Senior Industrial Relations Advisor

Service Stream; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Career development

Employee discounts

Paid leave

Diversity & inclusion

Job summary

Service Stream seeks a Senior Industrial Relations Advisor/Manager to lead a broad ER/IR portfolio across diversified operations. You will negotiate enterprise agreements, manage union relationships and provide strategic, legally informed guidance to senior leaders on employment law and workforce risk.

The role offers hybrid working, with opportunities to influence organisational strategy and workplace outcomes in a growing ASX-listed company.

Qualifications

• Experience in an employee and/or industrial relations role within a complex or unionised environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading enterprise bargaining negotiations and managing union relationships.
• Strong advocacy and dispute resolution capability, including representation in tribunals like Fair Work Commission.

Responsibilities

• Manage a complex ER/IR portfolio across multiple business units and environments.
• Lead enterprise bargaining negotiations, including strategy development and stakeholder management.
• Support development and implementation of broader industrial relations strategy with benchmarking and trend analysis.
• Represent the business in industrial tribunals and commissions, including Fair Work Commission and conciliation.
• Provide strategic, commercially focused advice to senior leaders on IR, employment law and workforce risk.
• Act as escalation point for complex workplace matters, investigations and disputes.
• Develop and deliver training and coaching for leaders on employment law and workplace practices.
• Partner with operational leadership for workforce planning and productivity improvements.
• Engage with unions, employee representatives and external stakeholders to sustain positive IR relationships.

Skills

IR/ER expertise

Enterprise bargaining

Union relations

Employment law

Strategic advisory

Stakeholder management

Training & coaching

Education

Tertiary qualification in Law or Commerce

Job description

We have an opportunity for a Senior Industrial Relations Advisor/Industrial Relations Manager to join our growing ASX-listed company. We are continuing to evolve and strengthen our capability in this area, and you will be integral to continue building our partnership with operational leaders to provide strategic, commercially focused and pragmatic industrial and employee relations support.

You'll be joining a collaborative and high-performing team with both autonomy and support to develop your career in a complex, unionised and operationally diverse environment, while contributing to broader organisational strategy and workforce outcomes. As our contracts are geographically dispersed across Australia, we are open to this role being based out of our offices in Brisbane, Adelaide or Sydney.

About the role

In this role you will:

• Manage a complex ER/IR portfolio across multiple business units and operational environments.
• Lead enterprise bargaining negotiations, including bargaining strategy development, industrial risk assessment and stakeholder management.
• Support the development and implementation of broader industrial relations strategy, including benchmarking, trend analysis, workforce risk identification and comparative analysis across industries and enterprise agreements.
• Represent the business in industrial tribunals and commissions, including the Fair Work Commission, conciliations, conferences and other workplace litigation matters.
• Provide strategic and commercially focused advice to senior leaders on industrial relations, employment law, performance management, disciplinary processes, workplace change and organisational risk.
• Act as an escalation point for complex and sensitive workplace matters, including investigations, disputes, grievances and high-risk employee relations issues.
• Develop and deliver training, coaching and upskilling initiatives for leaders across the business on employment law, industrial instruments, workplace obligations and effective people management practices.
• Partner closely with operational leadership teams to support workforce planning, organisational change initiatives and productivity improvement programs.
• Engage proactively with unions, employee representatives and external stakeholders to support constructive industrial relationships and positive business outcomes.

About you

You are an experienced IR Advisor ready to take the next step in your career or embrace a new challenge in a growing business with a strong pipeline of contracts and an interest in diversifying its portfolio.

Our ideal candidate may have:

• Strong experience in an employee and/or industrial relations role within a complex or unionised environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading enterprise bargaining negotiations and managing union relationships.
• Strong advocacy and dispute resolution capability, including experience representing employers in Fair Work Commission and other industrial matters.
• Excellent understanding of employment legislation, enterprise agreements, modern awards and industrial frameworks.
• Strong commercial acumen, strategic thinking capability and ability to balance legal, operational and business considerations.
• Experience supporting operational leaders within blue-collar, field-based or industrial workforces will be highly regarded.
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills with the ability to influence and build credibility across all levels of the business.
• Tertiary qualification in Law, Commerce or similar would be highly desirable.

About us

Service Stream is an equal opportunity ASX-listed business that develops and operates Australia's essential services networks across telecommunications, utilities, transport, defence, and social infrastructure industries - we keep communities connected.

Your next role comes with:

• Flexibility - all flexibility requests are genuinely considered. This role offers hybrid working.
• Career development - we offer growth opportunities and support internal mobility. You will also have access to skill enhancement through our online learning system.
• Access - discounts for hundreds of businesses such as Woolworths, Air BNB, The Iconic, JB HI-FI, Dan Murphys, Bupa Health Care, and Specsavers. We also offer access to novated leasing and a share matching program.
• Paid leave - parental, cultural, community service, defence, study, corporate volunteering and purchased leave available.
• Culture - we are dedicated to fostering a workplace environment that values diversity and inclusion, and meaningful recognition.

We celebrate diversity at Service Stream and welcome applications from people who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, people with a disability or neurodivergence, and those from LGBTIQA+, Veteran or other diverse groups.