Posted Wednesday 21 October 2026 at 1:00 pm

At Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (SMCT), our teams play an important role in caring for some of Victoria's most significant memorial parks and cemeteries. We are seeking an experienced and people-focused Operations Leader to lead our Burial team, ensuring safe, efficient and high-quality operations while fostering a positive and high-performing team culture.

This is a hands-on leadership role where you'll combine operational planning, people leadership, safety management and continuous improvement to help deliver exceptional outcomes for our customers, communities and stakeholders.

About The Role

Reporting to the Operations Manager, you will lead frontline operational teams responsible for burial services and related activities across our sites.

You will provide visible leadership, drive a strong safety culture and work collaboratively across the organisation to ensure operational excellence, customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

- Lead, coach and develop Horticulture and/or Burial teams to deliver safe, efficient and high-quality operational outcomes.
- Champion a strong safety culture through visible leadership, risk management, wellbeing initiatives and return-to-work support.
- Drive team performance through coaching, regular feedback, workforce planning and capability development.
- Oversee daily operations, ensuring work is completed efficiently, compliantly and in line with operational plans and service standards.
- Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to deliver customer-focused outcomes and support cross-functional ways of working.




- Identify and implement continuous improvement opportunities that enhance safety, productivity, service delivery and team effectiveness.
- Manage operational resources, budgets, reporting, projects and capital works to achieve business objectives.
- Contribute to strategic initiatives, business planning and the development of a culture that reflects SMCT's PRIDE Values.

About You You are an experienced operational leader who enjoys developing people, solving problems and creating a secure, high-performing work setting.

You Will Bring

- Proven experience leading teams in an operational, outdoor or field-based environment.
- Strong commitment to workplace health, safety and wellbeing.
- Excellent communication, stakeholder engagement and customer service skills.
- Demonstrated ability to develop and implement operational plans.
- Experience managing employee performance, coaching and team development.
- Strong organisational and problem-solving skills.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office including Word, Excel and Outlook.
- Full Victorian Driver's Licence (manual).

If you think this could be the role for you, please apply by COB Tuesday, 27 October.

Job details

Pay type Salary

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Bunurong Memorial Park, 790 Frankston-Dandenong Road, Dandenong South, Victoria, Australia

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📌 Operations Leader Burial (Melbourne)
🏢 Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust
📍 Melbourne