Senior Employee Relations Manager

EY; Wellington; Hybrid; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Career development

Flexible work

Benefits package

Salary negotiable

Job summary

EY Australia/New Zealand is seeking a Senior Employee Relations Manager to lead the Oceania ER Team on a 12-month parental leave cover. This role blends people leadership with advanced ER expertise and a strategic focus on Talent priorities, reporting into the Oceania ER leadership.

You will optimise workflows, oversee complex ER matters, and drive capability uplift across the team while maintaining risk controls and alignment with firmwide priorities.

Qualifications

• Graduate or postgraduate qualifications in Human Resources, Law, Psychology, Business or related fields.
• 10+ years’ experience in employee relations, including complex case management and stakeholder engagement.
• Demonstrated leadership experience, including coaching, capability uplift and contributions to team culture.
• Experience leading strategic ER initiatives and delivering operational improvement programs.
• Proven ability to build trusted relationships with senior leaders and navigate challenging stakeholder environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead operational effectiveness across Oceania ER, ensuring high-quality, consistent and efficient delivery of ER work—spanning case management, operational processes, and critical strategic projects.
• Provide people leadership across the ER Team, fostering a culture of psychological safety, collaboration, capability development, and shared accountability.
• Oversee complex ER matters and operational initiatives, ensuring alignment with Talent and firmwide strategy, while driving uplift in quality, capability, and team performance.

Skills

Employee relations

Leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Risk management

ANZ employment law

Education

HR/Law/Psych/Business degree

Job description

Senior Employee Relations Manager

As our Senior Employee Relations Manager (12 month Parental Leave coverage), you will play a key leadership role within the Oceania Employee Relations (ER) Team. You will drive operational excellence by overseeing case allocations, monitoring capacity, optimising workflow, and leading critical ER programs of work. This senior role blends people leadership, technical employee relations expertise, and strategic alignment to firmwide Talent priorities.

This is a hybrid position and can be performed from any of our EY offices across Australia or New Zealand. Our roles can potentially be adjusted to work flexibly with reduced hours. Please speak with us about potential options.

Your Key Responsibilities

• Lead operational effectiveness across Oceania ER, ensuring high-quality, consistent and efficient delivery of ER work—spanning case management, operational processes, and critical strategic projects.
• Provide people leadership across the ER Team, fostering a culture of psychological safety, collaboration, capability development, and shared accountability.
• Oversee complex ER matters and operational initiatives, ensuring alignment with Talent and firmwide strategy, while driving uplift in quality, capability, and team performance.

Skills And Attributes For Success

• Deep expertise in employee relations frameworks, risk management, and employment legislation across Australia and New Zealand.
• Strong communication, influencing, and problem‑solving capabilities.
• Ability to balance commerciality, best practice ER principles, and risk mitigation in a complex, fast‑paced environment.

Ideally, you’ll also have the skills and attributes below but don’t worry if you don’t tick all the boxes. We’re interested in your aptitude, attitude and willingness to learn.

• Graduate or postgraduate qualifications in Human Resources, Law, Psychology, Business or related fields.
• 10+ years’ experience in employee relations, including complex case management and stakeholder engagement.
• Demonstrated leadership experience, including coaching, capability uplift and contributions to team culture.
• Experience leading strategic ER initiatives and delivering operational improvement programs.
• Proven ability to build trusted relationships with senior leaders and navigate challenging stakeholder environments.

What We Offer You

• Career development: At EY, your career is yours to shape! We’ll develop you with future-focused skills and equip you with world-class experiences ey.com/au/careerdevelopment
• Flexible work arrangements: Our flexible work policies empower you to balance your professional and personal life, fostering a culture of trust and autonomy.
• A comprehensive benefits package: From a yearly wellness incentive, to access to additional 8 weeks of flex leave per year, and family-friendly policies, including 26 weeks of gender-neutral paid parental leave, we cater to your diverse needs to help you thrive both personally and professionally www.ey.com/au/benefits
• Salary: We offer a competitive salary which is open to negotiation pending on skills and experience.

Acknowledgement of Country

EY acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which EY offices are located around Australia. We pay our respects to their cultures, and to their Elders — past, present, and emerging. Find out more about our vision for reconciliation at ey.com/en_au/careers/indigenous

Diversity, equity, and inclusiveness (DE&I) are core to who we are, how we work and how we live our values. We encourage applications from people of all ages, nationalities, abilities, cultures, sexual orientations, and gender identities and are committed to providing an equitable and barrier free recruitment experience for all. We encourage you to share any support and adjustments you need to be your best and participate equitably in our recruitment process. We understand sharing your needs with us can be daunting, so if you have questions before or during your application, we welcome you to get in touch at [e-mail] or [phone] (option 2). Anything you tell us will be kept completely confidential.

Our preferred applicant will be required to undertake employment screening by EY or our external third-party provider.

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