Senior WHS Consultant - 4 days per week

About the role

Safety Forward is growing, and we need some experienced WHS oomph on the team.

We are looking for a Senior WHS Consultant to join us permanently, four days per week. Yep, a day off. Woo!

You will independently own consulting work across different businesses and work with clients who have brought us in because they want help and are ready to improve. You’ll build trusted relationships and make a meaningful difference for the businesses and people we support.

This is a foundational hire and a key part of Safety Forward’s next stage of growth. You will not be stepping into a large, established consulting team. You will be joining us early enough to genuinely influence how we grow, strengthen our team and help us support more clients without losing the quality, judgement and care our work is known for.

Who we are

Safety Forward is a Tasmanian WHS consultancy that takes the time to understand how a business actually operates, what is shaping risk and what will realistically work.

We know real safety happens in everyday moments: how work is planned, decisions are made under pressure and how people respond when things change or go wrong. We help clients build the systems, tools and capability that support those moments, making expectations clearer, decisions easier and responses more consistent.

We do not assume every client needs the same system or solution, and we do not help clients by doing everything for them. We provide clear advice, practical support and the right amount of challenge while keeping business decisions and ownership where they belong; with the client.

The work

You will:

• Independently manage client work from discovery through to delivery.

• Lead site visits, risk discovery, workshops, evidence reviews and risk register development.

• Help clients understand their legal position, material risks and practical options.

• Design practical WHS systems, documents, risk tools and digital solutions.

• Provide scoped implementation support, coaching and assurance.

• Manage client work within agreed priorities, hours and commitments.

• Strengthen the wider team through technical guidance, coaching and quality review.

What we need from you

Strong technical WHS capability is essential, but technical knowledge alone is not enough.

You need to understand what is legally required, what recognised practice looks like and where clients have choices in how they manage risk. Just as importantly, you need the judgement and curiosity to understand how small, medium and family-run businesses operate and translate WHS requirements into practical, proportionate advice and solutions they can actually use.

You will need:

• A Diploma of Work Health and Safety or higher WHS qualification.

• At least 7 years relevant WHS experience, including at least 3 years operating with substantial autonomy and advising business owners or senior leaders.

• Broad experience across operational or higher-risk workplaces.

• Demonstrated ownership of complex WHS work, including the design or substantial improvement of WHS systems.

• Strong risk reasoning, consulting judgement and communication skills.

• The ability to build trust, ask useful questions and have frank conversations constructively.

• Clear, concise writing and confident facilitation skills.

• The discipline to manage competing client work, scope and hours independently.

Consulting experience is highly desirable, but not essential if you can demonstrate the judgement and adaptability needed to work across different businesses.

If your answer to every WHS issue is more paperwork or a rehearsed quote from a code of practice, this probably is not the role for you. If you can hold a strong technical position while remaining curious, practical and responsive to the business in front of you, we should talk.

Location and hours

This is a predominantly work-from-home role working 30.4 hours across four days per week. We will consider candidates across Tasmania who are based in, or within reasonable travelling distance of, a major centre and viable client base.

Periodic client travel and occasional in-person team sessions are required. You will need a current driver’s licence and a safe, reliable vehicle.

We offer genuine flexibility, but it sits alongside a high standard of client delivery. Meet the outcomes, quality and commitments; around that, we can be flexible about how and when the work gets done.

There may be scope for the role to increase to full-time as Safety Forward grows.

Interested?

For a copy of the full Position Description or have questions about the role, contact our Managing Director, Courtney Newman, at ••••@safetyforward.com.au.

We are interested in how you think, not just the roles you have held. All applications must be submitted through SEEK and include your CV and a short cover letter of no more than one page outlining why this role and Safety Forward’s way of working appeal to you, and what meaningful WHS in a business looks like to you.