Senior People & Culture Business Partner

Work Type:

Location:

Newcastle - NSW 

  • Strategic HR partnering across workforce planning, talent, culture and change
  • Regional remit - Newcastle based
  • Circa $190,000 total package (including super)
About Them
Our client plays a critical role in Australia's transport and trade infrastructure, ensuring the safe and efficient movement of commercial operations across a highly regulated environment. With a strong focus on safety, operational excellence and community service, they are currently seeking an experienced Senior People & Culture Business Partner to support leaders through a period of workforce transformation and organisational growth.

About the Role
This role partners closely with operational and corporate leaders to deliver both strategic and operational people solutions across the employee lifecycle. Supporting a diverse portfolio, you'll act as a trusted advisor on workforce planning, employee and industrial relations, leadership capability, talent acquisition and organisational effectiveness, helping leaders navigate complex workforce challenges while building high-performing teams and a positive workplace culture. You'll also support leaders in creating safe and sustainable work environments through the practical application of psychosocial risk management principles and broader wellbeing initiatives.

Key responsibilities include:
  • Partnering with leaders on workforce planning, talent, succession and people strategy
  • Partnering with leaders to identify and manage psychosocial risks, supporting safe, healthy and compliant workplaces 
  • Managing complex employee and industrial relations matters, including investigations and case management
  • Supporting organisational change, workforce initiatives and leadership capability programs
  • Building productive relationships with unions, employee representatives and key stakeholders
  • Leading end-to-end recruitment activities and contributing to broader culture and engagement initiatives
  • Analysing workforce trends and providing practical insights to support decision-making

About You

This role will suit an experienced HR Business Partner who enjoys working close to the business and partnering with leaders through complex workforce challenges. You'll bring strong employee and industrial relations capability, experience supporting organisational change and a demonstrated ability to build credibility with stakeholders at all levels. Comfortable operating in environments where priorities shift and competing demands are the norm, you're known for providing practical, balanced advice and finding solutions that work for both the business and its people. You'll also be comfortable advising leaders on contemporary people challenges, including psychosocial risk, employee wellbeing and creating psychologically safe, high-performing teams. Experience within a unionised, operational or highly regulated environment will be highly regarded, along with exposure to workforce planning, talent and broader people initiatives.

How to Apply
For more information or a confidential discussion, please contact Lorainne Winterstein on 02 8256 2512 or lwinterstein@thenextstep.com.au, quoting reference 4082380.
Alternatively, click Apply Now to submit your application.

Reference Number:

4082380

Date Published:

09-Oct-2026

Contact Name:

Lorainne Winterstein

Contact Email:

Lwinterstein@thenextstep.com.au


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Your details may be provided to our clients for potential opportunities; however, this will only occur after a discussion with one of our consultants and with your consent. We are committed to handling your information securely and confidentially in line with national privacy requirements.

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The Next Step embraces individuality and differences in gender, age, ethnicity, race, cultural background, disability, faith and sexual orientation. We strive to provide a recruitment experience that’s fair, inclusive and accessible. We encourage all suitable applicants to apply for roles. Please speak to our consultants about any accessibility needs to be considered during the recruitment process.