HealthShare Victoria
Chief People & Safety Officer (CPSO)
About the role
Help shape capability and culture in one of Victoria’s most dynamic public health organisations
Lead people related projects and work programs with strategic significance
Senior Executive (Victorian Public Sector Band 2) role in a collaborative team environment
As the Chief People & Safety Officer (CPSO) at HealthShare Victoria (HSV), you have the unique opportunity to directly shape and support the people involved in Victoria’s critical health sector supply chain and logistics operations.
Reporting to the Chief Executive, the CPSO plays an integral role in the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) in coordinating HSV’s people, culture and safety functions, driving improvement in the capability and capacity of all employees. An uncompromising focus on quality guidance, advice and training as well as collaborative engagement with stakeholders, will ensure the CPSO is able to materially contribute to HSV’s stated mission of getting the right products, to the right places, at the right time, increasing value for customers and ultimately the Victorian Public.
The role is a functional and strategic leadership position within HSV that will drive strategic change, capability uplift, operational efficiencies and value delivery to ensure that Health Services across Victoria benefit from the centralisation of a state-wide medical consumables Supply Chain function. The CPSO leads the development and implementation of a holistic and sustainable people, culture and safety strategy, reflecting HealthShare Victoria (HSV) values to enable delivery of the organisation’s strategic priorities. The CPSO will also be expected to engage in highly complex industrial relations (IR) activities such as enterprise bargaining negotiations, classification reviews and the onboarding of health service employees and services with a range of internal and external stakeholders including Health Services, the Ministers Office, Department of Health, unions and employees. The CPSO is integral to the Executive Leadership Team’s efforts to grow the capacity, capability, culture and maturity of HSV, by actively participating in HSV’s strategic development and importantly, delivering on the annual business plan and business unit deliverables.
Alongside the Executive Leadership Team, the CPSO helps lead a well-regarded and high performing organisation that has a reach and impact wider than its physical footprint; built around an entrenched excellence mentality and a commitment to investing in its people and well-developed partnerships.
About you
As a contemporary leader, forward-thinking strategist and collaborative ‘team builder’, you approach challenging people related situations with optimism and curiosity. You enjoy working for the benefit of the Victorian people and bring energy and commitment to HSV’s shared passion and vision of driving Health, Safety and Value in everything we do.
You are authentic and energetic, with a contemporary human resources and occupational health and safety skill-set as well as a proven track-record managing complex people, culture and safety activities at scale with an adept ability to enhance efficiency, consistency and reliability in a multi-divisional, customer centric and decentralised organisation. Proven experience leading a People, Culture and Safety function within FMCG / Retail, Distribution / Transport, or large Public Sector organisations utilising modern systems and leading teams through significant change is key. Although not a pre-requisite, knowledge and experience in health sector related supply chain and logistics, will also be highly regarded and help you to capitalise on opportunities.
Operating as a trusted advisor, it is imperative you possess high level business acumen, integrity and proven interpersonal and communication skills, as your approach to establishing and strengthening relationships as well as your ability to make influence change will prove pivotal to your success in the role. You are comfortable working in a fast-paced environment and acting on multi-dimensional and complex issues. You enjoy being hands-on and are decisive yet diplomatic, with a unique ability to build consensus and deliver exceptional customer service, engaging purposefully whilst fostering a sense of shared purpose among your team and stakeholders.
With a safety-first mindset, you will enjoy providing high-quality, objective advice, making value-added recommendations and continuously improving internal people and safety related methodologies to incorporate best practice and ensure HSV staff and services are supported appropriately. Alongside the continued improvement and evolution of our internal people practices and systems, timely performance reviews and reporting as well as development of risk mitigation strategies are also important. Moreover, ensuring governance and compliance with legislative and statutory obligations and ensuring process integrity measures are in place are essential elements of the role as is ongoing education, closing capability gaps and further enhancing organisational functionality.
Calm under pressure and possessing an analytical mindset, you thrive in dynamic operational environments and are skilled at negotiating and anticipating future organisational needs, using your subject matter expertise and credibility to prioritise effectively and solve issues proactively with internal and external stakeholders alike and ahead of time.
Finally, you are a proud internal champion of our values (being customer centric, accountable, respectful, solutions focused and open) ensuring we achieve outcomes that maximise value for clients whilst positively influencing the internal operating environment, making HSV a great place to work.
About the HealthShare Victoria (HSV)
HSV is a commercially oriented independent provider of procurement and other supply chain services to Victoria’s public health sector.
HSV’s purpose is to partner with Victoria’s public health services and suppliers to support better value for the public health sector and better outcomes for their patients.
HSV’s focus is on the end-to-end supply chain needs of health services to ensure Victoria’s public health services have access to goods that may be in higher demand or difficult to access. Under the Health Services Act 1988 (Vic), we administer compliance-related functions, and work with health services to assist them in meeting compliance and probity obligations.
As a customer-focused service organisation, HSV concentrate on providing services that our public health service customers can rely on, and their work supports our health service customers in delivering safe, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all Victorians.
Finally, HSV work with their health service customers, partners, suppliers and stakeholders to save time, effort and resources, which helps Victoria's health system save more lives.
People
HSV’s people are at the heart of the organisation, are experts in their field and make a meaningful difference. HSV is committed to a safe and positive workplace culture and stand behind their values:
Customer-centric: Our customers, employees and stakeholders have confidence we will do the right thing
Accountable: We do things to a high standard and do what we say we will do
Respectful: We listen to and support our people and stakeholders to do the right thing
Solutions-focused: We work together to find solutions that meet objectives and incorporate lessons for the future
Open: We are open to new ideas and change and we engage freely with our people, customers and stakeholders
What you should know
HSV is an inclusive employer and welcome applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people living with disability, members of the LGBTI communities, and people from across all cultures.
To be eligible for employment with HSV, you must be an Australian citizen. A candidate’s suitability for employment will be assessed through a pre-employment screening process which will include a criminal history check. This will be arranged for you, if successful.
Application Instructions
Please send your Expression of Interest quoting Ref No A006013 to Watermark Search International. Email: search@watermarksearch.com.au
We will reply to the email address used for your application.
Your application should include:
A complete current resume
A one-page cover letter (maximum 750 words) quoting reference A006013
Your cover letter should highlight relevant examples and accomplishments that demonstrate:
Your ability to lead people to deliver results in a similar CPSO capacity.
Why you want to work for HSV.
What you will bring to the CPSO role.
Demonstrated experience in driving contemporary and effective people and safety practices at scale in complex service delivery organisations.
The closing date for applications is 11:59pm Sunday, 13th July 2025.
If you would like further information, including an in-depth candidate briefing pack, please contact Chris Grant (Partner, Watermark Search) on 0493 714 171 or Alison Myatt (Research Manager, Watermark Search) on 0412 630 817 or email search@watermarksearch.com.au.