Company Description

Xefco is an Australian textile technology company developing advanced materials and manufacturing systems designed to significantly reduce the environmental impact of textile production. The company was incorporated in 2018, and its technologies are used by leading global outdoor apparel and fashion brands.

Xefco commercialised its first technology, XReflex, powered by Xefco®, in 2019: an ultra-thin aluminium coating applied to textile yarns by vapour deposition. It reflects body heat back to the wearer and reduces the insulation fill required in a garment by up to 50%.

Xefco's flagship platform, Ausora, powered by Xefco®, is a waterless atmospheric plasma dyeing and finishing technology. It removes wastewater from the dyeing and finishing steps and reduces dyehouse water consumption by up to 95%. Ausora has been developed through a long-standing research partnership with Deakin University, alongside a broader set of potential coating applications.

This role is based at the Xefco Pilot Facility in Waurn Ponds, Geelong, where prototype plasma systems are scaled toward production machines, in an environment that involves high voltage equipment, chemicals and dangerous goods.

About the Role

Xefco is looking for a Health & Safety Advisor to lead work health, safety and training across the Pilot Facility. This is a dedicated safety role, not an add-on to another position, and it is deliberately proactive rather than reactive: you will own the protected work procedures, training and risk controls that keep people safe, and continually improve them as the facility grows.

The role is hands-on and people-focused. You will spend your time on the floor, building the safety setup, running training, and working alongside engineers, technicians and scientists to make sure the right procedures, controls and knowledge are in place before problems occur.

The Pilot

Facility is a fast-paced development environment where equipment and processes change quickly, so the role calls for dynamic, responsive risk assessment. As Xefco scales toward production,



you will build a robust safety foundation designed for the future rather than the present alone.

Responsibilities

Safety leadership and continuous improvement

- Own, develop and continually improve Xefco's standard operating procedures (SOPs), safe work procedures and training, working proactively to get the right procedures in place rather than responding after the fact.
- Build a robust safety setup that scales as the facility grows toward production.
- Bring industry experience and share knowledge across the team, identifying risks and gaps that others may not be aware of.
- Drive improvements to workplace safety across the site, including signage and policy structures.
- Consult and liaise regularly with Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) to reinforce work health and safety across all areas of the operation.
- Operate as a dedicated, identifiable safety lead, distinct from the operational teams you support.

Training and education

- Run in-house training, including how to operate equipment safely, taking people through it step by step.
- Act as the central point for training across the site.
- Coordinate external training where specialist certification is required (for example, fire extinguisher use).
- Spend time educating and empowering people so they understand each task better and can carry out their work safely.
- Involve the people doing the work when developing new procedures, so controls are practical and not unnecessarily onerous.

Risk and compliance

- Carry out risk assessments across the facility, including for chemicals and dangerous goods.




- Conduct dynamic risk assessments as equipment and processes evolve in a fast-paced development environment; experience working in such settings is highly valued.
- Understand and apply the relevant work health and safety laws to the facility and its activities.
- Know what to look for and where to look, drawing on practical experience of what can go wrong in an operating environment.

Qualifications

Qualifications and experience

- Certificate IV in Work Health and Safety (minimum).
- At least five years' relevant experience in a work health and safety role.
- Hands-on experience on a manufacturing or industrial floor. Practical experience is valued over a formal degree.
- Demonstrated experience conducting risk assessments involving chemicals and dangerous goods.

Knowledge and skills

- Working knowledge of Australian work health and safety legislation, including the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) and the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, and a clear sense of what to look at and where to look.
- Experience-based dangerous goods (DG) knowledge, with a willingness to add DG endorsements and other certifications as the role requires.
- Strong documentation skills, with the ability to produce and maintain clear procedures, records and safety documentation.
- Familiarity with AS 4024 (safety of machinery) is desirable.

Other requirements

- Australian right to work.

Who you are

Beyond the technical criteria, the person in this role is expected to:

- Build rapport across the organisation and lead through influence rather than authority, coaching colleagues toward safe practice rather than policing them.
- Draw on substantial hands-on experience in an operating environment, with practical insight into how and why incidents occur.
- Take a proactive approach, establishing the appropriate procedures, training and controls before issues arise.
- Demonstrate a genuine commitment to educating and empowering colleagues, engaging them in the development of procedures rather than imposing requirements upon them.
- Maintain and strengthen the facility's safety framework as the business scales.

📌 Health & Safety Advisor (Geelong)
🏢 Xefco
📍 Geelong