Working for an organisation whose values align closely with his own is important to Joel Jeffries.

The operations manager for transmission is doing his second stint at Watercare – the first was as an electrical apprentice more than a decade ago – and he says it’s a great place to come back to.

“One of the things that drew me back to Watercare is that having spent years in New Zealand and Canada working in some form of the oil industry, I got sick of selling my soul. Watercare is a great place to come back to because it aligns much more with my values. I don’t have to compromise anything on a day-to-day basis.

“I’m a vegan, I take public transport as much as possible and I try to live ethically. The environment and communities we serve are a big part of Watercare. It’s definitely a place where you can feel like you’re making a positive difference. You can’t say that about every job.”

After doing his apprenticeship with MSO, which is now known as maintenance delivery, he left Watercare to become a contractor and travel.

“I was the national technical manager for a company that serviced fuel stations. I ran the car wash division. I built a strong background in commercial management, maintenance, and construction. I’ve spent most of my career pumping something from one place to another, whether it’s fuel or water and wastewater.”

Three years ago, an asset controller for wastewater transmission role came up and he went for it.

His wife, central developments manager Sophie Jeffries, was already working at Watercare and he knew he was going into a good environment.

They worked together in service delivery when he came back, which he says was fun.

“I spent 10 years after my apprenticeship working in jobs that involved a lot of travel. Watercare is the first job since I was 23 that doesn’t require weekly travel.”

After a year and a half, he moved into his current role, where he is responsible for the operation and maintenance of our water and wastewater transmission networks.

The pipes he oversees range in diameter from 300mm to the 3.7-metre-diameter tunnel at Hobson Bay.

“A lot of what I do is around decision-making around how we’re going to facilitate things like repairs and cut-ins. There’s a lot of risk management, weighing up the risks of doing or not doing things.

“With water, there’s a lot of facilitating shut-downs for projects. Wastewater is a more aggressive environment. Getting wastewater from point A to point B requires a lot of maintenance and repairs to keep the assets going.

“I really enjoy the challenge of doing water and wastewater. It gives me a more holistic view. With water, I have to know what’s happening from headworks to the local networks. I’m right in the middle of the whole process and it’s very interesting. I connect with all the different parts of the business.”

He has four direct reports and works in a wider team of around 30 people, including operations engineers, asset controllers, Nerve Centre operators and asset protection engineers.

“I’m lucky to have a team of people who are all interested and passionate about what they do and all enjoy working with each other.”

Outside of work, even his main hobby revolves around water, albeit in a different form – he has played ice hockey for a decade and is a big fan of American sports.