Good contract administrators are thin on the ground and many of the best are buried on a Tier 1 or Tier 2 site: 12-hour days, site sheds, a commute, and one narrow slice of one project sometimes for years at a time.

This role is the opposite of that. It's also a role that goes somewhere most don't: from being the person who drafts the claim to being the person who gets called in on one.

Who we are

Ink Consulting is a specialist construction commercial consultancy. We work the sharp end: contractual and insurance claims, disputes, contract advisory, adjudication and expert witness work. Our clients - contractors, developers, solicitors and insurers - call when there are millions on the table, and increasingly they call early enough to stop it getting there. We're a specialist practice, not a body shop and right now there is more work on the books than we can deliver. That's why this ad exists.

The work

- Claims, both kinds - preparing, defending and untangling contractual claims (variations, latent conditions, EOTs, payment schedules, delay notices and the like) and insurance claims (contract works, professional indemnity, public liability) dealing with brokers, insurers, loss adjusters and lawyers
- Contract advisory - reviewing and negotiating contracts, flagging the high-risk clauses, drafting the departures and the mitigation
- Procurement - preparing and administering trade and consultant tender packages
- Commercial systems - auditing client files, building the frameworks and controls that stop the same problem recurring, lifting client teams while you're at it
- Reporting that actually gets read - claims registers, risk reports, commercial insights that go to boards, not to a drawer

You'll work directly with our founder, Nick Baxter,



across advisory, adjudication and expert witness work. That's the kind of exposure that takes decades to accumulate inside one company. Here it's the day job, and it's the pathway to the most valuable seat in this profession: the independent expert.

How we work - the honest version

- Minimum 50% remote
- Contract, part-time or full time, we structure the engagement around the right person
- When you work is largely yours - school run, morning surf, 9pm after the kids are down. The boundaries are the ones you'd expect in claims work: client meetings, adjudication timetables and SOP Act clocks don't move for anyone. Outside those, we genuinely have flexibility.

Building the practice

Part of this role is helping the practice grow, and we'll give you the cadence straight rather than let you find it in week three: a piece of LinkedIn commentary each week, a call to a warm lead each week, a monthly note to the client base, and a shared target of bringing in roughly one new client a quarter. None of it is cold outbound; it's visible expertise and warm relationships. If you've ever wanted the upside of building something rather than just servicing it, this is the apprenticeship - whether that ends in a bigger seat here or, one day, your own shingle.

What it takes

- A lived understanding of construction contracts - AS suites, the SOP Act, claims processes,



variations
- Insurance claims experience (contract works, PI, PL) - or the commercial depth and appetite to build it fast
- The rigour to pull apart a messy file, trace the critical dates, and land the position with precision
- Calm under pressure, sound judgement, and the discipline to run your own workload - plus the sense to know when to pick up the phone
- A solutions habit: don't just report the problem; bring the executable pathways with it

We hire on character and capability, in that order. Where you've worked matters less than what you can do with a file.

Remuneration

$150k - $180k + FT-equivalent package depending on experience, or the matched day rate for contract engagements - structured to fit how you want to work. Numbers on the table in the first conversation, not the last.

How to apply

Skip the generic cover letter. Apply with your CV plus direct answers to three questions, they matter more than the CV:

1. The most complex variation or EOT claim you've personally drafted and resolved - what made it hard, and how it landed
2. Why you're looking to work this way rather than on-site
3. What the right engagement looks like for you - contract, part-time or full-time, and roughly what capacity

Applications that answer all three go to a phone conversation, then a short paid trial task - we pay for your time from the first hour. That's the whole process. No panels, no six rounds. Not available just yet, or not quite there on the insurance side? Apply anyway and say so. We keep a short bench, and we go back to it.

Know someone who fits? A finder's fee applies for a successful placement - conditions apply. Point them here.

📌 Commercial Consultant / Senior CA — Construction Claims & Advisory (North Sydney)
🏢 Ink Consulting
📍 North Sydney