People & Performance Manager

Elite Trades Australia; City of Melbourne; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Elite Trades Australia is growing and we are looking for a commercially minded, people-first People & Performance Manager to help us build the workforce and leadership capability needed for the next stage of growth.

You will work closely with our directors and leaders to make the people side of the business clearer, stronger and more consistent: better leaders, better performance conversations, practical training, useful workforce data, cleaner systems and a culture people want to be part of.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in senior HR roles focused on people and performance.
• Experience growing leadership capability in fast-moving businesses.
• Ability to translate growth plans into workforce plans.
• Strong data literacy and ability to act on insights.
• Excellent communication with directors, staff, and teams.

Responsibilities

• Partner with directors to translate growth plans into workforce and capability plan.
• Build leadership capability across supervisors and emerging leaders with practical behaviours.
• Create simple performance rhythms: clarity, KPIs, feedback, development check-ins, escalation paths.
• Design onboarding, training and development for office, field-support and trades.
• Strengthen culture with standards, recognition, accountability, safety, respectful communication.
• Improve people processes, systems and workforce data to scale with minimal friction.
• Coach leaders and know when to elevate or seek specialist advice.
• Use workforce insights to identify patterns and turn into action.

Skills

Senior HR leadership

People & Performance

Leadership development

Workforce analytics

Coaching & performance conversations

Change management

Strategy to delivery

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Elite Trades Australia is growing, and we are looking for a commercially minded, people-first People & Performance Manager to help us build the workforce and leadership capability needed for the next stage of growth.

This is not a sit-back-and-write-policies role. You will work closely with our directors and leaders to make the people side of the business clearer, stronger and more consistent: better leaders, better performance conversations, practical training, useful workforce data, cleaner systems and a culture people want to be part of.

You will be equally comfortable in a strategic conversation about business growth and in a practical conversation about a supervisor who needs help setting expectations, addressing an issue or getting their team back on track.

Key responsibilities

Partner with the directors to translate business growth plans into a clear workforce, capability and people plan

Build leadership capability across supervisors, coordinators and emerging leaders—turning leadership expectations into practical on-the-job behaviours

Create simple, consistent performance rhythms: role clarity, expectations, useful KPIs, feedback, development check-ins and fair escalation pathways

Design practical onboarding, training and development pathways for office, field-support and trade-based roles

Strengthen culture through clear standards, recognition, accountability, psychological safety and respectful communication

Improve people processes, documentation, systems and workforce data so the business can scale without unnecessary friction

Coach leaders through real people issues and know when to elevate or seek specialist workplace-relations advice

Use workforce insights to identify patterns in capability, retention, absenteeism, engagement, workload and performance—and turn those insights into action

About you

Proven experience in a senior HR, people and culture, people and performance, workforce development or operational leadership role

Have helped a growing business improve leadership, performance, training, culture or workforce systems—and can point to the practical outcome

Can move comfortably between strategy and delivery. You enjoy building the plan, but you also enjoy making it real

Know how to coach leaders, challenge respectfully and hold a clear line when people practices need to be fair, consistent and commercially sensible

Can interpret people and performance data without losing sight of the human, operational and system factors behind it

Communicate with warmth, confidence and straight talk. You can build trust with directors, office staff, supervisors and field teams

Organised, self-directed and comfortable taking ownership in a fast-moving environment where priorities can change

Highly regarded: Experience in trades, construction, field-service, manufacturing or another operationally fast-paced environment

Highly regarded: Experience developing frontline leaders or working with a mixed office-and-field workforce

Highly regarded: A practical understanding of Australian workplace relations, employee relations, workplace health and safety and respectful-workplace obligations, with the judgement to seek specialist advice when required

Highly regarded: Small business leadership experience or understanding of small business operations

About us

Elite Trades Australia is a growing trades business. You will have genuine influence. This role works alongside the directors and has the opportunity to shape how Elite Trades grows—not just administer the people function after decisions have already been made. We are looking for someone who wants to build meaningful systems, develop capable leaders and create a workplace where good people can do great work.