People and Safety Advisor

People and Safety Advisor (HR & Health and Safety)

Canterbury | Based near one of our clinics (Ashburton, Lincoln, Leeston, Ferrymead or Darfield)

It takes all sorts to make us great.

At Veterinaryfirst, we know our people are what make us different.

We're proudly 100% Kiwi owned, with 17 clinics across New Zealand and a Support Office that exists to help our clinics do what they do best – caring for animals, supporting customers and making a difference in their communities.

Behind every great clinic is a great team. Our role in People & Culture is to help our leaders create workplaces where people feel supported, valued and safe, so they can do their best work every day.

We're looking for someone who shares that passion.

Someone who enjoys partnering with leaders, building trusted relationships and helping people grow. Someone who believes that great leadership and safety go hand in hand.

If that sounds like you, we'd love to hear from you.

About the role

As our People & Safety Advisor, you'll be a trusted partner to our leaders, helping build capable teams, safe workplaces and positive employee experiences across Veterinaryfirst.

Based in Canterbury, you'll partner with leaders and teams across our 17 clinics, providing practical advice and coaching across People & Culture while helping build capable leaders, positive workplace cultures and a strong safety culture. Working alongside our clinics, you'll play a key role in leading the operational delivery of Health & Safety and creating workplaces where our people can thrive and everyone goes home safe every day.

This is a hands-on operational role where you'll spend time in our clinics, building relationships, understanding the challenges our teams face and working alongside our leaders to find practical solutions.

You'll coach leaders through people matters, strengthen Health & Safety practices, build leadership capability and contribute to projects that continue to shape the future of our people and our business.

No two days are ever quite the same and that’s exactly what makes this role so rewarding.

What you’ll be doing

You'll partner with our leaders and teams across New Zealand, providing practical advice, coaching and support across all aspects of People & Culture. This includes:

• Partnering with Clinic Coordinators and leaders to build confident, capable teams.
• Coaching leaders through employee relations matters, including performance, conduct, wellbeing and workplace conversations.
• Supporting workplace investigations and organisational change with practical, solutions-focused advice.
• Coaching leaders through recruitment, onboarding and developing great teams.
• Facilitating learning opportunities and building leadership capability across the business.
• Partnering with leaders to strengthen Health & Safety practices and foster a positive safety culture.
• Supporting incident investigations, identifying learnings and driving continuous improvement.
• Building trusted relationships through regular visits to our clinics and providing practical, hands-on support where it's needed most.
• Contributing to projects and initiatives that strengthen our people, culture and business.

About you

You're someone who enjoys rolling up your sleeves, building relationships and making a genuine difference. 

You thrive in a fast-paced environment, enjoy variety and are just as comfortable coaching a leader as you are working alongside them to solve problems and improve the way things are done.

You'll also bring:

• A minimum of three years' experience in an operational Human Resources advisory role, with demonstrated experience supporting Health & Safety in a New Zealand workplace.
• Sound knowledge of New Zealand employment legislation and the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
• Confidence coaching and influencing leaders across people and safety matters.
• Strong relationship-building and communication skills.
• A practical, down-to-earth approach with the ability to find solutions that work for both our people and our business.
• The drive, initiative and resilience to manage competing priorities in a busy operational environment.
• A willingness to get out into our clinics, build relationships and understand what life is really like for our teams.

Why Veterinaryfirst?

We're not perfect, but we're always looking for ways to improve, and we genuinely care about our people.

We believe work should be more than just a job. It should be a place where you can grow, build meaningful relationships, make a real difference and feel proud of the impact you have every day.

When you join us, you'll become part of a supportive team that's passionate about helping each other succeed, caring for our communities and creating a workplace where everyone feels connected, valued and safe.

Along with a great team, you'll enjoy:

• Birthday pancakes in bed? Absolutely. Enjoy an extra paid day off on us.
• Long service leave because loyalty should be recognised and celebrated.
• Regular development conversations to support your growth and career goals.
• Leadership development, coaching and mentoring.
• Professional development and self-development opportunities.
• Competitive remuneration package.
• 3.5% KiwiSaver contribution on top of your salary.
• Extra parental leave support, including paid leave for non-primary caregivers.
• Annual flu vaccination.
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
• Our Connected Lives wellbeing programme supporting you inside and outside of work.
• Teamfirst staff discounts across our veterinary services and products.

Location

This role is based in Canterbury, and you'll need to be located near one of our clinics in Ashburton, Lincoln, Leeston, Ferrymead or Darfield. Regular travel between clinics will form part of the role.

If you're looking for a role where you can build capability, strengthen workplace culture and help keep our people safe, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply via SEEK - https://nz.seek.com/job/93491882?ref=direct-share-cm-ui and become part of a team that's making a real difference to the lives of people and animals across New Zealand.

Apply now