Associate Director, Employee Industrial Relations

Role Purpose

The Associate Director Employee Relations Governance provides strategic leadership in shaping and governing the Organisation's employee and labour relations framework.

This role leads the development of policies, advisory standards, case governance and analytics to ensure fair, consistent and legally sound people practices. The incumbent partners closely with HR leadership, Legal, Risk, unions, and government agencies to manage complex disciplinary matters, labour relations issues and emerging workforce risks.

The role combines deep industrial relationships expertise, policy leadership, stakeholder influence, and data-driven decision making, and serves as a subject-matter authority on employment legislation and industrial relations strategy.

Key Responsibilities

1. Policy & Governance Leadership

• Lead the design, review and implementation of the Organisation-wide employee & industrial relations and HR policy framework.
• Establish governance standards, operating guidelines and decision frameworks to ensure consistency across faculties and units.
• Translate employment legislation, case law and regulatory changes into clear institutional policies and guidance.

2. Employee & Labour Relations Advisory

• Act as the lead advisor to HR Partners, managers and senior leaders on:
• Disciplinary management and sanctions
• Employee grievances and dispute resolution
• Performance-related misconduct
• Workplace conflict and complex people risks
• Provide practical, risk-balanced solutions aligned with legislation, collective agreements and institutional values.

3. Case Management & Risk Partnership

• Partner closely with relevant departments on the end-to-end management of complex disciplinary cases, including investigations, sanctions and terminations.
• Ensure procedural fairness, documentation integrity and legal defensibility across all cases.
• Provide escalation guidance and recommendations for high-risk or precedent-setting matters.

4. Union & Industrial Relations Engagement

• Represent the Organisation in union consultations, negotiations, arbitration and dispute resolution forums.
• Analyse union and management proposals to assess policy, financial and employee-relations implications.
• Support collective bargaining strategies through data, benchmarking and scenario analysis.

5. Conflict of Interest & External Engagement Oversight

• Oversee governance and advisory frameworks for staff external interests and commitments.
• Provide guidance on identifying, assessing and mitigating actual or potential conflicts of interest.
• Support consistent decision-making across organisational units.

6. Analytics, Insights & Reporting

• Lead the development of a centralised case database to support:
• Dashboard reporting
• Trend analysis
• Predictive risk indicators
• Analyse disciplinary and grievance patterns to identify systemic issues and policy gaps.
• Provide regular insights and recommendations to HR leadership.

7. Capability Building & Leadership

• Build capability across the HR community through frameworks, toolkits and advisory standards.
• Coach HR Partners on managing complex employee relations matters.
• Serve as a thought partner to senior HR leadership on emerging workforce risks and strategy.

To excel, you will need to have these core skills

Employee & Industrial Relations Expertise

• Deep understanding of employee relations, labour relations and workplace dispute management.
• Strong working knowledge of employment legislation, regulations and industrial relations practices.
• Ability to interpret legislation and apply it practically within complex organisational environments.

Advisory & Influence Skills

• Advanced stakeholder management and influencing capability across senior leaders, unions and regulators.
• Strong negotiation, mediation and conflict-resolution skills.
• Ability to balance organisational risk with empathy and sound judgement.

Policy & Analytical Capability

• Strong policy development and governance design skills.
• Ability to analyse complex data, case trends and risk indicators.
• Skilled in translating data into insights, recommendations and decision support.

Leadership & Communication

• Excellent written and verbal communication, including drafting of policies, advisory papers and management recommendations.
• Ability to lead through influence in matrixed environments.
• Strong judgement, discretion and professional credibility.

Digital & Data Skills

• Strong data management and reporting skills.
• Ability to design dashboards, track trends and support predictive analysis.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and HR systems; experience with case management systems preferred.

Experience & Qualifications

• Degree in Human Resource Management, Law, Industrial Relations, or related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex employee and industrial relations matters within large or regulated organisations.
• Proven track record in:
• Policy development
• Disciplinary and grievance management
• Union or labour relations engagement