Health and Safety Business Partner

Pūmanawa Tangata | People and Culture
Located in Ōtautahi | Christchurch, Aotearoa | New Zealand

• Full-time (37.5 hours per week), permanent role
• Awesome leave provision and development opportunities
• Influence transformational change with leaders and managers

Mahi | What You Will Do

Join Christchurch's second largest employer and make a real impact! Our vibrant campus provides a dynamic environment where you can broaden and develop your experience while contributing to the University's strategic mission of supporting staff and nurturing thriving students. UC is anything but ordinary, offering a vast array of teaching, learning, and research programs across Sciences, Arts, Law, Business, Engineering, Education, and Health. Our service units form the backbone of the university's operations, including a large Facilities Management team responsible for asset management, campus maintenance, and major capital projects.

We are committed to shifting from a reactive approach to a more strategically led model, utilising a decentralised "hub and spoke" management framework. You will play an integral role in transformative initiatives such as the Safe365 and Critical Risks projects, helping drive culture change, continuous improvement, and enhanced risk management practices.

In this role, you will work closely with key stakeholders, providing advice and support across your portfolios. This involves continuously seeking new information and collaborating with UC's many subject matter experts. You'll coach and mentor senior leadership and managers, challenging their thinking and helping them better understand their health and safety roles and responsibilities. Your guidance will empower them to build their capability, fostering a safe, supportive, and people-centric environment where staff, students, and visitors can thrive.

Mōu | Who You Are

You have significant experience leading and implementing Health and Safety practice, in a large complex organisation. You have a human centric approach to the way you work and have an ability to establish professional relationships and gain the confidence of staff at all levels. Ideally you have a Degree or Graduate Diploma in Health and Safety or related discipline and an NZISM or HASANZ accreditation (or relevant professional experience). 

You will also be able to demonstrate experience in:

• Leading/implementing health and safety practices within a facilities management, construction or engineering environment and show an understanding or interest in plant and machinery safety risk management
• Interpreting and applying knowledge of health and safety legislation, policies, procedures
• Managing and implementing improvement projects, preferably using formal project
• Deployment of HOP/Learning Team/Safety II principles
• Developing health, safety and risk frameworks and integrating sustainable practices with business strategy
• An alignment with our organisation's values and culture, promoting a positive and inclusive work environment.

Mahi Ngātahi | Who You Will Work With

You will be rewarded by working with a team of dynamic, innovative, and highly talented People and Culture and Health and Safety professionals and in an organisation that will provide you with a wide range of benefits and professional development opportunities.  We are a values led organisation, looking for someone who is innovative and is prepared to work hard to make a positive difference.

Our Council is highly motivated in the health and safety governance of the University and there are regular opportunities for the Business Partners to interact with them through our Council health and safety engagement programme. Working at UC can be a lot of fun! We work closely with the UCSA, student clubs, and student accommodation partners to ensure our students have a great, safe experience while they are at UC.

For more information about our team, please visit us at our website.

Ngā Painga o UC | Why UC

Ngā Uara | Our Values of manaakitanga, whanaungatanga and tiakitanga guide our decisions and behaviour and provide a roadmap for how we do things at UC, affirming our commitment to pastoral care and support for our ākonga and staff. They challenge and inspire us to be the best we can, and make UC a great place to work and study. For more info on Ngā Uara | Our Values visit us here.

We are committed to accessible higher education, service to the community and the encouragement of talent without barriers of distance, wealth, class, gender or ethnicity. The University explicitly aims to produce graduates and support staff who are engaged with their communities, empowered to act for good and determined to make a difference in the world.

We offer a range of fantastic benefits including study opportunities and generous superannuation and leave provisions. For more information, please visit us: https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/joinus/benefits/

For more information about Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, please visit https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/

The closing date for this position is: 20 October 2024 (midnight, NZ time)

Please note applications will be reviewed after the close date.

Pēhea te tono mai | How You Apply

Applications for this position must be submitted via our careers website and should include a cover letter and resume.

Please note, we do not accept applications by email, however we are happy to answer your queries in relation to the application process, please forward these to [email protected]

You must have Aotearoa New Zealand or Australian citizenship/permanent residency to be considered for this role. If you hold a valid work visa and are physically present in New Zealand then you may also be considered.