Operations Leader Burial

SMCT; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (SMCT) is seeking an experienced Operations Leader to guide burial services and related activities across our sites. You will provide visible leadership, drive safety, and collaborate to ensure operational excellence and customer satisfaction.

The role focuses on planning, people leadership, risk management and continuous improvement, while delivering high-quality outcomes for families and communities we serve.

Qualifications

• Must demonstrate experience leading operational teams in outdoor/field-based environments.
• Strong commitment to workplace health, safety and wellbeing.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Ability to develop and implement operational plans and drive continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead Burial and Horticulture teams to deliver safe, efficient and high-quality operations.
• Champion a strong safety culture with effective risk management and wellbeing initiatives.
• Drive team performance through coaching, feedback and workforce planning.
• Oversee daily operations to meet service standards and budgets.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to deliver customer-focused outcomes.
• Identify and implement continuous improvement opportunities for safety and productivity.

Skills

Operational leadership

People development

Safety management

Stakeholder engagement

Planning & budgeting

Problem solving

Communication

Education

Driver's Licence (manual)

Tools

Microsoft Office

Excel

Outlook

Job description

At Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (SMCT), our teams play an important role in caring for some of Victoria's most significant memorial parks and cemeteries. We are seeking an experienced and people-focused Operations Leader to lead our Burial team, ensuring safe, efficient and high-quality operations while fostering a positive and high-performing team culture.

This is a hands-on leadership role where you'll combine operational planning, people leadership, safety management and continuous improvement to help deliver exceptional outcomes for our customers, communities and stakeholders.

About the Role

Reporting to the Operations Manager, you will lead frontline operational teams responsible for burial services and related activities across our sites.

You will provide visible leadership, drive a strong safety culture and work collaboratively across the organisation to ensure operational excellence, customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop Horticulture and/or Burial teams to deliver safe, efficient and high-quality operational outcomes.
• Champion a strong safety culture through visible leadership, risk management, wellbeing initiatives and return-to-work support.
• Drive team performance through coaching, regular feedback, workforce planning and capability development.
• Oversee daily operations, ensuring work is completed efficiently, compliantly and in line with operational plans and service standards.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to deliver customer-focused outcomes and support cross-functional ways of working.
• Identify and implement continuous improvement opportunities that enhance safety, productivity, service delivery and team effectiveness.
• Manage operational resources, budgets, reporting, projects and capital works to achieve business objectives.
• Contribute to strategic initiatives, business planning and the development of a culture that reflects SMCT's PRIDE Values.

About You

You are an experienced operational leader who enjoys developing people, solving problems and creating a safe, high-performing work environment.

You will bring:

• Proven experience leading teams in an operational, outdoor or field-based environment.
• Strong commitment to workplace health, safety and wellbeing.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder engagement and customer service skills.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and implement operational plans.
• Experience managing employee performance, coaching and team development.
• Strong organisational and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office including Word, Excel and Outlook.
• Full Victorian Driver's Licence (manual).