Post
20 February 2026
Employee Relations & Industrial Relations Manager – Infrastructure Organisation
The organisation was managing increased workforce complexity, including union engagement, enterprise agreement negotiations, and employee relations activity across major project environments.
Client Profile
Australian infrastructure organisation delivering major civil and infrastructure projects
Workforce exceeding 1,800 employees across project and operational environments
Role Appointed
Employee Relations & Industrial Relations Manager
Context
The organisation was managing increased workforce complexity, including union engagement, enterprise agreement negotiations, and employee relations activity across major project environments.
Challenge
The organisation required experienced ER/IR leadership capable of managing complex industrial relations environments.
The talent market contained limited ER/IR professionals with infrastructure experience, and competing organisations were actively securing available talent.
Approach
Civitas Talent mapped 114 ER/IR professionals across infrastructure, construction, and industrial sectors.
Direct engagement with passive candidates identified experienced ER/IR leaders with relevant workforce and union engagement experience.
Solution Delivered
Successfully appointed ER/IR Manager with over 14 years of industrial relations experience across infrastructure environments.
Measured Impact
Within 12 months:
- Successfully supported enterprise agreement negotiations
- Reduced external legal reliance by 36%
- Strengthened internal ER/IR capability
Strategic Outcome
Improved organisational stability and workforce relations capability.
Related Post
Unexpected departure of Safety Manager created leadership gap during critical infrastructure project deli...
The organisation was expanding production capacity, increasing workforce size and operational complexity....
The organisation was scaling rapidly following sustained growth and international expansion. Executive le...
Intelligence for high-performing people & safety teams.
We love hearing from you and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Stay ahead of the curve with the latest HR and HSE insights, delivered straight to your inbox.