Industrial Relations Senior Manager

Role: Industrial Relations Senior Manager

Location: Sydney / Melbourne / Brisbane / Canberra

Role Summary

The Industrial Relations Senior Manager provides strategic leadership and subject-matter expertise on industrial relations (IR) and labor compliance. The role ensures constructive relationships with employees unions and external bodies while minimizing business risk and supporting organizational objectives. This position acts as a trusted advisor to senior leaders on workforce relations policy interpretation and dispute resolution.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Industrial Relations Leadership

• Define and lead the organizations industrial relations strategy in alignment with business objectives and regulatory requirements.

• Advise senior leadership on complex IR matters including enterprise bargaining workforce change and risk mitigation.

• Monitor external IR developments (legislative changes case law union activity) and assess organizational impact.

Union & Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as the key point of contact for unions employee representatives and relevant external bodies.

• Lead union negotiations consultations and discussions related to change initiatives and workforce conditions.

• Build constructive professional relationships to promote positive and stable labor relations.

Enterprise Agreements & Compliance

• Lead or oversee enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) negotiations renewals and variations.

• Ensure compliance with relevant labor laws modern awards EBAs and organizational policies.

• Partner with Legal HR and Payroll teams to ensure accurate interpretation and application of industrial instruments.

Change Management Support

• Provide IR and ER guidance for organizational changes such as restructures acquisitions redundancies and offshoring/onshoring initiatives.

• Conduct risk assessments and prepare IR strategies to support business transformation while minimizing disruption.

Governance Policy & Capability Building

• Develop review and maintain IR-related policies frameworks and playbooks.

• Coach and upskill HR leaders and people managers on industrial and employee relations best practices.

• Support audits investigations and internal governance requirements related to workforce relations.

Key Stakeholders

• Senior Business Leaders

• HR Business Partners & People Operations teams

• Legal & Compliance teams

• Unions and employee representatives

• External regulators conciliators or tribunals (as required)

Required Experience & Qualifications

• Extensive experience (typically 10 years) in Industrial Relations and/or Employee Relations within complex or regulated environments.

• Strong expertise in labor law enterprise agreements awards and compliance frameworks.

• Proven experience leading union negotiations and managing complex employee relations cases.

• Experience supporting large-scale organizational change initiatives.

Key Skills & Competencies

• Advanced negotiation and influencing skills

• Strong risk assessment and decision-making capability

• Excellent stakeholder management at senior levels

• High emotional intelligence and sound judgment

• Ability to balance employee advocacy with business needs

• Clear confident written and verbal communication

Leadership Expectations (Senior Manager Level)

• Operates as a trusted advisor to executives

• Demonstrates sound judgment in high-risk situations

• Models organizational values and ethical decision-making

• Contributes to enterprise-wide people strategy and governance

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