Safety Manager

Miller Leith; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Miller Leith seeks a veteran safety leader to head a on-site safety team on a major construction project in Melbourne. You will identify risk at interfaces between trades, resolve it before incidents, and act as the client's safety point of contact.

You will coach four to six advisors, drive risk controls for scaffolding, lifting, excavations and penetrations, and align with Victorian WHS requirements. This fast-paced role rewards decisive, hands-on leaders who can influence trade partners and

Qualifications

• Led safety on large construction projects with on-site credibility.
• Knowledge of Victorian WHS requirements.
• Ability to influence builders and trade partners through clear communication.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop a team of four to six advisors, deploying them where risk is highest.
• Drive risk controls across scaffolding, drop zones, lifting, penetrations and excavation to closure.
• Oversee trade partner mobilisation and accountability on site.
• Act as client's on-site safety contact with clear reporting to regulators when required.
• Lead incident response, investigations and corrective actions.
• Work with incident, governance and training specialists to turn lessons into on-site change.
• Participate in executive site walks and regular training days; help shape safety as the business grows.

Skills

Safety leadership

On-site experience

Stakeholder communication

Education

WHS qualifications

Job description

The Organisation
A construction company that has grown rapidly by winning large projects and delivering them well, and it now works nationally and in New Zealand. The work is complex, trades are sequenced closely, and the leadership team is regularly on site. Decisions are made quickly and results are recognised. You will work on major projects with a team to lead and genuine standing with the client. Incident management, governance and training specialists support the safety function, so you are not building it alone. Progression is rapid for those who deliver. The culture is that of a high-performing team: you earn your place through results, you are given the authority to make change happen, and you are rewarded for it.

TheRole

You will lead the safety team on a major project, providing direction to a group of advisors and acting as the client's point of contact on safety. Your days begin on site, identifying where risk is building at the interfaces between trades and resolving it before it becomes an incident. The overlap is where this role earns its keep. With work sequenced tightly, excavation, lifting, penetrations and fit-out can all be live at once, and the risk often sits where no single trade owns it. You will own those areas, be visible and present every day, and hold trade partners to the standards they committed to at mobilisation.

Day to day, you will:

• Lead, coach and develop a team of four to six advisors, and deploy them to where the risk is highest as the project moves through its phases.
• Drive critical risk controls across scaffolding, drop zones, lifting, penetrations and excavation, and follow each one through to closure.
• Oversee trade partner mobilisation and keep trade partners accountable on site.
• Act as the client's point of contact on safety, with clear reporting and open communication, including with regulators where required.
• Lead the response to incidents and make sure investigations and corrective actions are closed out.
• Work with the incident, governance and training specialists so that lessons from your project turn into practical change on site.
• Take part in executive site walks and regular team training days, and help shape how safety is run as the business grows.

You will work as a peer to the project and site managers, contributing to planning and sequencing from the outset. As the portfolio evolves, you may cover more than one site and redeploy advisors to where the risk is greatest.

Who Will Thrive

You have led safety on large construction projects and carry the credibility that comes from time spent on site, where builders and trade partners listen to people who know the work. You will also:

• Influence builders and trade partners to act, through credibility and clear communication rather than paperwork.
• Take initiative. You identify an issue, settle on a solution and act on it, keeping leadership informed as you go.
• Hold a sound working knowledge of Victorian and model WHS requirements, with the qualifications to support it. Proven site experience carries more weight than a degree.
• Engage confidently with senior stakeholders and coach early-career advisors with equal ease.

This is a direct, fast and demanding business, and it will not suit everyone. It rewards people who act and has little room for passengers. Systems and processes are still being built around a growing company, so you will help shape them rather than inherit a finished framework. For a leader who wants to be known for getting things done on a major project, it is a strong place to build that reputation.