People & Culture Manager
Employment Type:
Permanent or fixed-term contract
Location:
Regional QLD
Work Model:
Hybrid
Date Posted:
28-Apr-2026
- Leading OOHC & youth services organisation supporting vulnerable young people
- Lead strategy, organisational growth in a senior leadership capacity
- Suits candidates from community, health, justice, or youth services background
About the organisation
MADEC is a not-for-profit, community-based organisation supporting people across the Mackay and Whitsunday region since 1973. As a registered NDIS provider and licensed Child Safety provider, MADEC delivers high-quality services that promote inclusion, wellbeing, and independence for young people and individuals with disability.
Guided by its vision and values of trust, empowerment, community and excellence, MADEC fosters a high-performing and collaborative culture where innovation is encouraged, and individuals are supported to thrive. The organisation is deeply committed to safeguarding, continuous improvement and delivering services that make a genuine difference in people’s lives.
Benefits and culture
- Five weeks annual leave and birthday leave
- Supportive, high-performing environment, professional development and leadership growth opportunities
- Hybrid work set-up: on-site at the Mackay office, plus one day from home
About the role
The People and Culture Manager is a key leadership position responsible for driving MADEC’s people strategy to attract and retain a high-performing workforce. Reporting to the CEO, and as part of the senior leadership team, you will play a critical role in shaping organisational culture, strategic planning, supporting leaders and ensuring best-practice HR across the organisation. This is a hands-on and strategic role, balancing day-to-day HR operations with longer-term workforce planning and cultural development initiatives.
In this role you will also:
- Lead end-to-end HR functions including recruitment, onboarding and ensuring compliance in alignment with employment legislation
- Develop and implement the people and culture strategy driving employee engagement, retention and performance initiatives
- Manage employee relations, grievances, investigations, compensation and return to work processes
- Partner with leaders to build capability and support performance through learning and development
Skills and experience required
You bring a trauma-informed approach and a people-first mindset, demonstrating empathy, emotional intelligence and a commitment to creating a psychologically safe and supportive workplace. You are an experienced HR leader who can operate both strategically and operationally, with a strong ability to influence, build relationships and foster a positive workplace culture.
You will have:
- Experience in a senior HR or people and culture leadership role with the ability to develop and implement people strategies
- Strong knowledge of employment legislation, HR best practice and the skill to manage employee relations and complex matters
- Strong communication, interpersonal and influencing skills with capability to influence at a senior level
- Experience within community, health, justice, or youth services or a similar sector
Are you a people first values-driven HR leader ready to take on a challenging and rewarding role impacting the lives of vulnerable young people? We would love to hear from you. To apply, submit your CV and a cover letter addressing the skills and experience required and your interest in the role. To request a candidate information pack please call Kelly Gentle at NGO Recruitment on 02 8243 0570 for a confidential discussion.
Please note there is no formal closing date for this role, if you are interested, we would encourage you to apply as soon as possible.
NGO Recruitment values equitable recruitment practices and is committed to representing candidates reflective of the diverse organisations and communities we work with. We welcome and encourage applications from all backgrounds, ages, and identities, and are happy to adjust our recruitment process to support accessibility needs. If you are interested in this position and have most of the skills or experience we are looking for, please go ahead and apply.
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Contact sales
We’d love to see how we can streamline your hiring together.
Request a demo
Contact sales
We’d love to see how we can streamline your hiring together.



