Meet Carmen

Originally joining Tonkin as a graduate engineer in 2007, Carmen Wentrock now leads the company’s SA/VIC Water team, based in Tonkin’s Adelaide head office.

“Since joining Tonkin, I’ve had quite significant career growth. I joined as a graduate and have progressively worked my way up to a project engineer, then senior engineer, and now the water lead.”

When Carmen took on the leadership of Tonkin’s SA/Vic water team, it comprised seven people. Over time, she has built it to a team of more than 20. Throughout this growth period, she has continued to generate a strong pipeline of work to provide security and stability for her team and the business.

 

“One of the things that often surprises people about Tonkin, is the number of employees who have worked here for a very long time. We have senior people who have been here for close to 30 years or longer, and many people who’ve played out their whole career at Tonkin.”

“What that means is that we have strong knowledge transfer between our older and newer staff, which creates certainty and an optimal experience for our clients as Tonkin continues to grow.”

 Water projects that make a real difference

Carmen is particularly passionate about providing regional communities around Australia with essential water and sewer services, while ensuring the solutions are robust and environmentally sustainable. She has successfully delivered a range of significant projects throughout regional Australia. We asked Carmen about her favourite types of projects:

“Even through I’m now in a leadership role, I’m still involved in project delivery and often the projects I enjoy most are the ones where I have a lot of direct contact with the client. The meaningful relationships that we develop with our clients, while delivering vital water projects, particularly in regional areas – those are the projects where I really feel like I’m helping make a difference in these communities.”

Carmen’s Adelaide-based water team works closely with Tonkin’s Brisbane-based water team, together providing water engineering expertise for clients across South Australia, Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales.

 

Leading the next generation of engineers

In addition to leading her team at Tonkin, Carmen also regularly facilitates student engagement programs aimed at introducing primary and secondary students to engineering, opening the possibility for them to pursue a career in the field. Carmen enjoys sharing her experience with students and aims to be a strong female role model for those considering pursuing a career in engineering.

We asked Carmen what type of person would fit in well and at Tonkin and why engineers might consider joining us.

“I think people who will fit in well at Tonkin are energetic and show initiative, as well as having strong technical skills.”

“At Tonkin we have a wide range of projects and technical needs, so there are opportunities to follow your individual passion, while also working on large and interesting projects. If you’re looking for a change, particularly if you’re looking for a company with a caring culture, Tonkin could be a great fit for you.”

 

Are you a civil engineer interested to see where a career with Tonkin could take you?
View our current vacancies or submit a general expression of interest today.