Employee Relations Counsel

John Holland Pty Ltd; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary continuance

Salary sacrifice options

Flexible work arrangements

Generous leave entitlements

Career development opportunities

Wellbeing support

Job summary

John Holland Pty Ltd in Australia seeks an experienced Employment Lawyer to join the People team as an Employee Relations Counsel on a 12-month parental leave cover, based in Pyrmont, NSW. The role provides trusted employment law advice and strategic employee relations support across John Holland, acting as a senior escalation point for complex workplace matters.

You will partner with business leaders and People teams to shape frameworks, deliver training, and manage investigations, balancing

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Laws and Australian practising certificate are required.
• Significant experience in employment law across private practice, in-house, or senior employee relations.
• Strong knowledge of Australian employment law, workplace relations legislation, and awards.

Responsibilities

• Provide legally privileged employment law advice on complex and sensitive matters across Australia and, where required, New Zealand operations.
• Advise on workplace conduct, grievances, disciplinary matters and separations.
• Manage employment disputes, investigations, and regulatory interactions.
• Draft and review employment contracts, policies, and sensitive documentation.
• Monitor legal developments and translate changes into practical business guidance.
• Partner with leaders and People teams to identify and manage risk and drive capability.

Skills

Employment law expertise

Stakeholder engagement

Negotiation capability

Written communication

Legal risk management

Advising senior leaders

Coaching and mentoring

Discretion and confidentiality

Education

Bachelor of Laws

Australian practising certificate

Job description

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We have an exciting opportunity for an employment lawyer to join our People team as an Employee Relations Counsel on a 12-month parental leave cover, based in Pyrmont, NSW.

Reporting to the Head of Employee Relations - Legal & Advisory, this role provides trusted, commercially focused employment law advice and strategic employee relations support across John Holland. Acting as a senior escalation point for complex and high-impact workplace matters, you'll help leaders and People teams navigate challenging issues while balancing legal risk, commercial considerations and employee experience.

Working closely with our Employee Relations, NASER and People teams, you'll provide legally privileged advice, manage employment-related disputes and investigations, contribute to strategic workforce initiatives and help shape enterprise employee relations frameworks and capability.

This is a unique opportunity to combine legal expertise with practical employee relations influence in one of Australia's leading infrastructure organisations.

What you will do

• Provide legally privileged employment law advice on complex and sensitive employee relations matters across Australia and, where required, New Zealand operations.
• Advise on workplace conduct, performance, grievances, complaints, fitness for work, disciplinary matters and employment separations.
• Manage employment litigation, external claims, dispute resolution matters and interactions with regulators and tribunals.
• Conduct or oversee complex workplace investigations and reviewing investigation outcomes.
• Draft, review and negotiate deeds of settlement and release and supporting settlement approval processes.
• Advise on organisational change initiatives, including restructures, redeployment, transfers of business and workforce-related transactions.
• Draft and review employment contracts, policies, procedures, investigation materials, correspondence and other sensitive employment documentation.
• Monitor legislative and case law developments and translating legal changes into practical business guidance.
• Partner with business leaders, People teams and Group Legal to identify and manage legal and employee relations risk.
• Deliver training, coaching and capability development to leaders and People professionals on employment law and employee relations best practice.
• Identify trends, emerging risks and opportunities to improve employee relations frameworks, governance and processes across the business.

What we are looking for

We're interested in speaking with candidates who bring:

• A Bachelor of Laws and current Australian practising certificate
• Significant experience in employment law, either within private practice, an in-house legal team or a senior employee relations function.
• Strong knowledge of Australian employment law, workplace relations legislation, modern awards, enterprise agreements and common law obligations.
• Experience managing workplace investigations, employment disputes, litigation and organisational change matters.
• The ability to provide commercially pragmatic advice while effectively managing legal and reputational risk.
• Exceptional written communication skills and experience drafting complex employment-related documentation.
• Strong stakeholder engagement, influencing and negotiation capability, with the confidence to advise senior leaders.
• Sound judgement, discretion and an ability to maintain legal professional privilege and confidentiality.
• A collaborative approach and passion for building capability through coaching, mentoring and knowledge sharing.

Experience within construction, engineering, infrastructure or another complex project-based industry will be highly regarded.

What we offer

• Competitive salary and benefits, including salary continuance and salary sacrifice options
• Flexible work arrangements and generous leave entitlements
• Career development opportunities through technical, leadership and emerging talent programs
• Exposure to complex and high-profile employment law and employee relations matters across a national business
• The opportunity to influence employee relations strategy and outcomes across one of Australia's leading infrastructure organisations
• Wellbeing support and benefits designed to help you thrive
• A collaborative and highly regarded Employee Relations team committed to learning, growth and continuous improvement

A diverse and inclusive culture where everyone feels they belong

At John Holland, our purpose is simple: we transform lives with everything we do.

We know infrastructure is about people - our customers, our employees and the communities we work in every day. That's what sets us apart: deep expertise, proven capability and a genuine commitment to creating better outcomes for people along the way.

With expertise spanning engineering, construction and operations, we're delivering the projects and services that keep communities moving. From rail, roads and bridges to hospitals and stadiums, we've helped shape Australia through iconic projects. You'll even see us operating buses, trains and trams.

Be part of a team that's up for the challenge of transforming lives.

John Holland does not accept any speculative or unsolicited CVs from agencies that have been sent to our internal recruitment team or hiring managers.