At Willoughby City Council, we are building a human-centred, high-performing organisation that delivers for our community. We are seeking an experienced and capable Senior People and Culture Business Partner / Team Leader to join our People and Culture team in a key senior operational role.
Reporting to the Manager, People and Culture, this role combines hands-on business partnering with day-to-day leadership of the People and Culture business partnering team. You will provide practical, trusted and customer-focused advice across the employee lifecycle while helping drive consistent, high-quality service delivery across Council.
You will partner closely with leaders across the organisation to support workforce planning, recruitment, organisational change, employee relations, engagement, leadership capability and people management practice. You will also play an important role in coaching the team, improving service delivery and contributing to broader People and Culture priorities and initiatives.
Why join us?
This is an opportunity to step into a genuine senior People and Culture role where you can lead from the front, influence leadership practice, strengthen culture and engagement, and help shape a contemporary, responsive People and Culture service across a diverse and publicly accountable organisation.
About the role
In this role, you will:
- provide high-quality People and Culture advice and business partnering support across the employee lifecycle
- lead the day-to-day coordination, workflow and coaching of the People and Culture business partnering team
- support leaders with workforce planning, recruitment, organisational change, performance, engagement and leadership matters
- provide first-line advice on employee relations matters including conduct, grievance, conflict and performance
- coach and influence leaders to strengthen people management capability and accountability
- contribute to service improvement, reporting, systems and broader People and Culture initiatives.
What you will bring
You will have:
- tertiary qualifications in Human Resources, Industrial Relations, Business, Organisational Psychology or a related discipline, or equivalent experience
- significant experience in a senior HR or People and Culture business partnering/generalist role
- demonstrated experience leading, coordinating or supervising HR practitioners and/or support staff
- strong contemporary knowledge across employee relations, performance, conduct, recruitment, workforce planning and organisational change
- sound judgement and the ability to provide practical, risk-aware advice
- strong communication, coaching and stakeholder management skills.
Desirable
Experience in local government, state government or another publicly accountable environment, and experience in the NSW industrial relations system, will be highly regarded.
This role will suit an experienced senior HR or People and Culture practitioner who enjoys balancing operational leadership with hands-on partnering and who can quickly build trust, provide practical advice and support a high-quality, customer-focused service.
Visit Council’s Careers page to apply and learn more about the benefits of working with Willoughby.
For more information, contact
Recuitment@Willoughby.nsw.gov.au
Applications close: 11.30pm, Sunday 3 May 2026.
We are committed to building a workplace that reflects the diversity of our community and where everyone feels respected, valued and supported to contribute fully.