Senior Manager - People & Culture Business Partnering

Employment Type: Permanent Full-time  
Salary Range: $153,559 - $182,954 per annum + Super & Benefits (Health Mgr Lvl 4)
Location: NSW Ambulance State Operations Centre, Sydney Olympic Park, with the option of a flexible workplace arrangement
Closing Date: 11:59 PM, Sunday 11 October 2026

About the opportunity

Our paramedics and control centre staff turn up for people on some of the worst days of their lives, right across NSW, at every hour of the day and night. Our focus is to ensure those people are supported well enough to keep doing that work and okay themselves.You'd lead our People and Culture Business Partners, the largest team in the Employee and Consumer Experience function, reporting to the Associate Director.

Day to day, you'll be the person operational and corporate leaders come to when something matters. Your team handles work that's genuinely complex, from employee and industrial relations matters through to change, capability and workforce planning. Your job is to make sure they're not just responding to what lands but shaping the decisions before they're made. When partnering works well here, leaders pick up the phone early because your advice changes the outcome. That's the shift we're asking you to lead.

The work is demanding. You'll carry matters that affect people's jobs and their wellbeing, often with incomplete information and a leader waiting on your advice. You'll have to form a position, explain it clearly, and hold it while it gets tested. The upside is that your judgement genuinely matters here. 

You'd be joining a team who knows this organisation and care about it, and a leadership group that's genuinely interested in what you think, not just what you deliver. You'll have room to shape how partnering is practised here, access to the people making the decisions, and the chance to do work that shows up in how thousands of people experience their jobs and how the community experiences us.

If that sounds like the kind of work you want to be doing, we'd like to hear from you.

About you

You're a strategic HR leader who's comfortable in a complex, high-stakes environment. Specifically, you'll bring:

• Leadership people want to follow. You've led a team of HR or People and Culture Business Partners and lifted what they're capable of, not just kept on top of the workload. 
• Deep industrial and employee relations expertise. Complex matters in a unionised setting, award interpretation and dispute resolution.
• The courage to hold a position. You can give a senior leader advice they don't want, explain your thinking, take the pushback, and still have a good relationship afterwards.
• Strategic range. You notice the pattern behind the caseload and you do something about it. You can connect what's happening in the workforce to what the organisation is trying to achieve and make that case to an executive audience.
• Judgement under pressure. You know when to escalate, when to absorb, and when to tell someone they're about to make a decision they'll regret.
• Resilience that's genuine, not performed. You've worked through long stretches of pressure and uncertainty without losing your standards or your steadiness, and you know what you need to recover.

How to Apply

Please respond to the two questions below (Maximum 4000 characters per question) and submit your responses along with your CV and any other required documentation.

Question 1: Tell us about a time you gave a senior leader advice they didn't want to hear on a matter carrying real industrial or reputational risk. What was your reasoning, how did you handle the pushback, and what happened in the end?
Question 2: Tell us about a team you've led where capability wasn't where it needed to be. What did you change about how the team worked, how did you handle any individual performance concerns you had to address, and what was different by the end?

Need Further Information

• If you have any questions about this role, please contact Lawrie Whitehurst via Lawrie.whitehurst@health.nsw.gov.au

• Please refer to the Role Description for further information. 

• Please refer to the Position Conditions for further information

Additional Information

• Employment of temporary visa holders is only considered if no suitable permanent resident or citizen is identified after labour market testing.
• Eligibility lists and talent pools may be created and used to fill ongoing and temporary vacancies over the next 18 months at the same, or other locations, that are at the same grade and capability level.
• Applicants are expected to provide responses that reflect their own knowledge, experience, and understanding of the role.
• Any AI assisted content should still reflect your own capability; candidates may be asked to discuss or demonstrate examples during interview.
• If you are currently a Paramedic or in a role that is covered by the NSW Ambulance Death and Income Protection Benefits (State) Award 2022, please ensure that you have sought advice prior to accepting this position. For further information please contact Paramedic Insurance via AMBULANCE-ParamedicInsurance@health.nsw.gov.au

Our Commitment  

• NSW Ambulance is committed to achieving a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve. All are welcome to apply, including women, Aboriginal People, people from culturally diverse backgrounds, refugees, people of diverse genders and sexuality, and people living with a disability. We value the knowledge, skills, experiences, and perspectives that all people bring to our organisation, patients, communities, and workforce.

• If you are an Aboriginal job applicant and wish to obtain more information about applying for a role with NSW Ambulance, please contact our Aboriginal Workforce Engagement Coordinator via via AMBULANCE-FirstNations@health.nsw.gov.auor visit Stepping Up. Stepping Up aims to assist Aboriginal job applicants by providing information about applying for roles within NSW Health - visit https://www.steppingup.health.nsw.gov.au/

• If you wish to discuss any changes to the process, you may need to present your best self, including accessibility requirements; please contact the panel convenor or recruitment team for support at NSW Ambulance Corporate Recruitment Team via AMBULANCE-CorporateRecruitment@health.nsw.gov.au.

• Additionally, you can contact the NSW Ambulance Diversity & Inclusion Team at Ambulance-Diversity@health.nsw.gov.au

Child Safe Employment

NSW Ambulance is dedicated to fostering a child-safe environment that respects and upholds the rights of children and young people, aligned with NSW Health’s commitment to implementing the Child Safe Standards. We aim to ensure that children and young people feel safe, supported, and included in their care. All current and prospective staff are expected to prioritise the safety, welfare, and well-being of children and young people, actively working to protect them from harm and abuse.