Darklab is looking for a Work Health and Safety Manager to be part of their core executive team. The executive team supports the wider Darklab team on a year-round program of creative and operational activity, spanning our growing hospitality and venues precinct, art projects, and other core business operations. Each June, our team scales up significantly to deliver the Dark Mofo festival, which brings together hundreds of employees and a vast program of art, performance, music, and large-scale public events - sometimes high-risk, but always interesting and unique.

This role will work closely with all areas of the organisation to enable ambitious and sometimes unconventional work to be delivered safely. This includes close collaboration with the CEO and Creative Director, the Artistic Director, and the Marketing and Business Director as part of the executive team.

We’re looking for a skilled Health and Safety Lead to help us build and sustain a strong culture of safety and wellbeing. The role involves providing sound technical advice and imaginative, practical solutions; developing safety management systems; creating training resources; and supporting auditing across all business areas, both during steady operations and in the fast-paced, high-risk environment of festival season.

The Gig:

• Lead the implementation and continuous improvement of a newly developed Safety Management System (SMS) across all Darklab operations, including festivals, theatres, and hospitality venues.
• Work hands-on and independently, reporting to the Creative Director and CEO, while collaborating closely with the executive team and Mona’s WHS function.
• Develop and embed practical safety procedures and tools in consultation with creative, production, and operational teams.
• Deliver tailored WHS training and inductions for diverse worker groups, including artists, hospitality staff, and technical crew.
• Support and guide risk assessments, especially for high-risk and unconventional activities or installations.
• Manage incident response and reporting, ensuring thorough investigations and implementing improvement measures.
• Conduct audits and inspections to monitor compliance with SMS and WHS legislation.
• Engage effectively with internal teams, contractors, and artists to champion a strong, practical safety culture.
• Apply creative problem-solving to complex WHS challenges in a dynamic, high-tolerance environment.
• Influence and empower managers and teams to take ownership of WHS through strong communication and collaboration.