Head of People Partnering & Employee Relations

It's fun to work in a company where people truly BELIEVE in what they're doing!

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

We are delivering a $5 billion infrastructure program to transform the airport, including new and expanded terminals, a parallel runway, multi-storey car parks and our first on site hotel. This investment will deliver a single, integrated airport precinct and a world class passenger experience.

Beyond aviation, the Perth Airport estate spans more than 2,100 hectares and supports a $1.5 billion portfolio of industrial and commercial assets, with significant opportunities for future development.

About The Role

Reporting to the General Manager, People & Culture, the Head of People Partnering & Employee Relations leads the Business Partnering and Talent Acquisition functions. You will be the critical link between P&C strategy and business execution - translating plans into practice, embedding frameworks into day-to-day operations, and equipping leaders to build capable, engaged, and well-designed teams.

This is not a role that sits at arm's length. You'll operate as a trusted advisor to senior leaders across operations, corporate functions, and a major projects portfolio, with a team of HR Business Partners and Talent Acquisition professionals delivering alongside you.

You Will

• Shape and execute people strategies aligned to business priorities, strengthen organisational capability, and lead high-performing teams that deliver measurable enterprise-wide impact.
• Lead the Business Partnering & Talent Acquisition Partnering function across all areas of the business, operations, corporate, and major projects - building team capability and ensuring commercially relevant, strategic advice to leaders.
• Own and embed the Employee Relations framework, ensuring contemporary, consistent and compliant practice. Coach leaders to manage complex ER matters with confidence, maintain constructive union relationships, and ensure correct application of the EBA and relevant legislation.
• Execute talent management, performance and engagement programs designed by the OD function, embedding them into business operations through the partnering team. This role is about driving execution, not duplicating design.
• Champion the airport's change management philosophy ensuring leaders are familiar with, confident in, and consistently applying PAPL's change management approach and tools as part of how the business manages people-related and organisational change.
• Drive cyclical P&C processes including salary reviews, performance management, FTE budgets, succession planning and strategic workforce planning, in partnership with P&C peers and Finance.
• Partner with senior leaders on organisation design, role clarity, and workforce planning to ensure structures are fit for purpose and aligned to current and future business needs.

About You

You are a credible and contemporary people leader, recognised for bringing strategic judgement, organisational influence and a calm, assured presence to complex environments. Operating confidently at senior level, you build trusted relationships, shape critical conversations and provide the leadership required to align people, culture and business performance in moments that matter. You will bring:

• Broad HR leadership experience across multiple disciplines, business partnering, employee relations, talent acquisition, workforce planning, with ER as a genuine strength.
• 7+ years in senior-level HR leadership roles, with a demonstrable track record of achievement in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
• Deep expertise in employee relations, change and organisational transformation, with the ability to lead through complexity and ambiguity.
• Proven experience building and embedding ER frameworks and executing talent and OD programs through a partnering model into business operations.
• A contemporary commercial mindset, translating people strategy into practical outcomes that strengthen performance and organisational capability.
• A strong understanding of change management principles and the ability to equip leaders and HR practitioners to apply them consistently. You don't need to be a change manager, but you need to know how to embed change thinking into how leaders lead
• Degree-qualified in HR, Management or a related discipline, with additional leadership development viewed favourably.
• A trusted advisor style, with the executive presence to partner confidently with senior leaders and navigate sensitive, high-impact matters.
• Experience in complex, fast-paced operational environments, with infrastructure, construction or similarly scaled settings highly regarded.
• A strong record of leading, coaching and uplifting high-performing people teams through growth, change and transformation.

Why Join Perth Airport?

We offer a collaborative and inclusive workplace where people are supported to do their best work. You’ll be part of a forward-looking organisation with a clear purpose, working on projects that have a lasting impact on Western Australia.

Our Benefits Include

• A dynamic and supportive team culture
• A contemporary workplace with excellent facilities
• A modern approach to work and life balance
• Competitive remuneration and company benefits
• Free on site parking

Doing the right thing by the planet and future generations is important to us. 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.

Ready for you career to take off?

If so, we'd love to hear from you - Apply Now.