People & Capability Manager

Community Options Australia | Full-time | Hybrid

Sydney-based preferred | One day per week in our North Sydney office

Reporting to the Executive Lead, People and Operations

Do you love the full breadth of HR—from navigating a complex employee matter to shaping workforce strategy, transforming culture and implementing better systems?

Community Options Australia (COA) is seeking an experienced, proactive People & Capability Manager to lead our people function from end to end. This is an opportunity to combine hands-on HR delivery with strategic thinking, strengthening our workforce and elevating employee experience, engagement and organisational performance.

About the role

Reporting to the Executive Lead, People and Operations, you will lead comprehensive HR generalist support and deliver COA's people priorities across a geographically dispersed, largely remote workforce.

We're looking for someone who enjoys taking ownership of this whole space: building trusted relationships, coaching leaders, using data to guide decisions and turning strategy into action. You will bring exceptional organisation, strong digital capability and the follow-through to deliver both everyday support and lasting improvement. This role suits someone who loves to design, build and embed from the ground up, and who will lead our people portfolio as their own.

Workforce planning will be a major focus. Working closely with operational and finance leaders, you will translate service demand, geographic coverage and organisational priorities into practical workforce plans. You will anticipate capacity and capability needs, build recruitment pipelines and strengthen retention, development and succession.

Alongside this, you will provide responsive support on urgent and complex HR matters, develop policies, implement an HR information system and deliver initiatives that improve culture, recognition, wellbeing and engagement.

Key responsibilities

- Workforce planning: Develop and implement workforce plans aligned with service demand, workforce availability, capability, geographic coverage and financial sustainability. Identify gaps and deliver recruitment, development, retention and succession strategies.

- People strategy: Partner with the Executive Lead, People and Operations to develop and deliver a practical people workplan, with clear priorities, milestones and measures of success.

- End-to-end HR support: Lead the employee lifecycle, including recruitment, selection, employment documentation, onboarding, probation, development, performance, leave, retention and offboarding.

- Urgent and complex HR matters: Provide timely,



balanced advice and manage employee relations matters, grievances, investigations and performance concerns with sound judgement, discretion and appropriate escalation.

- Culture and change: Lead initiatives that elevate workplace culture, strengthen trust and accountability, and support employees and leaders through organisational change.

- Engagement, reward and recognition: Develop and implement initiatives that improve employee experience, connection, wellbeing and retention. Translate staff feedback into visible action and measure progress.

- Remote workforce support: Strengthen communication, connection and consistent people practices across dispersed teams, ensuring employees can access support and development wherever they work.

- HR system implementation: Lead the implementation and adoption of an HR information system, including requirements, data migration, workflows, reporting, user training and ongoing improvement.

- Policies and compliance: Develop, review and implement clear, practical people policies and procedures. Monitor employment obligations, award application, employee records, required checks and mandatory training, working with payroll and specialist advisers as needed.

- Leadership and workforce capability: Coach managers in planning, communication, feedback and performance management. Coordinate learning and development that addresses capability gaps and supports career progression.

About you

- Substantial experience across the full HR lifecycle, including workforce planning, onboarding, elevating performance, employee relations, learning and development, compliance and organisational development.

- Proven experience forecasting workforce needs, building talent pipelines and delivering practical recruitment, capability, retention and succession solutions.

- Experience developing people strategies and translating them into processes, policies, workflows and measurable improvements.

- Strong knowledge of Australian employment legislation and industrial relations, ideally including the SCHADS Award.

- Confidence managing urgent and complex HR matters and coaching leaders through sensitive situations.

- Demonstrated experience strengthening culture and engagement across remote or geographically dispersed teams.





- A strong track record of implementing or substantially improving HR systems, policies and processes.

- Exceptional ICT skills, with confidence using digital platforms and collaboration tools, and in implementing and embedding HR systems and automation to improve how work gets done.

- Strong data and analytical skills, including maintaining accurate information, identifying trends and translating findings into clear recommendations.

- Relevant qualifications in Human Resources, Business or a related discipline, or equivalent qualified experience.

Why join COA?

• Own the full people portfolio: Lead work spanning workforce strategy, everyday HR, systems, capability and culture.

• Shape meaningful change: Help elevate employee experience and build a connected, engaged and high-performing workforce.

• Work with purpose: Support the people who are helping older Australians access the care and services they need to live well.

• Partner with leadership: Work closely with the Executive Lead, People and Operations and contribute to executive and Board decision-making.

• Enjoy flexibility and connection: Hybrid working, with one day per week in our North Sydney office.

• Salary packaging: Boost your take home pay with generous not-for-profit salary packaging benefits.

• Professional development to thrive: We invest in your growth, with ongoing support for learning, professional memberships and development.

About us

Community Options Australia is a not-for-profit organisation supporting people to access services that promote independence, wellbeing and quality of life. Through our aged care assessment work under the Single Assessment System, we help older Australians understand their needs and access appropriate support. We are investing in our people, systems and capability to deliver high-quality, person-centred services and build a strong, sustainable organisation.

How to apply

Please submit your CV and a short cover letter outlining your relevant experience and why you would like to lead the people function at COA.

The successful candidate will need Australian working rights and a satisfactory National Police Check.

We will review applications as they are received so we encourage you to apply early.

Enquiries: ••••@communityoptions.net.au

COA welcomes applications from people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability and people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Please let us know if you require any adjustments during the recruitment process.

📌 People & Capability Manager (Sydney)
🏢 Community Options Australia
📍 Sydney