Join a bold, values-driven team working to supercharge the global transition from fossil fuels to clean energy — and help shape the culture that makes it all possible.

About Us

The Sunrise Project is a network of passionate changemakers driven by a shared mission to scale social movements that can drive the urgent transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. We believe in the power of people to solve the climate crisis, and we work alongside partners around the world to shift the systems — financial, political, and cultural — that are holding back climate action.

Since launching in Australia in 2012, Sunrise has grown into a global network of independent organisations with over 140 staff across 13 countries. We work behind the scenes to support bold strategies, build capacity in the climate movement, and catalyse collective action for impact at speed and scale. Our work is grounded in strong relationships, deep collaboration, and a fierce commitment to justice.

We’re proud of the culture we’ve built — one that centres trust, care, and the belief that how we work matters as much as what we do. We actively strive to reflect our values in how we lead, collaborate, and show up with our partners and each other. You can read about our values here.

About The Role

As Head of People and Culture for Sunrise Australia, you’ll play a vital leadership role at the heart of a bold and values-driven organisation. You’ll shape a thriving, inclusive culture that centres relationships, nurtures wellbeing and helps to unleash the leadership potential of our team to drive impact towards our mission. Working closely with our senior leaders, you’ll actively support Sunrise Australia to continually improve how we live our values and our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. This is an exciting and innovative opportunity for an experienced People and Culture professional to have a big cultural impact in a mission driven organisation working to drive urgent action to solve the climate crisis.  

About You  

You’re a values-led people and culture leader who thrives in mission-driven environments and is an expert at building trust. You bring deep understanding across the full range of people and culture functions, with demonstrated experience of what it takes to build and sustain inclusive, healthy, high-performing teams. You’re a strategic thinker who’s not afraid to roll up your sleeves, and you’re skilled at working with leaders and teams to embed cultural change. You have a deep commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and understand how to translate these commitments into tangible practices, policies and actions. 

You’re an effective communicator and collaborator and are skilled at giving and receiving feedback, and coaching others in these vital skills. 

Most of all, you care deeply about people, you lead with empathy, and you know how to build systems and cultures that help people and organisations thrive in complex and fast-moving contexts.

Key Responsibilities 

• Lead the development and implementation of people and culture strategies that support a thriving, inclusive and impact-driven organisational culture

• Partner with senior leaders to embed Sunrise’s values and commitments to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion across all aspects of our work

• Lead and support initiatives that strengthen team cohesion, culture, and collaboration across hybrid and distributed teams

• Foster strong, constructive relationships with union delegates and serve as a warm and approachable point of contact into the organisation

• Provide expert advice, coaching and support to leaders and staff on a wide range of people-related matters, including feedback, performance, conflict resolution and organisational change and project leadership 

• Deliver strong and compliant HR foundations across the employee lifecycle, and ensure policies are legally sound and aligned with our EBA, and that people related risk is tracked, managed and escalated appropriately

• Collaborate with the Network team in the design of systems, processes and practices that make up the employee lifecycle, including workforce planning and analytics, team performance, remuneration, employee wellbeing, leadership development, on/offboarding

• Design, deliver and facilitate effective workshops, meetings, and learning sessions to support team capability development and organisational initiatives.

Skills, knowledge and experience 

• Significant experience in a senior people and culture leadership role, ideally in an organisation that has been successful supporting a distributed, remote workforce

• Deep understanding of contemporary HR practices, employment law, and organisational development

• Proven ability to lead cultural change and develop systems that support inclusion, wellbeing and high performance

• Strong track record in supporting leaders and teams through growth, change and complexity

• Demonstrated commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, with experience embedding these principles into organisational practice

• Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills, with a coaching mindset and the ability to build trust across a diverse team

• Skilled at conflict resolution, feedback, and navigating sensitive people issues with care and clarity

• An adaptable mindset that thrives when working in a dynamic, ever-changing, fast-paced environment, and balancing strategic and hands-on work

• Strong facilitation skills with experience leading workshops, meetings, or learning sessions.

• An orientation towards and experience with high levels of self management and non-hierachical organisational structures would be an advantage.

• Experience in collaborating and engagement with unions and managing employee relations matters in a unionised environment. 

• A passion for climate justice. 

Job Requirements

• You must have full working rights in Australia.  The Sunrise Project Australia is unable to sponsor applicants for employment visas.

• Employment background checks are required.

• Intermittent travel with advanced notice may be required.

• Relevant qualifications in human resources management (CIPD, SHRM, AHRI and/or relevant experience including a detailed understanding of employment law.

How Sunrise supports its staff

The Sunrise Project. is committed to creating a workplace that supports our staff to do their best work and develop professionally. We have the following in place to help us achieve that, noting pro rata will apply for part time staff and/or temporarily appointed staff:

• Superannuation 12.5% & Salary Sacrifice for Superannuation

• Sunrise Time Off:

  • Additional Annual Leave 5 days p.a.

  • Long Service Leave available after 5 years of service

  • Birthday Leave 1 day p.a.

  • Solidarity and Community Leave 1 week p.a

  • Cultural Leave 4 days p.a (+ floating public holidays)

  • Gifted Leave (over Christmas and New Year)

  • Paid Parental Leave of 7.5 mths (inclusive of GPPL) - gender-neutral & inclusive of all family types, incl. Parental Return To Work & Keeping In Touch Program

  • Life Leave up to 40 days p.a. for significant personal reasons

• Flexible Working Policy

• Employee Assistance Program

• VIDA - An AI tool to support you working safely remotely

• Generous allowances for:

• Workspace Benefits incl: A Macbook laptop, initial $2,000 for home workspace and IT equipment + $800 every 2 years + up to $75/mth phone/data/internet.

• Shared office support

• Regular all-org and team meetings & retreats

• Learning & Development Program incl. a professional development budget for you

• Coaching & manager support with regular 1:1 meetings

• Annual performance & development reviews with 360 feedback

• A co-developed work plan to ensure clarity on your role & key responsibilities

• We provide our staff with a voice on issues that concern them via consultation, e.g. JEDI caucuses, working groups, slack channels, surveys and meetings.

HOW TO APPLY

We utilize short answer questions to assess candidates so a cover letter is not required. 

You’ll be taken to Be Applied to complete your application and upload your CV.  We have partnered with Kin to fill this key role.  If you have any questions before applying, please contact stacey.aubry@kin.co.nz