, Victoria: Consulting firm FSC Group has successfully trialled a job-sharing arrangement in a site-facing senior role on the FCC Barwon Heads Road Upgrade Project, challenging long-held assumptions about how construction projects must be staffed.
Senior Environmental Advisors Hayley Pottenger and Jess Hickey shared a single Senior Environmental Advisor role across the duration of the project, one of the few known examples of a formal job share arrangement in an active construction environment in Australia.
The arrangement was initiated to support Jess Hickey’s return from parental leave on a part-time basis, while allowing Hayley Pottenger to reduce her travel commitment and broaden her project portfolio. What began as a practical solution became a model for how the construction industry might approach flexible working more broadly.
#Two Advisors, One Seamless Role
Hayley and Jess established robust systems to ensure continuity across the project: detailed written handovers, a shared task tracker, consistent site days, and a commitment to consulting one another on complex decisions regardless of whose rostered day it was. The site team – initially uncertain – quickly adapted.
“After a week or two, they got used to the process and understood that for the most part, it was a seamless transition from one to the other,” said Hayley Pottenger. “We communicated effectively and were unified in our approach and advice.”
The arrangement also delivered an unexpected benefit: with over 25 years of combined experience between them, the project had access to deeper environmental expertise than a single advisor would typically provide.
“Having collective experience of over 25 years was incredibly beneficial,” said Jess Hickey. “Environmental aspects and risks can vary so much across projects – having another person’s experience and opinion helped with problem-solving and decision-making in a way I hadn’t anticipated.”
#A People-First Approach to Construction
FSC Group’s Construction Environmental Lead, Ewan Watson, who championed the arrangement, said the experience demonstrated both the viability and the value of flexible working in construction.
“This arrangement shows that with the right people, the right systems, and leadership support, job sharing can work in a demanding, site-based environment,” said Mr Watson. “It’s our hope that by sharing Hayley and Jess’s story, we can help shift the industry’s thinking and open up more opportunities for part-time and flexible engagement – particularly for people returning from parental leave or managing caring responsibilities.”
For Jess Hickey, the personal stakes were high. “It is not always easy to find a part-time role in construction,” she said. “The job share allowed me the flexibility to keep working in the industry while looking after my young children.”
For Hayley Pottenger, the professional benefits were equally clear. “Employers may be missing out on fantastic personnel with great experience because they are limiting themselves with their requirements,” she said. “Flexible working arrangements allow employers to hire people they ordinarily wouldn’t.”
#Implications for the Industry
Job sharing remains rare in the construction sector, where site-based roles are often assumed to require full-time, single-point accountability. FSC Group’s experience suggests that assumption deserves to be tested.
The success of the Barwon Heads arrangement – delivered on a dynamic, active construction site with complex environmental obligations – offers a replicable model for other firms willing to invest in the communication structures and leadership support that make it work.
FSC Group is now sharing the story publicly, with the aim of encouraging wider adoption of flexible work practices across the sector.
#About FSC Group
FSC Group is an Australian engineering, environmental and sustainability consultancy working across infrastructure, construction, planning and natural resource management. With offices in Melbourne and across Australia, FSC Group provides expert environmental advisory services to government agencies, contractors and private clients.
