A letter from our Co-Founders

We have written this advertisement ourselves rather than issue a standard list of responsibilities. The person we appoint will represent us and our vision in front of our customers, the most important part of our business. It seemed right that they hear from us directly.

About Ouden Consulting

Ouden Consulting was established eighteen months ago. Montanna’s background is in global human resources — more than 10 years across more than twenty countries, in some of the largest organisations in the world. Dion joined her as Co-Founder from commercial construction management and leads our operations and strategic direction.

We founded Ouden on a straightforward observation: Australian businesses were being offered HR advice that was technically correct and commercially useless. Policy suites no one read. Frameworks built for organisations ten times their size. Advisers who had never sat opposite an owner and worked through a genuinely difficult decision about a long-serving employee.

The businesses we partner with are not abstractions. They are workplaces where people spend the better part of their adult lives, run by owners who lie awake over decisions affecting other people’s families. When HR is done properly in a business like that, it changes how people are managed, how fairly they are treated, and whether they leave work each day with something left in them. We intend to redefine the way that work is done for Australian businesses.

Eighteen months on, our growth has outpaced our own projections. Which leads us to…

The opportunity

This is a client-facing partnering role. You would act as the dedicated People Partner to a portfolio of client organisations, not a support function, but the HR professional those businesses rely on.

The work spans the full breadth of HR practice: managing your own client accounts and advisory relationships; leading workplace investigations end to end; developing policies, frameworks,



contracts and position descriptions; conducting HR maturity assessments and building programs of work; designing and delivering leadership development and engagement programs; supporting client onboarding and proposals; and mentoring our HR/People Assistants.

Our work is industry agnostic. You may be advising a manufacturer one morning and a professional services firm that afternoon.

Is this the right role for you?

It will suit you if you are a generalist and wish to remain one — you will move between employee relations, policy, capability development and business development support, often in a single day.

It will suit you if you are comfortable working with autonomy. There is no shared services function and no established process to inherit. You will have direct access to Montanna, but you will be the person in the room with the client.

It will suit you if you are prepared to work on site in Moorabbin, with regular travel to client premises.

And it will suit you if you have already handled complex matters independently. We can teach consulting practice and our methodology; we are looking for someone who has already demonstrated the judgement that difficult employee relations work requires.

Who we are looking for

You are likely six to eight years into your HR career — in-house, as a generalist, business partner or in employee relations. You have conducted investigations, drafted documentation that withstood scrutiny, and given a leader advice they did not want to hear and been proven right. You have also reached the limits of what one organisation can offer you.

If you have been waiting for the role that finally uses everything you know, this is very likely it.

What we offer

Breadth of experience immediately — a portfolio of client organisations rather than a single employee base, and more distinct HR matters in your first year than most practitioners see in five years in-house.

Access to decision-makers.



You will advise and partner with CEOs, directors and business owners directly, and see your recommendations acted upon within the week.

Daily mentorship from Montanna, with global HR experience available to you in real time.

Real influence over how this business operates while much of it is still being shaped. In five years, when Ouden is considerably larger, the way it works will still carry decisions you had a hand in making.

And a defined pathway: as we grow, our intention is that the person who succeeds in this role will lead a team of HR consultants of their own.

Selection criteria

Essential: six to eight years in an HR/ER generalist, business partner or consulting role; strong working knowledge of Australian employment legislation, the Fair Work Act and modern awards; demonstrated experience managing workplace investigations and complex ER matters independently; excellent written and verbal communication; proven client or stakeholder relationship management; a bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, Commerce, Law or a related field; a current driver’s licence and willingness to travel to client sites around Melbourne.

Desirable: HR consulting or professional services experience; exposure to SME, owner-led or high-growth businesses.

Terms

Permanent, on site in Moorabbin with regular client visits. Reporting to the Director.

The role is offered on a full time basis, and we will also consider applications at 0.8 FTE, four days per week. If a four-day week is what would allow you to do this work properly, please say so in your application.

A competitive base salary commensurate with experience will be discussed openly at first interview.

How to apply

Please submit your CV together with a covering letter. We review every application personally.

We are at the point in this business where the next person through the door genuinely shapes what it becomes. If that is the kind of work you have been looking for, we would very much like to hear from you.

Thank you for your valuable time in reviewing this opportunity.

Kindest regards,

Montanna and Dion Denouden, Co-Founders

📌 People Partner (HR Consultant) (Moorabbin)
🏢 Ouden Consulting
📍 Moorabbin