Chief People Officer – Brisbane
Full-Time | Permanent | Executive Leadership Role | Global Food & Agribusiness
About the Role
The Chief People Officer (CPO) is a core enterprise executive responsible for ensuring Hewitt has the workforce capability, leadership strength, organisational design, safety governance and operating discipline to scale globally. This role operates at system level, translating strategy into disciplined execution across people, safety, workforce, culture and organisation.
You will partner closely with the CEO and Board, owning enterprise-wide frameworks that enable performance, resilience, and growth. This is a hands-on leadership role requiring both strategic foresight and practical delivery across complex, multi-site operations.
Key Responsibilities
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Define and deliver enterprise People & Safety strategy aligned to growth, productivity, risk and long-term value creation
- Lead enterprise workforce planning, including automation, productivity uplift, capability shifts and sustainable workforce models in constrained labour markets
- Hold enterprise-level accountability for health and safety governance, systems, assurance and performance across global operations
- Drive organisational design, operating model, and decision clarity
- Establish leadership, performance, and reward frameworks at scale
- Own workforce relations and industrial relations strategy, balancing high performance, workforce stability, wellbeing and sustainability
- Oversee People and Safety systems, data, governance and reporting to support scale, compliance and better decision-making
About You
You are a seasoned executive leader with significant senior executive or C-suite experience building enterprise capability in complex operational environments. Commercially astute and strategically minded, you balance long-term thinking with disciplined execution.
You bring credibility across boardrooms and frontline environments, and are known for your ability to lift standards, strengthen leadership, and embed systems that scale sustainably.
You Will Bring
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Extensive executive leadership experience, including significant senior executive and C-suite responsibility for people, safety and workforce agendas across complex, multi-site and global organisations
- Deep expertise in organisational design, leadership capability, performance and reward frameworks, safety governance, workforce relations and enterprise risk
- Strong commercial acumen, with a proven ability to link workforce decisions to productivity, labour cost, risk management and long-term value creation
- Exceptional stakeholder influence, with credibility to partner effectively with CEOs, Boards, executives, and frontline leaders across diverse operational settings
- Experience overseeing HRIS, payroll, safety systems, analytics, governance and enterprise reporting to improve process maturity and decision quality
- A relevant tertiary qualification in Human Resources, Business, Psychology or related discipline.
Life at Hewitt
With 120 years of family ownership, Hewitt is an iconic Australian agricultural business with a deep commitment to land, livestock and community. Over the past decade, Hewitt has evolved from its livestock production origins into a global, sustainable protein producer, with premium organic and grass-fed brands stocked by leading retailers across Australia, the United States and Asia.
Guided by a vision to feed the world with a system that lasts forever, Hewitt delivers ethical, nutritious protein at global scale. Our fully integrated supply chain - spanning owned cattle stations, trusted producer partners, processing and retail - provides unmatched transparency, quality and resilience, setting Hewitt apart within the global food system.
Hewitt is a hands-on, collaborative business where being present matters. Whether in the office, on station, or in production, you’re contributing to something real: Real food, Real impact, Real teamwork.
Join Hewitt for the Opportunity of a Lifetime
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Values-Driven Organisation – Join a company with a 120-year family heritage, a clear purpose, and a long-term focus on sustainability, animal welfare, and quality.
- Competitive Remuneration Package – We recognise and reward your contributions with a fair and transparent pay structure.
- Enterprise Impact – Shape the people, safety, leadership and organisational capability required to support Hewitt’s next phase of growth, integration and global scale.
- Support When You Need It – Access to our 24/7 Employee Assistance Program for personal and professional wellbeing.
- The Hewitt Experience – Join a hands-on, values-led business where leaders are expected to be visible, practical and connected to the work. Whether engaging with office, production or station teams, you will help build the systems, standards and culture that enable real food, real impact and real teamwork.
Applications Close on 17 July 2026
Hewitt is committed to equal opportunity employment and to fostering a workplace that values equity, diversity, and respect. Reasonable adjustments are available throughout the recruitment process.
By applying, you acknowledge that proof of eligibility to work in Australia will be required.
We are managing this recruitment process internally and kindly request no contact from recruitment agencies. Unsolicited resumes will not be accepted.
Please visit https://hewittfoods.com/ for more information
