This is a confidential search on behalf of an established, Australian family agribusiness based in Bella Vista, NSW. Operating across multiple sites seven days a week, the group spans heavy industrial food production and agricultural operations with a genuine, long-standing commitment to running safe, sustainable operations and growing great people alongside great product.
This is a business where the leadership team genuinely believes safety is everyone's job, and they're ready to invest in the person who will make that a reality on the floor every day.
About the role
This is a hands-on, floor-first safety leadership role not a desk job. Splitting your time across two sites (roughly 80/20), you'll own the group's safety culture end-to-end: walking the floor, coaching managers, building systems, and turning data into action.
You'll report into two General Managers and have direct access to the CEO and Board, presenting monthly safety performance and leading the charge on proactive, people-centred safety. There are no direct reports, your influence comes through relationships, credibility, and consistency.
Day to day, you'll be responsible for:
- Structured site walks, engaging frontline workers and supervisors directly
- Owning and continuously improving the WHS management system, policies, procedures, and SWMS
- Leading hazard identification, risk assessment, and incident investigation through to corrective action close-out
- Designing and delivering safety inductions and role-specific training calendars
- Coaching supervisors and managers on safety leadership behaviours
- Running the group's safety dashboard, tracking TRIFR, LTIFR, near-miss frequency, hazard close-out rates, and lead indicators
- Producing monthly safety reports for the Board and senior leadership team
- Maintaining all statutory reporting, registers, and licensing requirements
About you
- Tertiary qualification in Work Health & Safety (Cert IV minimum; Diploma or Degree preferred)
- 10+ years of WHS experience in heavy industrial, food manufacturing, logistics, or agricultural environments
- Demonstrated expertise in safety management systems, incident investigation, and risk assessment
- Proven ability to lead through influence, building safety culture through relationships, not compliance alone
- Strong data literacy, you build dashboards, track trends, and use evidence to drive decisions
- A genuine passion for training and capability building
- Solid familiarity with the NSW WHS Act 2011 and relevant regulations
- Current driver's licence
- Experience in compost production, heavy machinery, or chemical handling environments
- Exposure to food safety frameworks (FSANZ, HARPC)
- Return-to-work coordinator experience or qualification
Key benefits
- Build and lead the safety function across an entire group, not maintain someone else's system
- Direct line to the CEO and Board with your safety reports shaping group strategy
- Competitive remuneration
- Work for a business that genuinely believes safety leadership matters, not just compliance
