Following that with a rotation in telecommunications and then into Transport, Engineering Graduate Sagun Kafle will certainly have a lot of great experience to add to her resume by the end of her two year stint at Ventia.
After discovering Ventia through the GradConnect website, Sagun was immediately drawn to the graduate program. Though unfamiliar with the company at the time, the opportunity to rotate across multiple business areas was a major attraction. “I like that we get to work in rotations and have the ability to learn which areas we are interested in,” Sagun shared.
She began her first rotation in Ventia’s largest sector, Defence & Social Infrastructure (D&SI), where she worked on the Across Government Facilities Management Arrangement (AGFMA) contract in South Australia. In this role, Sagun helped manage assets across government facilities from hospitals to schools to law courts and office buildings.
She attended workshops, updated contractor information, and most excitingly she was able to visit a variety of sites to see our teams in action and engage with key stakeholders.
Her second rotation took her into the Telecommunications sector, where she joined the Specialised Coverage Solution (SCS) team in South Australia. The SCS team delivers tailored mobile coverage solutions ensuring reliable connectivity in complex environments such as hospitals, tunnels and stadiums. “Telco was completely new for me. The terms and processes were totally different,” she admitted. Despite the initial learning curve, with strong support from her manager and colleagues, Sagun embraced the challenge, gaining skills in customer management, reporting, and deadline coordination.
In their second year, graduates undertake a full 12-month rotation. Joining the Transport sector in January, Sagun is contributing to the Torrens to Darlington (T2D) contract again in South Australia. This contract sees Ventia form an Alliance including John Holland Group, Bouygues, Arcadis, and Jacobs.
T2D is a $15.4 billion investment by the South Australian and Australian Governments and will complete the 78km North-South Corridor. This corridor is set to revolutionise Adelaide’s traffic landscape by providing a seamless, traffic-light-free route that connects Gawler and Old Noarlunga, effectively easing the city’s notorious congestion.
Innovation Challenge Team: Sagun, Ron, Holly, Kiera, Abhay, Evangeline and Carol
Sagun will participate in depot designs, engineering calculations, and project management support.
This experience is already boosting my confidence and helped me identify which areas of the business I want to explore further.
John Cowle, Sagun’s rotation manager noted that Sagun has been instrumental in developing new records and validating data for the asset management system currently in development. "Her technical abilities support her well in framing the output of her work."
A standout aspect of the graduate program for Sagun has been the strong sense of community. Although the only graduate based in Adelaide, she’s travelled interstate for workshops and built lasting connections with her cohort. “Everyone is super friendly, it’s nice having people I can relate to in a corporate environment,” she noted.
As a working mum, Sagun’s journey through the Ventia Graduate Program has been both rewarding and uniquely shaped by the dual responsibilities of parenting and professional growth.
Balancing family life with a dynamic work environment has its own challenges, but Ventia has been incredibly supportive every step of the way.
Maintenance Non-Owner Participant (MNOP) Team in T2DProject, Sagun’s current team in Adelaide.
The Graduate team has played a key role in this support, offering flexible work hours, remote work options, regular check-ins, and access to mentoring programs that have helped her thrive both personally and professionally.
Reflecting on her journey, Sagun shared,
I started with little corporate experience, but Ventia has helped me grow both technically and personally. My advice to new graduates? Just apply and say yes to opportunities, you never know where they might take you.