hr manager - construction project.

The purpose of your role will be to mitigate industrial risk, manage the phased exit of hundreds of site-based employees and subcontractors, and ensure 100% compliance with legislation.

Responsibilities

Project Close-Out & Transition (HR Focus)

• Workforce Reduction & Demobilisation: Systematically manage the reduction of personnel over a six-month period, strictly aligning the headcount ramp-down with key site-clearing and engineering milestones.
• Industrial Relations Management: Serve as the primary HR liaison for all union interactions, finalise the close-out of all project-specific Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBAs), and manage all complex or outstanding grievance cases.
• Legal & Statutory Compliance: Ensure all procedures for redundancy and termination comply with the requirements of the Statutes Amendment (Building and Construction Industry Review—Penalties) Act 2025, with a specific focus on final payments and subcontractor licensing mandates.
• Talent Strategy & Redeployment: Collaborate with executive leadership to identify and secure "high-potential" personnel for transition and placement into upcoming infrastructure projects within the South Australian renewable energy and water pipelines.
• Site Decommissioning Support: Oversee the human resources elements of the site facility handover and dismantling, including the final comprehensive audit of safety training records and site access logs.

The Toolkit You Bring

The successful candidate will possess a robust and specialised set of skills, critical for navigating the complexities of large-scale civil projects and industrial relations in the South Australian climate.

• Heavy Industry Specialisation & Leadership:

• You are not just familiar with, but have led the entire Human Resources and Industrial Relations function for significant, large-scale civil projects (e.g., major infrastructure, transport, or energy works) or within a similarly structured, heavily unionised industry.
• This includes comprehensive experience across the full employee lifecycle in a project environment: from mobilisation and site start-up to demobilisation and redundancy management.

• Industrial Relations Mastery (Adelaide Focus):
• You possess a deep, current, and practical understanding of Industrial Relations, including key unions, common disputes, and resolution mechanisms.
• You are an expert in the interpretation and application of highly complex Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBAs), with the proven ability to rapidly and accurately interpret clauses, pay rates, and conditions under significant pressure during site issues or audits.
• Your expertise extends to managing and resolving disputes at all levels, from shop floor grievances to formal negotiations, ensuring legal compliance and minimal project disruption.
• Financial Rigour and Payroll Governance:
• Demonstrable expertise in the meticulous management of high-stakes financial processes related to employee remuneration.
• This specifically includes managing and forecasting substantial redundancy budgets linked to project phasing and completion.
• Critical experience in preparing for and successfully navigating "Certified Payroll" or similar large-scale, complex wage compliance audits, ensuring absolute precision so that every single worker is paid correctly preventing legal risk.

Why this role

• High-Stakes Leadership: Close-out is where reputations are made. You will be the steady hand ensuring a Tier 1 delivery.
• Local Impact: This project is a key pillar of Adelaide’s 2026 infrastructure landscape.
• Network Growth: Connect with the key stakeholders who are currently bidding on the next decade of infrastructure pipeline.

• Significant Influence: Demonstrate high-stakes leadership as the critical close-out phase determines project reputation, ensuring a Tier 1 delivery.
• Impact: Directly contribute to the 2026 infrastructure development, which is a vital component of the urban growth strategy.
• Strategic Networking: Build relationships with key stakeholders currently involved in bidding for the region's infrastructure pipeline for the next decade.

At HR Partners by Randstad, we are passionate about providing equal employment opportunities and embracing diversity to the benefit of all. We actively encourage applications from any background.