Head of Employee Relations & Partnering

Perth Airport is Australia’s Western Hub connecting the people, businesses and communities of Western Australia with the rest of Australia and the world. Operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the year, Perth Airport plays a significant role in providing economic, social and cultural benefits to West Australians. 

Perth Airport is investing more than $5 billion in new infrastructure so we can support our airline partners to grow, offering more services to new destinations and an improved customer experience. 

Over the coming decade we will expand T1 International, and build new domestic terminal facilities, a parallel runway, two multi-storey carparks and our first airport hotel. This will deliver one airport for the people of Western Australia which will host all flight services in a central location giving passengers a seamless, world-class travel experience. 

The Perth Airport estate is spread over 2100 hectares and has developed a $1.5 billion portfolio of existing industrial premises and significant vacant land holdings. 

We service a truly diverse community and play an important role in strengthening cultural, family and social bonds while supporting business, tourism and leisure travel. 

About the role 

Perth Airport is seeking an experienced and values-led Head of Employee Relations & Partnering to lead our Business Partnering and Talent Acquisition functions and to shape a practical, enterprise-wide approach to change management. This role partners closely with senior leaders to build organisational capability, strengthen employee relations practices, and cultivate an inclusive, high-performance culture across corporate and operational environments. 

In this role, you will combine strategic leadership with hands-on partnering ensuring our organisation design, workforce plans, and people practices enable business performance while supporting a safe, respectful and engaged workplace. Reporting to the General Manager People and Culture, you will: 

• Contribute to and deliver the People & Culture strategic plan.
• Lead the Business Partnering and Talent Acquisition teams to support corporate and operational leaders with pragmatic, high-impact solutions.
• Lead, coach and develop a high-performing partnering/talent team.
• Oversee organisation design and workforce planning initiatives as the airport reshapes for the now and the future.
• Embed talent, performance, succession and reward practices, including delivery of key cyclical activities (performance and remuneration reviews).
• Own the enterprise change management approach for the airport.
• Provide trusted ER/IR leadership and coach leaders through complex matters, including investigations.
• Build constructive relationships with operational unions, employee representatives and key stakeholders.
• Own ER policy and governance: design, review and embed policies and procedures to ensure consistent, compliant practice.
• Use people metrics and insights to improve engagement, performance and employee experience; drive continuous improvement across people processes.
• Demonstrate an overriding commitment to health, safety, environmental responsibility and sustainable development in all people practices. 

About You 

You are a trusted people leader who can operate at pace and influence across diverse stakeholder groups. You bring strong employee relations capability, a commercial mindset and the credibility to partner with senior leaders on both day-to-day decisions and significant transformation, along with: 

• Tertiary qualification in Human Resources, Business/Management or similar (postgraduate desirable).
• Broad Human Resources leadership experience with deep ER knowledge expertise.
• Senior people leader (7+ years) with a strong track record building partnering teams.
• Change leadership experience, including stakeholder engagement and implementation.
• Strong capability across culture, engagement, performance and talent in operational settings.
• Consultative partnering style with confidence to influence and challenge.
• Comfortable in fast-paced, complex environments (construction, infrastructure, resources advantageous). 

About Us 

We offer a dynamic and supportive team culture, a contemporary workplace with great facilities and a modern approach to work/life integration. Our competitive remuneration package comes with additional company benefits including free parking. 

Perth Airport is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We are committed to building an equitable and diverse workforce representative of the community we serve. We encourage and welcome applications from all communities and backgrounds. 

Doing the right thing by the planet and future generations is important to us. At PAPL we place a strong emphasis on embedding sustainability throughout our business strategy and operations. We remain steadfast in our commitment to driving ESPG (Environmental, Social, People, Governance) performance across our value chain and areas that have material environmental and social impact. 

If this sounds like you, please get in touch.