People Experience Business Partner | Zoos Victoria

$110,000–$117,000 + super | Fixed term to May/June 2027

Hybrid working | Parkville, Werribee & Healesville


There aren’t too many HR Business Partner roles where your stakeholder group spans such a diverse operational environment or where the organisation’s purpose is quite like this one.

Davidson is delighted to be partnering with Zoos Victoria to recruit an experienced People Experience Business Partner to join their team on a fixed-term basis through to approximately May/June 2027.

Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit statutory authority operating Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Open Range Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary and Kyabram Fauna Park. With more than 5,500 animals in its care, its purpose centres on fighting extinction and creating a future rich in wildlife.

The opportunity
Joining during an exciting period of change, you’ll become part of a newly structured People Experience team moving from a property-based HR model to a portfolio partnering model.

This is a genuine generalist Business Partner role, supporting a diverse mix of operational, frontline and corporate employees.

Your portfolio is currently expected to include Assets and Presentations, encompassing areas such as maintenance, horticulture, cleaning and compliance, alongside potentially several corporate functions.

The operational portfolio is highly unionised and will require a confident HR practitioner who is comfortable navigating employee and industrial relations matters while building trusted relationships with leaders and their teams.

You’ll work closely with managers who bring varying levels of people leadership experience – sometimes coaching through the fundamentals, and at other times partnering on more complex employee matters, workforce change or organisational priorities.

What you’ll be doing
This is a broad role where no two weeks are likely to look quite the same. You’ll be responsible for:

• Providing practical, commercially sound HR advice across the full employee lifecycle
• Partnering with operational, frontline and corporate leaders across your portfolio
• Managing employee relations matters including performance, grievances and workplace issues
• Interpreting EBAs, modern awards, legislation and relevant industrial instruments
• Working effectively within a unionised environment and engaging with union representatives where required
• Coaching and upskilling managers to build their confidence and capability in people leadership
• Supporting workforce planning, organisational change and restructure activity
• Providing recruitment and broader generalist HR support where required
• Contributing to People Experience projects, process improvements and broader organisational priorities
• Working collaboratively across the People Experience team as Zoos Victoria transitions to its new operating model

About you
We’re looking for a capable, well-rounded HR Business Partner who enjoys being close to the business and working with a genuinely diverse stakeholder group.

You’ll ideally bring:

• Strong generalist HR Business Partner experience
• Sound ER/IR capability and confidence interpreting EBAs, modern awards and employment legislation
• Experience working with operational, frontline or trades-based workforces
• Exposure to a unionised environment
• The ability to build credibility with stakeholders at all levels, from frontline leaders through to senior management
• A practical coaching style and the confidence to support managers with varying levels of people leadership capability
• Experience across both operational and corporate environments will be highly regarded
• Strong judgement, adaptability and the ability to work autonomously when your direct manager may not always be onsite
• Tertiary qualifications in Human Resources or another relevant discipline
• A current driver's licence

Working across Zoos Victoria
The role will be based 1–2 days per week at Parkville, with hybrid working available for the balance.

Importantly, this is a role that needs someone who enjoys getting out into the business. You’ll spend time onsite across Zoos Victoria's locations, including attendance at Werribee Open Range Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary at least once per month at each location.

Given the nature of the organisation and portfolio, that onsite connection with leaders and employees will be an important part of building relationships and understanding the environments you support.

The successful candidate will also be required to complete relevant Police and Working with Children checks.

Why Zoos Victoria?
Beyond the uniqueness of the environment itself, this is an opportunity to join an organisation with a very clear purpose and contribute during an important period of change for its People Experience function.

You’ll have the breadth of a true HRBP portfolio, exposure to complex operational and corporate stakeholder groups, meaningful ER/IR work and the opportunity to help leaders build their people capability – all within an organisation whose broader purpose is conservation and fighting wildlife extinction.

If you’re an experienced HR Business Partner who enjoys being close to operations, isn’t afraid of a complex people matter and likes the idea of your workday occasionally taking you somewhere a little more interesting than the average corporate office, we’d love to hear from you.

To apply
Please apply with current resume in Microsoft Word format only (.doc or .docx). If you would like to have a confidential discussion, please contact Catherine Lyttle. Want to know more about Davidson? Visit us at www.davidsonwp.com

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