Senior Health, Safety and Environment Partner

At Thales, we know technology has the ability to make our world more secure, sustainable, and inclusive – driving this technology are our people.

It takes talented people to build and power the systems and solutions that communities depend on every day. So, we stay curious and make space for diverse points of view.

From manufacturing and engineering to cybersecurity and space, we’re driving progress in some of the world’s most important industries – and working together to build a future we can all trust.

Our corporate team is a central hub for Thales Australia. It’s where our shared services – think finance, legal, HR, procurement – come together to make sure our teams across Australia have access to the business services they need. Cross-functional collaboration helps us build out Thales’ capabilities in a robust way – and helps us open up new career opportunities for employees all across the business.

As a on-site Senior HSE leader, you'll partner with operational teams to drive risk management excellence, develop leadership capability, and mentor HSE professionals, supporting both Defence and our commercial customers at the Garden Island naval base in Sydney.

Your impact will help shape a mature, proactive safety culture while ensuring the business meets its safety, regulatory, and governance obligations.

In this exciting opportunity, you will drive our “See More, Say More, Solve More” culture and apply your HSE expertise in working in a High-risk environment.

Responsibilities:

• Partner with leaders to strengthen safety capability and embed a proactive safety culture.
• Drive critical risk management, ensuring effective controls are identified, implemented and verified.
• Lead significant incident investigations, delivering sustainable corrective actions and shared learnings.
• Mentor and develop HSE team members to build technical expertise and leadership capability.
• Influence safe operational outcomes through coaching, inspections, audits and frontline engagement.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory, customer and governance requirements while supporting operational excellence.
• Champion continuous improvement across HSE systems, processes and performance.

On day one in this role, we'll expect you to bring the following skills, experience and behaviours:

• Diploma or Cert IV in Work Health & Safety, Environmental Management, or a related discipline.
• Proven success partnering with leaders in complex, high-risk operational environments.
• Strong knowledge of Australian WHS legislation, due diligence obligations and risk management frameworks.
• Experience leading incident investigations and delivering effective root cause analysis outcomes.
• Expertise in critical risk management, including high-risk work, plant, equipment and lifting operations.
• Experience working within ISO-aligned HSE management systems and HSE reporting platforms.
• A track record of influencing stakeholders, building capability and mentoring others.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to engage and influence at all levels of the organisation.
• Availability to work on-site, 5 days a week.

As part of our commitment, we offer:

• Competitive remuneration + Super + Bonus + Medical Insurance
• Recognised leader in reservist employee support
• Veterans Leave
• Fitness Passport Discount – Access to a network of Gyms across AUS
• Employee discounts with a number of affiliates (Travel, Car hire, Tech, Medical Insurance)
• Modernised Paid Parental Leave
• Novated Lease options
• Personal & professional training development opportunities
• Sonder – Wellbeing & Support Partner
• Access to a network of the best people (A Nobel Prize winner on our staff list!)
• And much more!

Good to Know 

A Defence security clearance is required for this role; applicants must be Australian citizens and eligible to obtain and maintain an appropriate clearance.

Additional information with regards to clearances is available from the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency website http://www.defence.gov.au/AGSVA/. In some cases, individuals who hold a current clearance from a foreign government may be eligible to have this clearance recognised by the Australian Government and be eligible for this role.The Australian Defence Trade Controls Act (DTCA) is applicable and as such, your nationality may be a factor in determining your suitability for this role.

The U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and/or Export Administration Regulations (EAR) are applicable and as such, your nationality may be a factor in determining your suitability for this role.

Prior to being offered employment, you will need to complete pre-employment police and (role dependent) medical checks.

It’s easy to dismiss the perfect opportunity if you don’t see yourself as the perfect fit. If this role feels right – no matter your background or personal circumstances – please introduce yourself or join our community. We’re committed to supporting a diverse workplace, and that starts here.

We’re proud to be endorsed by WORK180 as an Employer for All Women, but we know there’s always more we can do. We’ll continue to foster industry partnerships, employee resource groups (ERGs) and development opportunities to make Thales a genuinely equitable employer, for everyone.

Read more about our WORK180 endorsement.