Senior People and Culture Advisor - Operations NZ

Approved
Canterbury · Christchurch full-time onsite Administration

Salary not disclosed — see roles that show pay.

About the role

About Ryman Healthcare

Ryman is a leader in retirement living and care, employing over 7,700 people in New Zealand and Australia across a wide range of areas, including nursing, village operations, sales, technology, design, and corporate roles.

At Ryman, exceptional care is thoughtfully delivered every day. From meals and activities to maintenance and support, our teams work together so residents can feel confident everything is taken care of because behind that promise is the standard we've always held ourselves to: it's got to be good enough for mum and dad.

We're in a period of real transformation, focusing on stronger commercial outcomes, smarter ways of working, and continuing to set the standard in retirement living and aged care.

What will you do?

Join our Christchurch-based P&C Operations team as a Senior People & Culture Advisor, partnering with village leaders across your portfolio. The role also supports a small number of office-based leaders and teams, providing broad exposure across the business.

You'll be out in the villages, close to leaders and their teams, understanding what is really happening and helping them get ahead of it.

Managing issues once they've landed is only half the job. We want someone who asks why the issue happened in the first place, and who is willing to challenge how we've always done things when there's a better way.

We're currently recruiting for both a People & Culture Advisor and a Senior People & Culture Advisor. While both roles work closely with leaders across our villages, this senior position brings deeper expertise to complex people matters and provides mentoring, guidance and peer support across the wider P&C team.

Working closely with operational leaders, you'll influence outcomes, manage risk, build capability, and lead complex people matters across your portfolio while helping drive consistency and best practice across the broader P&C function.

Key responsibilities

Build trusted relationships with village leaders across your portfolio, with regular onsite presence, and influence decision-making

Build trusted relationships with leaders across your portfolio, maintaining a strong understanding of operational and corporate priorities and influencing decision-making.

Translate workforce data, ER trends, safety insights and business performance information into practical recommendations that lift leader effectiveness and head off problems before they escalate

Coach leaders and build their confidence to lead performance, behaviour, team culture and safety outcomes themselves

Support leaders with workforce planning, succession, capability building and talent decisions so their teams are set up for future success

Take a proactive approach to identifying business risks, opportunities and emerging people and safety issues, partnering with leaders on sustainable solutions

Provide practical day-to-day advice across generalist people and safety matters, ensuring fair and consistent application of policy across your villages

Act as a trusted escalation point within the team, sharing knowledge and supporting the development of Advisors

Lead or contribute to People & Culture projects, process improvements and other initiatives

What is in it for you?

If you are the sort of person who loves working with a team of people who work to a clear purpose and have fun doing it, you'll love this role!

A career at Ryman offers:

The opportunity to operate as a senior trusted advisor and influence business outcomes across a large, complex operational environment

Additional wellbeing leave and the ability to purchase extra annual leave

Access to over 40 discounts with well-known brands across retail, health, insurance, and more

Career pathways and development opportunities within a large and supportive People & Culture team

A warm, inclusive culture where kindness and collaboration are valued

Convenient Ryman-owned onsite café (Pioneers Café) with affordable pricing

Who are you?

An experienced HR/P&C professional and credible business partner who can quickly build trust with leaders, influence thinking and translate people advice into practical business outcomes

A highly capable senior practitioner who is comfortable navigating ambiguity and supporting leaders through complex and high-risk matters

Experienced navigating complex employee relations issues, confident applying employment legislation in real-world situations, and able to support leaders through difficult conversations

Naturally curious. You ask questions, dig into the why, and aren't satisfied with "that's how we've always done it"

Confident to challenge, respectfully, with evidence, and with a better idea to offer

Proactive by instinct. You'd rather prevent the problem than manage the fallout

Experienced supporting leaders in a large, multi-site operational environment such as healthcare, retail, hospitality or logistics

Commercially minded, with the ability to balance people outcomes, operational realities and organisational risk when providing advice

Sound judgement and strong relationships. You can hold a firm line and keep the relationship intact

Experience influencing senior stakeholders and managing competing priorities across a complex portfolio

Ability to travel when needed

At Ryman, digital confidence and commercial awareness are expectations we hold across every role. We're looking for people comfortable using data and digital systems to inform decisions, who understand how their work contributes to business outcomes, and who embrace new ways of working.

Ready to make a difference?

We embrace diversity and celebrate individual uniqueness and encourage anyone wanting to work for Ryman to apply.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received and interviews may take place prior to the close date, so this ad may close early.