HSEQ Manager

Manufacturing | Hands-on HSEQ Leadership | Develop Leaders | Improve Systems

Are you an experienced HSEQ professional looking for a role where you can have a genuine impact?

We are seeking a practical and capable HSEQ Manager to lead Health, Safety, Environment and Quality across manufacturing operations at 2 modern facilities with 110+ staff.

This is a hands-on role combining strong workshop engagement with ownership of HSEQ systems, investigations, audits, corrective actions and continuous improvement.

Just as importantly, a key part of this role is developing our managers and supervisors to effectively own and manage HSEQ within their own areas.

The Opportunity

Reporting directly to the General Manager, you will be the primary operational lead for HSEQ across the business.

You will take responsibility for maintaining and improving our HSEQ systems while also contributing to the ongoing development of our Integrated Management System (IMS).

A major focus will be building HSEQ capability throughout the leadership team. You will coach managers and supervisors to identify risks, investigate issues, manage corrective actions, maintain standards and take accountability for HSEQ performance within their areas.

The objective is not to create dependence on the HSEQ Manager. It is to build an organisation where HSEQ is effectively owned by operational leaders, supported by a capable HSEQ function.

You will have support from an Admin Generalist who has previous HSEQ administration experience and can assist with training records, document control, registers, audit preparation and other HSEQ administration.

You will also work closely with Operations, Engineering, management and external specialists where required.

For the right person, there is significant opportunity to shape how HSEQ operates within the business and potentially grow the role further into areas such as IMS, Compliance, CI and broader management systems over time.

What You'll Be Responsible For

HSEQ Leadership & Leader Development

A key responsibility of this role is developing HSEQ capability within our operational leadership team.

You will:

• coach managers and supervisors to effectively manage HSEQ within their areas

• build their confidence and capability in identifying and managing risk

• support leaders to conduct effective workplace inspections, risk assessments and safety conversations

• develop managers and supervisors in incident investigation and root cause analysis

• coach leaders to identify, implement and follow through effective corrective actions

• help operational leaders understand and meet their HSEQ responsibilities

• challenge managers and supervisors constructively where standards or accountability are not being maintained

• support leaders to use HSEQ information and trends to identify improvement priorities

• progressively build greater ownership of safety and quality within operational teams

• create practical tools, processes and training that make it easier for managers and supervisors to lead HSEQ effectively

Success in the role will be measured not only by the quality of HSEQ systems, but by the capability and ownership demonstrated by managers and supervisors across the business.

Health & Safety

• Lead and continuously improve workplace health and safety systems and practices.

• Maintain a strong presence within workshop and operational areas.

• Conduct and support workplace inspections, hazard identification and risk assessments.

• Lead significant incident and near-miss investigations while developing operational leaders to manage appropriate investigations within their own areas.

• Facilitate root cause analysis and corrective actions.

• Coordinate inductions, toolbox talks and HSEQ training.

• Support Return to Work and injury-management activities.

• Maintain relevant HSE registers, including hazards, risks, incidents, SDS and Dangerous Goods.

• Provide practical HSEQ advice to managers, supervisors and employees.

• Drive a proactive and accountable safety culture.

Quality

• Support and improve practical quality-management processes.

• Investigate significant and recurring quality issues and non-conformances.

• Develop operational leaders to take ownership of quality issues within their areas.

• Facilitate root cause analysis and effective corrective actions.

• Monitor trends in non-conformances, rework and repeat issues.

• Work with Operations and Engineering to improve process consistency and quality.

• Support customer quality investigations where required.

• Promote ownership of quality throughout the business.

Environment

• Maintain environmental controls relevant to workshop and manufacturing operations.

• Support management of waste, hazardous substances, spills and environmental risks.

• Maintain relevant environmental records and compliance requirements.

• Investigate environmental incidents and improvement opportunities.

• Support operational leaders to understand and manage environmental requirements within their areas.

IMS, Audits & Compliance

• Maintain and improve the HSEQ elements of the Integrated Management System.

• Ensure HSEQ policies, procedures, forms and registers remain current and controlled.

• Support effective document control and SharePoint-based management systems.

• Coordinate internal HSEQ audits.

• Support external certification, customer and regulatory audits.

• Track non-conformances and corrective actions through to effective close-out.

• Maintain audit readiness and relevant compliance registers.

• Identify opportunities to simplify and strengthen systems.

Continuous Improvement

• Use incident, audit, quality and HSEQ data to identify improvement priorities.

• Apply practical root cause analysis to recurring issues.

• Support Lean and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Work with operational teams to develop sustainable solutions rather than short-term fixes.

• Improve systems without creating unnecessary administration or complexity.

• Develop managers and supervisors to use structured problem-solving and continuous improvement within their own areas.

About You

We are open to experienced HSEQ Managers as well as strong Senior HSEQ Advisors who are ready to take the next step into broader HSEQ leadership.

You will ideally bring:

• Minimum 5 years' relevant HSEQ or workplace health and safety experience.

• Experience within manufacturing, engineering, heavy industry, mining services, trades or a similar operational environment.

• Certificate IV in Work Health & Safety or equivalent.

• Strong practical WHS knowledge.

• Experience conducting risk assessments, workplace inspections and incident investigations.

• Strong root cause analysis and problem-solving capability.

• Experience managing corrective actions through to completion.

• Exposure to quality systems, non-conformances and quality improvement.

• Experience with ISO-certified systems or Integrated Management Systems.

• Experience supporting internal or external audits.

• Confidence working directly with tradespeople, supervisors and senior management.

• Strong written communication and the ability to develop clear, practical procedures and systems.

• Demonstrated ability to coach, influence and develop frontline leaders.

• Experience building HSEQ ownership and capability within managers and supervisors.

Experience with SharePoint, internal auditing, Return to Work, environmental management, leadership development or Lean/continuous improvement would be advantageous.

What We're Looking For

Technical HSEQ knowledge is important, but how you lead and develop others is equally important.

You will be someone who:

• enjoys spending time on the workshop floor

• builds credibility with operational teams

• can move comfortably between frontline conversations and management-level coaching

• enjoys developing managers and supervisors rather than simply telling them what to do

• takes a practical rather than bureaucratic approach to HSEQ

• can challenge unsafe or non-compliant practices constructively

• follows problems through rather than simply recording them

• understands the difference between completing a corrective action and actually solving the problem

• can influence managers and supervisors without relying on authority

• knows when to lead directly and when to coach an operational leader to take ownership

• enjoys improving systems and making them easier to use

• balances compliance requirements with operational reality

• takes ownership and follows through

We are looking for someone who believes HSEQ is owned by all and enabled by the HSEQ function.

Why Join Us?

This is an opportunity to take ownership of HSEQ within an established manufacturing business and make a visible impact on how we operate.

The role offers:

• direct report to the General Manager

• broad ownership across Health, Safety, Environment and Quality

• a genuine hands-on operational environment

• the opportunity to develop HSEQ capability across our leadership team

• administrative support for HSEQ activities

• close involvement with Operations and Engineering

• the opportunity to improve and simplify existing systems

• meaningful involvement in the ongoing development of our IMS

• scope for the role to grow as both the individual and our management systems develop

If you are an experienced HSEQ professional who enjoys being close to operations, developing leaders, solving problems and building systems that work in the real world, we would like to hear from you.

Apply through SEEK with your resume and a brief summary of your relevant HSEQ, leadership and manufacturing or heavy-industry experience.