National Executive Safety Leadership Opportunity (based in Brisbane/Sydney or Melbourne)
ABOUT THE COMPANY
An established and nationally recognised Australian transport organisation is seeking an experienced safety leader to join its senior leadership team.
Operating across multiple jurisdictions, the organisation delivers essential public services through a geographically dispersed workforce and complex, high-risk operational environments. Safety is fundamental to its success, and the business has established a strong safety culture and industry-leading safety outcomes relative to its peer group.
Continued growth, the integration of new operations and increasing complexity across the risk landscape have created an opportunity for a senior safety professional to influence safety performance at a national level.
This is also an organisation that invests in its people, with genuine succession pathways and opportunities for high-performing leaders to progress into broader executive roles.
ABOUT THE ROLE
Reporting directly to the General Manager HSEQ, the Head of HSEQ Operations is a pivotal national leadership position responsible for driving consistency, capability, governance and continual improvement across the organisation.
This is not a desk-bound corporate safety role. The successful candidate will combine strategic thinking with strong operational credibility, working closely with Managing Directors, operational leaders and regional safety teams to identify emerging risks and deliver practical improvements.
Key responsibilities will include:
- Analyse safety data, trends and leading indicators to identify emerging and high-consequence risks.
- Develop and implement national safety improvement initiatives.
- Strengthen consistency across safety systems, processes and standards.
- Lead and support major incident and ICAM investigations, ensuring organisational learning is embedded.
- Provide assurance across integrated management systems, ISO frameworks, compliance and audit programs.
- Consolidate and interpret national safety data to provide meaningful insight to Executive and Board stakeholders.
- Mentor and develop regional safety leaders and build safety capability across the organisation.
- Partner with operational leaders to deliver sustainable improvements while balancing governance with commercial and operational realities.
ABOUT YOU
You will be an experienced safety leader who is comfortable operating in complex, high-risk and geographically dispersed environments.
You are likely to bring:
- Significant senior HSEQ leadership experience across transport, rail, logistics, infrastructure, construction, mining, manufacturing or another comparable high-risk industry.
- Strong operational risk management capability, ideally including heavy vehicle or transport-related risk.
- Experience with ISO-certified management systems, audit and assurance.
- Proven ICAM and serious incident investigation capability.
- Experience working across multiple sites, jurisdictions and diverse operational cultures.
- Strong analytical capability, with the ability to turn safety data into meaningful business insight.
- The credibility to influence senior executives while remaining connected to frontline operations.
You will be confident challenging constructively, comfortable operating under pressure and capable of influencing without relying on authority. You will understand that effective safety leadership is ultimately about earning trust, building capability and helping operational leaders achieve better outcomes.
This is an exceptional opportunity for a senior safety professional who wants to move beyond functional leadership and make a genuine national impact, while positioning themselves for future broader executive leadership opportunities.
For a confidential discussion, contact:
Jon Hottot
Principal Consultant
0488 420 003
jhottot@thesafestep.com.au