Stepping up to Project Manager: Kapitol Conversations EP06
Hear from Kapitol PMs on leadership, decisions and what construction industry jobs in Australia don’t prepare you for.
In Episode 7 of the Kapitol Conversations podcast, Joint CEO & Managing Director Andrew Deveson is joined by State Manager – Queensland James Grljusich, Business Development Manager Jacqui Banks, and Head of Modular and Business Development Andrew Morrison to discuss our Queensland launch and what it takes to enter a market with enormous opportunity and significant delivery challenges.
The conversation covers why we chose to expand now, what a people-led expansion looks like, the role of early contractor involvement, modular construction, national supply chains and the pressure on Queensland’s trade capacity.
More broadly, it asks a practical question: if Queensland needs more built, how does a new builder add to the market’s capacity rather than simply compete for it?
Andrew Morrison describes a market where clients are struggling to find builders who are available to take on their projects. The opportunity is real, but so is the strain on the people and businesses expected to deliver it.
The Olympics are an obvious part of the story. Andrew is clear that they aren’t the whole of it. Queensland’s construction demand extends well beyond the Games, and the pressure on clients won’t simply ease once that program of work is complete.
The timing also reflects our own readiness. Andrew Deveson explains that we waited until our systems were ready to support expansion. Growing into a new state puts pressure on every part of a business, from estimating and planning to project delivery and support functions. If those systems aren’t in place first, the new region inherits the gaps and the projects carry the risk.
For us, that’s the difference between expanding and stretching. Our in-house Digital Engineering team and the systems our project teams rely on every day need to work as well in Queensland as they do anywhere else. That’s what allows a new team to focus on the client and the project, rather than building the basics as they go.
James Grljusich brings international experience and established Queensland relationships to the role. Both have shaped his approach, and his starting point is clear: the right people and local knowledge come before projects.
That order matters. A new business can win work before it has the team to deliver it, but the consequences show up later in the programme, the quality of the work and the relationships it was meant to build.
James is open about the excitement and uncertainty of starting something new. He’s equally clear about what sustainable growth means. It isn’t chasing headcount or project targets. It’s balancing ambition with the ability to deliver.
That’s a harder discipline than it sounds. In a busy market, there is always another opportunity to pursue. The test is whether each new project can be supported properly by the people, systems and supply chain behind it.
It would be easy to assume that success in Victoria translates automatically to Queensland. The panel makes clear that it doesn’t.
Clients, consultants and trade partners in Queensland will judge us on what we do there. Local trust has to be earned through the work, and the approach has to fit the market rather than being lifted unchanged from somewhere else.
That means listening to how the local industry works, understanding the pressures clients are under and being honest about what we can deliver. Our track record gives us a foundation. It doesn’t replace the work of earning trust project by project.
Jacqui Banks comes to construction from architecture, urban design and planning. She describes getting closer to construction as an opportunity to influence projects earlier, while the decisions that shape delivery are still being made.
Her approach starts with listening. Understanding what a client is trying to achieve, rather than only what has been drawn or specified, opens up better conversations about how a project can be delivered. From there, it’s about bringing the right expertise into the conversation at the right time.
Andrew Morrison makes the same case from the delivery side. Early contractor involvement can create greater certainty around cost and timing. When builders are involved before a project reaches tender, the team can test buildability, procurement and programme while those decisions can still be changed.
For clients struggling to find a builder, that early involvement also offers something simpler: a delivery partner who understands the project before the price is locked in.
The panel doesn’t avoid the harder truths. Queensland has a limited pool of trades, and when more builders compete for the same people, prices can go up without any increase in capacity.
That’s not growth. It’s the same workforce costing more.
This is where off-site construction and national supply chains become increasingly important. Work that can be manufactured elsewhere and installed in Queensland reduces the demand on local trades. National supply relationships can bring capacity into the market rather than drawing it away from other projects.
Andrew Morrison is careful about where modular construction fits. It’s one part of the solution, not the answer to every project. The value depends on whether the project suits it and whether the design is developed with manufacturing, transport and installation in mind from the start.
The Olympics will shape part of Queensland’s construction pipeline. They shouldn’t define the business we’re building there.
The panel returns to the same idea throughout the episode. Sustainable growth comes from the right people, local knowledge, systems that are ready and a willingness to earn trust rather than assume it. Those are the things that last beyond any single pipeline.
For us, entering Queensland comes with responsibility. The central question isn’t simply how to win work in Queensland. It’s how to help more of it get built.
The opportunity is significant. The work still needs to be delivered properly.
If you’re planning a project in Queensland, get in touch with our team. And if you want to help build our Queensland business from the ground up, begin your Kapitol career today.
