People & Culture Lead

Job description

Company Description Strategist. Trusted Advisor. Change Agent. Future Builder. We're looking for a People and Culture leader who moves the dial, not just the process. You'll lead where it counts: at the intersection of people, performance and commercial outcomes. By partnering with senior leaders, you will turn strategy into workforce reality, aligning capability, culture and leadership so teams deliver with clarity today and are prepared for tomorrow. You bring evidence, judgement, and inclusive leadership, earning the right to challenge and facilitating better decisions, faster. THE MOMENT WE'RE IN AECOM ANZ's People & Culture function is mid-transformation. We are transforming not just our processes, but also the influence, credibility and commercial edge of the team. We are investing in the growth of our people, in modern operating models and AI-enabled ways of working that amplify human potential and prepare our workforce for tomorrow. We need a leader who is at the forefront of this change. Someone who builds trust with executives and creates a safe space for constructive challenge, who can shape decisions and culture that deliver impact. Above all else, someone who balances conviction with pragmatism and keeps outcomes and people at the centre. Job Description WHAT YOU'LL DO Partner where the decisions get made. Own the P&C relationship with senior business leaders. Be their first call, their trusted sounding board and their strategic partner. Understand the business, bring the people lens and translate direction into workforce strategy. Lead and grow a high-performing team. Lead, coach and develop a team of Business Partners setting clear direction, priorities and high expectations. Build capability, succession and confidence and model the inclusive, values-based leadership you want to see across the business. Shape culture and capability. Spot where culture needs to shift and lead the interventions that move it. Drive talent and succession planning, build leadership capability through coaching and partner on the development pathways that keep our best people growing. Plan the workforce of the future. Partner on workforce planning and organisational design, using people metrics; industry trends and talent intelligence to identify future capability needs; then lead structural and BAU change with a clear point of view and ownership of the outcome. Navigate complex ER with confidence. Triage and resolve complex employee relations matters promptly and effectively, exercising sound judgement, pragmatism and empathy. Navigate the Fair Work Act and the ANZ employment landscape confidently to provide timely, balanced advice while demonstrating care for all parties involved. Make the data tell the story. Turn engagement, turnover, exit and inclusion insights into action. Spot the risks and opportunities early and influence action that shapes culture. Champion AI and innovation. Be the advocate for AI and automation in how P&C works. You don't need to be a data scientist. You need to be curious, early to experiment and willing to bring the team with you, so technology sharpens decisions and frees practitioners to do the work only humans can do. We don't need a People & Culture leader who waits to be asked. We need someone who walks into the room with a strong presence, who listens deeply and is ready to share their insights. Someone who enhances our culture. Who backs their views with evidence and is unafraid to make the uncomfortable call when the data demands it. A leader who embraces innovation and fosters a fun, collaborative environment. That's the bar. That's who we're looking for. Qualifications WHO YOU ARE You've done the time, and you've come out the other side knowing the best practitioners are part strategist, part coach, part diplomat and occasionally part referee. You're not easily rattled. You've sat across the table from hard conversations and come out with the relationship intact and the right outcome achieved. You prioritise the right things over the comfortable things. You communicate with clarity and flex your style without losing your message. And you see through the noise to what the business actually needs — even when that's different from what it thinks it needs. WHAT YOU'LL BRING Leadership & influence Strategic business partnering at a senior level Team leadership and people development Stakeholder influence and executive presence Workforce planning and people strategy Transformation & change Organisational design and redesign Change management built for adoption from day one Process improvement and digitisation Employee relations Complex ER case management Fair Work Act, NES and ANZ employment law literacy Risk-informed, legally sound decision-making Talent, data & AI Talent management and succession planning Performance coaching and capability uplift Data-driven insight and decision-making A genuine appetite for AI in HR practice Additional Information READY? If you've read this far and recognised yourself, we'd like to hear from you. At AECOM, we are committed to maintaining a secure and trustworthy recruitment process and take any fraudulent hiring activity seriously. To support this commitment, all newly hired employees are required to attend an in-person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location as a condition of employment. AECOM acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which we, our clients and our communities live and work around Australia. We pay our respects to their cultures and to their Elders — past, present, and emerging. We are committed to connecting to Country in our work through meaningful engagement with First Nations peoples and businesses. Find out more about our Australian Reconciliation Action Plan here: https://aecom.com/au/our-vision-for-reconciliation/. About AECOM AECOM is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2025. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM. Freedom to Grow in a World of Opportunity You will have the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether you’re working from an AECOM office, remote location or at a client site, you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed. You will help us foster a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion – a safe and respectful workplace, where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents, backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients. AECOM provides a wide array of compensation and benefits programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. We also provide a robust global well-being program. We’re the world’s trusted global infrastructure firm, and we’re in this together – your growth and success are ours too. Join us, and you’ll get all the benefits of being a part of a global, publicly traded firm – access to industry-leading technology and thinking and transformational work with big impact and work flexibility. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person’s potential, and we’ll help you reach yours.