Group Health, Safety and Wellbeing Manager - Operations

Company Description:

You can help bring our villages to life!

Lead HSW system performance, assurance and operational capability across Summerset’s New Zealand village operations. 

At Summerset, from the moment we start developing a village to when our residents call it home, it’s the passion and dedication of our people that brings our villages to life. We are one team, united by being part of something bigger – to bring the best of life to our residents. 

We’re looking for an experienced Group Health, Safety and Wellbeing Manager – Operations to join our People & Culture team and lead HSW performance across Summerset’s New Zealand village operations and related operational support activities.

Job Description:

This is a senior operational leadership role with real influence. You’ll work closely with the Chief Operations Officer – NZ, Operations SLT, GM Village Operations, Group Operations Managers and village leaders to strengthen the way health, safety and wellbeing is understood, led and managed in day-to-day operations. 

The role is not about HSW doing the work for Operations. It is about enabling operational leaders to own HSW outcomes, use reliable information, make informed risk decisions and demonstrate effective control of health, safety and wellbeing performance without constant HSW intervention. 

What you’ll be doing 

In this role, you’ll lead the Operations HSW approach by: 

• Leading and sustaining the HSW relationship with the Chief Operations Officer – NZ, Operations SLT, GM Village Operations, Group Operations Managers and key operational support leaders 

• Embedding HSW into operational planning, performance discussions, delivery rhythms and decision-making 

• Owning Operations HSW system performance, including agreed headline measures, reporting quality, investigation closure, corrective-action closure and risk-review completion 

• Leading the operation-specific implementation of Summerset’s Critical Risk programme and ensuring critical controls are understood, planned into work and verified in practice 

• Partnering with Property, Facilities and Operations leaders to support practical, risk-based contractor management in resident-facing environments 

• Leading Operations injury management, including TPA oversight, return-to-work discipline, complex claim escalation and ACC AEP audit readiness 

• Championing effective use of Donesafe across incident management, risk reviews, audits, contractor management, injury management evidence and corrective-action tracking 

• Leading, coaching and supporting HSW Advisors – Operations, including a risk-based advisor coverage model aligned to operational priorities 

• Using data, reporting and operational insight to make risk, performance trends, dependencies and trade-offs visible to senior leaders and governance forums 

• Supporting wellbeing and Culture of Care initiatives, including psychosocial risk, injury prevention, recovery support and leader capability 

Qualifications:

About you 

You’ll be an experienced HSW leader who can operate with both strategic influence and practical discipline. You’ll understand how to shift leaders from HSW dependency to HSW ownership, while keeping systems, assurance and performance visible and well managed. 

You’ll bring: 

• Senior health, safety and wellbeing experience in complex operations, aged care, healthcare, property, facilities or another multi-site environment 

• Strong knowledge of New Zealand health and safety legislation, ACC Accredited Employer Programme requirements and practical application in operational settings 

• Demonstrated experience in injury management, return-to-work oversight, TPA relationships and claims governance 

• Strong assurance, audit, incident investigation, critical risk management and corrective-action effectiveness capability 

• Confidence influencing senior operational leaders and supporting informed decisions about risk, performance and trade-offs 

• Proven ability to use data, reporting and operational insight to identify trends, communicate risk and drive practical improvement 

• Strong people leadership and coaching capability, including developing advisors and managing workload across a distributed team 

• A calm, credible and pragmatic style, with the confidence to challenge, simplify and improve how work is done 

You’ll be someone who can work through complexity, build trust with senior and site-based leaders, and keep the focus on what matters most: effective controls, better decisions, stronger ownership and safe outcomes for our people, residents, contractors and visitors.

Additional Information:

Why join us? 

At Summerset, health, safety and wellbeing is about more than process and compliance. It is about leadership, ownership and creating environments where our people can do their best work and our residents feel safe, supported and at home. 

This is a visible Group role with the opportunity to influence senior operational leaders, strengthen HSW system performance and lead meaningful improvement across our New Zealand village operations. 

Benefits include:

• Flexible working with 2 days' work from home and flexi hours
• Ongoing professional development
• Company shares and Health Insurance

Ready to bring your skills to life?

If you’re an experienced HSW leader who enjoys partnering with operations, leading people and making a practical difference, we’d love to hear from you.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. If you tick most of the boxes and are excited by the opportunity, don’t hesitate to apply. Applications close on 7th September.