Employee Relations Business Partner

_{02nd November, 2026}

About the Opportunity   

Our client is a large, well-established Melbourne organisation with a complex, multi-site workforce and a deeply unionised industrial landscape. They are investing in their ER capability and have created a permanent role to meet growing demand. If you thrive on substantive casework, strategic thinking, and building genuine trust with leaders, this is the role for you.
  
The package includes a generous base salary, superannuation, salary packaging benefits, and five weeks annual leave. Flexible working is genuinely supported - you'll manage your own diary with a mix of working from home and site visits, and connect with your team weekly for collaboration.

About the Role   

Reporting to the Associate Director Employee Relations, you’ll sit at the intersection of HR Business Partnering and Employee Relations - triaging risk, running end-to-end investigations, and translating complex matters into clear recommendations for senior leaders and executives.
  
This is not a transactional case management role. You’ll be expected to identify risk early, spot patterns across the business, and proactively coach managers to build their own capability.

Key responsibilities include:

• Conducting high-quality investigations into complaints, grievances, and performance matters
• Providing risk mitigation advice and managing escalations to external parties
• Supporting enterprise bargaining processes, including planning for protected industrial action and EA implementation
• Producing clear reports and recommendations for executive audiences
• Coaching and developing managers and P&C colleagues on ER processes and best practice
• Contributing to the development and review of policies, guidelines, and educational tools  

About You   

You’re a seasoned ER professional who is equally comfortable in the weeds of a complex investigation and presenting a strategic risk summary to an executive. You bring:

• Proven end-to-end ER experience, including performance management and misconduct investigations
• Strong industrial and legislative knowledge (Fair Work Act, relevant awards and enterprise agreements)
• Conflict management and mediation skills
• The ability to produce clear, well-structured written reports and recommendations
• Experience managing matters involving external parties
• Coaching and facilitation skills - you make the people around you better
• Strong organisational discipline with the ability to carry a high caseload without letting things slip
• Resilience and a genuine sense of humour - this environment is complex and you'll be supported by a wonderful team that can have a laugh when it's needed. 

Culture fit matters here. You’ll be joining a team that values trust, collaboration, and doing the work properly.
  
About the Company   

People are at the heart of how this organisation operates. With a new executive leader recently onboard and a refreshed people strategy taking shape, this is an exciting moment to join - you’ll be contributing to a function that has real visibility and genuine momentum. 
  
How to Apply   

If this sounds like the kind of role where you could truly make an impact - I’d love to have a conversation. Please apply via Seek or reach out to Tiarne McDonald directly via LinkedIn. 

Good hires start with good humans.