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Chief People & Safety Officer

Location: Toowoomba
Employment Basis: Full Time
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The Opportunity

Are you an executive leader who can strengthen organisational capability, manage enterprise workforce and safety risks, and help shape the future of a growing Australian manufacturing business?

Kotzur is seeking a Chief People & Safety Officer to join our Executive Leadership Team. This is a pivotal leadership role responsible for ensuring the business has the leadership capability, workforce reliability, organisational discipline and safe systems required to execute its strategy. As a trusted adviser to the Managing Director and Executive Leadership Team, you will lead the integration of people strategy, workforce capability and safety governance while providing executive oversight of workforce and safety risks across manufacturing, engineering, construction, installation and field operations.

This is an opportunity to influence the future of a respected Australian manufacturing business where leadership, safety and operational excellence are critical to long-term success.

About the role

Reporting to the General Manager, you will lead Kotzur's integrated People & Safety function across multiple sites and operational environments, providing leadership across workforce capability, employee relations, safety governance and organisational performance.

Working closely with leaders across the business, you will drive workforce planning, organisational design, succession, leadership development and employee relations initiatives that strengthen capability, accountability and business performance. You will also lead the continued improvement of people and safety systems, processes and analytics to support informed decision-making and workforce effectiveness.

You will provide executive oversight of the Group's safety governance and assurance framework, ensuring critical risks are effectively managed across manufacturing, engineering, construction, installation and field-based activities. This includes responsibility for officer due diligence, contractor governance, incident management, compliance and critical control verification.

Key accountabilities

  • People & Safety Strategy: Lead the Group's integrated People & Safety strategy and advise the Executive Leadership Team on workforce, culture and safety risk.

  • Safety Governance & Assurance: Lead WHS governance, officer due diligence, compliance and critical risk management across the business.

  • Workforce & Leadership Capability: Drive workforce planning, organisational design, succession and leadership development.

  • Industrial & Employee Relations: Provide expert guidance on employee relations, investigations, performance management and organisational change.

  • Operational Excellence: Strengthen people and safety systems, analytics and processes to improve decision-making, compliance and business performance.

About you

You are a commercially minded executive who understands that strong business performance is built on capable leaders, an engaged and reliable workforce, disciplined systems and effective risk management.

You bring sound judgement, credibility and influence, enabling you to guide leaders through complex workforce and safety challenges while balancing operational, legal and commercial considerations. Most importantly, you have successfully managed people and safety risks in operational environments and can build accountability without removing ownership from leaders.

What you'll bring

  • Significant senior leadership experience across People, Culture and Workplace Health & Safety functions within a manufacturing, engineering, construction or similarly operational environment.

  • Demonstrated experience advising executive teams and governance forums on workforce risk, WHS governance, officer due diligence and regulatory matters.

  • Strong capability in organisational design, workforce planning, leadership development, industrial relations and critical risk management.

  • Experience managing contractor, project or construction-related safety risks in complex operational settings.

  • Proven success building leadership accountability and improving safety, people and business outcomes across multiple sites.

  • Relevant tertiary qualifications supported by strong commercial judgement and executive leadership capability.

Leadership attributes

You will thrive in this role if you are:

  • Pragmatic, commercially minded and action-oriented.

  • Comfortable making decisions in complex and sensitive situations.

  • Able to challenge and influence senior leaders constructively.

  • Focused on building accountability rather than owning every problem yourself.

  • Calm, credible and trusted when managing significant workforce or safety risks.

  • Driven by evidence, continuous improvement and practical outcomes

Why join Kotzur

The Kotzur Group is a proud Australian, third-generation family-owned business with over 70 years of innovation. We design and manufacture industry-leading bulk solids storage and handling solutions for the agricultural and mining sectors.

Based in either Walla Walla, NSW or Toowoomba, QLD this role offers the opportunity to:

  • Join the Executive Leadership Team and influence the future direction of the Group.

  • Shape how safety, leadership and workforce capability contribute to business performance.

  • Drive meaningful improvements across safety governance, organisational effectiveness and leadership capability.

  • Partner directly with the General Manager on strategic workforce, culture and risk matters.

  • Leave a lasting legacy by embedding sustainable systems, leadership accountability and operational discipline that strengthen both safety and business performance.

If you are an experienced executive capable of leading people strategy while providing governance and assurance across complex operational and safety environments, we would welcome your application.

Please submit your CV along with a brief cover letter outlining your suitability for the role via Seek.

Please note that applications may be assessed, and interviews conducted as they are received. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.