Lead with Vision

- Senior Manager, Workplace Relations
- Temp | Full-time
- Melbourne CBD / Hybrid
- Daily rate $800 inc. super

Take the lead on workplace relations strategy and complex ER/IR within a large, purpose-led organisation operating across the community services sector.

What's the Brief?

You’ll be joining a leading community services organisation with a broad and diverse workforce delivering essential services across multiple areas of community support.

Reporting to the Chief People Officer, this is a senior workplace relations leadership role with responsibility for shaping and delivering the organisation’s industrial relations strategy. You’ll provide expert advice on complex and high-risk employee and industrial relations matters, lead enterprise bargaining and implementation, strengthen workplace relations frameworks and ensure legislative, regulatory and industrial obligations are effectively managed.

Leading a specialist workplace relations resource, you’ll work closely with Executive and senior leaders, People & Culture colleagues, unions, regulators and external advisers to deliver consistent, commercially sound and risk-aware outcomes.

Is This Your Perfect Match?

You’ll operate as a trusted workplace relations adviser across a large and complex service-based organisation, combining strategic leadership with oversight of complex operational matters.

Your remit will span enterprise bargaining, complex ER case management, investigations, disputes and litigation, award and enterprise agreement interpretation, workplace relations governance and policy development. You’ll also keep abreast of changes across the industrial landscape and translate these into practical organisational responses.

A key part of the role will be strengthening workplace relations capability across the organisation, providing leaders with the advice, tools and frameworks to manage matters effectively while driving greater consistency and governance across the People & Culture function.

Where You'll Make an Impact





Workplace Relations Strategy - Develop and evolve the organisation’s workplace and industrial relations strategy in line with organisational priorities and the external industrial environment.

Enterprise Bargaining - Lead enterprise agreement bargaining, negotiations and implementation, while building constructive relationships with unions and external industrial bodies.

Complex ER - Oversee high-risk employee relations matters including investigations, disciplinary processes, performance management, misconduct, terminations, disputes and litigation.

Executive Advice - Provide strategic ER/IR advice to Executive and senior leaders on complex, sensitive and higher-risk workplace matters.

Governance & Risk - Identify and manage workplace relations risks while strengthening policies, frameworks, governance and reporting.

Industrial Compliance - Interpret and apply up-to-date awards and enterprise agreements, ensuring compliance with relevant employment legislation and industrial instruments.

Leadership & Capability - Lead specialist workplace relations capability while coaching leaders and strengthening ER/IR capability across the organisation.

Stakeholder Relationships - Build effective relationships with unions, regulators, external legal advisers and stakeholders across the organisation.

What Sets You Apart

You’re an experienced workplace relations leader with strong technical depth across employee and industrial relations and the judgement to operate effectively in a large, complex and unionised environment.

You’re comfortable advising senior stakeholders on sensitive and high-risk matters,



leading enterprise bargaining and complex negotiations, and building constructive relationships with unions. You understand how to navigate the intersection of employment law, industrial instruments, organisational priorities and practical people outcomes.

You can move confidently between strategy and execution, from shaping an organisation-wide IR approach to providing oversight of complex cases, strengthening governance and building workplace relations capability.

Experience

- 7 years' experience in workplace relations, employee relations or industrial relations leadership roles
- Demonstrated experience operating in complex, unionised environments
- Demonstrated experience leading enterprise bargaining and complex negotiations
- Strong experience building and managing constructive union relationships
- Strong experience managing high-risk ER matters and litigation
- Strong working knowledge of Australian employment law, industrial instruments and regulatory frameworks
- Experience interpreting and applying enterprise agreements and up-to-date awards
- Proven experience influencing and advising senior stakeholders
- Experience within community services, not-for-profit, health or similarly complex service-based environments is desirable
- Experience working across multiple awards is highly regarded
- Tertiary qualification in Human Resources, Law, Industrial Relations or a related discipline

Skills

- Strategic employee and industrial relations leadership
- Enterprise bargaining and complex negotiation
- Union engagement and relationship management
- Complex ER case management and risk assessment
- Employment law and industrial instrument interpretation
- Executive stakeholder management and influencing
- Workplace relations governance, policy and framework development
- Strong judgement and commercial decision-making
- Leadership, coaching and capability development
- Clear, practical and confident communication

📌 Senior Workplace Relations Manager (Melbourne)
🏢 SAMUELS DONEGAN
📍 Melbourne