HR Manager – Manufacturing

HR Manager

Meyer Food Co – Who we are

Meyer Food Co is an Australian food manufacturing business supplying some of the country’s largest retailers, clubs, pubs, national fast-food chains, aged care providers and hospitals.

We specialise in value-added food, using a unique cooking (Sous Vide) and packaging process to turn raw ingredients into slow-cooked, nutritious and great-tasting products. Last year alone, we produced enough meat to feed every person in Australia three times over.

Behind that scale is a business with strong fundamentals, an experienced leadership team and, importantly, a workplace culture we’re proud of. We’ve grown by staying close to our people, our customers and our operation, and we want to keep building on that.

What we need

We’re looking for a practical, hands-on HR Manager who enjoys being close to the business and supporting managers and employees with the day-to-day people challenges that come with a busy manufacturing environment.

This isn’t a corporate HR role where you’ll spend your days writing strategies and presentations. You’ll be visible across the site, working directly with managers, supervisors and employees to solve problems, recruit good people, manage employee relations and workers compensation matters, support training and keep our culture and engagement moving in the right direction.

You’ll lead a small HR team of two, work closely with our Payroll team and report directly to the General Manager.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Provide practical day-to-day HR advice and support to managers and supervisors across the business.
• Manage employee relations matters including performance, conduct, attendance, grievances and workplace investigations.
• Coordinate recruitment across production, trades, technical and support roles, helping us attract and retain good people.
• Manage workers compensation matters and support injured employees through safe and sustainable return-to-work plans.
• Support managers with probation reviews, performance conversations and employee development.
• Coordinate onboarding and help ensure new employees get a strong start with Meyer.
• Work with operational leaders to strengthen training, skills matrices, competency records and employee development.
• Support employee engagement, recognition, communication and culture initiatives across the site.
• Monitor trends such as turnover, absenteeism, recruitment and retention and work with managers to address issues early.
• Support practical leadership and supervisor development activities.
• Oversee the day-to-day work of two HR team members and work closely with Payroll to ensure employee matters are handled accurately and efficiently.
• Maintain HR systems, employee records, policies and compliance requirements.
• Help continually improve our people processes so they are practical, consistent and easy for managers and employees to use.

What You’ll Bring

• Solid generalist HR experience, ideally gained within manufacturing, FMCG, logistics, warehousing or another operational environment.
• Experience managing employee relations matters confidently and practically.
• A good understanding of Australian employment legislation, Awards and HR compliance.
• Experience with workers compensation and return-to-work management.
• Strong recruitment capability and an understanding of the challenges of recruiting in operational environments.
• The confidence to coach and challenge managers while maintaining strong working relationships.
• A practical mindset — you’re comfortable getting out from behind the desk, understanding what is happening on the floor and helping solve problems.
• Strong organisation and follow-through. You don’t just give advice; you help make sure things actually get done.
• Previous experience leading or supporting HR team members would be beneficial.

The Details

This is a full-time, site-based HR Manager position reporting directly to the General Manager. You’ll lead a team of two within HR and work closely with our Payroll team, managers and operational leadership across the business.

The role offers broad exposure across HR without the layers and complexity that can come with a large corporate environment. You’ll have direct access to senior leadership, plenty of variety and the opportunity to see the impact of your work across the business.

Why You’ll Love Working Here

Meyer has something that can be difficult to manufacture — a genuinely good workplace culture.

We have an experienced and approachable leadership team, a stable and successful business, and people who care about what they do and the people they work with.

We’re not looking for someone to come in and reinvent everything. The foundations are strong. We want someone who can build on what’s working, support our managers and employees well, and keep improving the everyday people experience.

If you’re an HR generalist who enjoys being part of the operation, building relationships and making a practical difference rather than doing HR from a distance, we’d love to hear from you.