General Counsel & Board Secretary

Lead legal, governance and audit for Australia's first high speed rail network.

About the High Speed Rail Authority

The Australian Government is planning a future high speed rail network to connect Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and regional communities across the east coast of Australia. 

The High Speed Rail Authority (the Authority) is an independent corporate Commonwealth entity governed by an independent board, established to lead the development and delivery of high speed rail.

 High Speed Rail – Line 1 connects Newcastle to Sydney in around one hour on a dedicated high speed railway. From the Central Coast it will take around 30 minutes to get to Newcastle or to Sydney. With funding now committed to progress Line 1, HSRA are forming an executive team to develop and deliver this generational program.

High speed rail will contribute to key Australian Government priorities, including increased economic productivity, new housing options, regional economic and tourism development and contributing to net zero. 

About the role

The purpose of this role during the Development Phase is to ensure both the Authority and project delivery teams achieve legal and regulatory compliance, as well as efficient and transparent auditing and reporting.

The role supports effective governance and information management within the Authority and holds ultimate accountability for signing off final contracts and interface deeds.

What you'll lead

• As a member of the HSRA executive leadership team, you will lead the Legal, Risk, Compliance and Governance functions across the Authority, providing legal guidance and ensuring to uphold probity and integrity within the Authority.

• Formulate legal strategies to enable project delivery, by leading the development of major legal contracts and the management of disputes, claims and litigation according to corporate strategy and Commonwealth requirements.

• Lead risk, compliance and internal audit by ensuring all legislative reporting obligations under the PGPA Act are fulfilled and delivering compliance reporting to senior stakeholders and governance committees and developing enterprise risk management strategies to identify assess and mitigate risks.

• Establish and maintain governance frameworks for the Board, the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) and the Project Control Committee (PCC), and escalate significant events for notification to Parliament or the Minister.

• Oversee information access, management and data privacy, ensuring robust security controls and timely, legally compliant responses to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

About you

We are seeking a senior legal and governance executive with the expertise to lead legal, risk, compliance, audit and governance functions across a major infrastructure program.

Specifically, you bring:

• Senior legal and governance leadership on mega projects with experience advising on complex contract development and disputes management.

• The ability to drive the design of sustainable compliance systems and procedures for a Government Authority.

• Demonstrated expertise in driving the design and implementation of organisation-wide probity and integrity initiatives, coordinating internal audits, and engaging effectively with regulators and managing responses to regulatory breaches and requests.

• Previous experience overseeing the development of Board governance frameworks, establishing ARC and PCC frameworks, and ensuring continued adherence.

• An ability to identify risk mitigation strategies to minimise impact and ensure organisation stability.

• A history of engaging with a diverse stakeholder group to achieve positive outcomes

Eligibility 

Employment with the Authority is subject to the conditions prescribed within the Public Service Act 1999. To be eligible, you must: 

• Be an Australian citizen & hold a degree or equivalent working experience. 

• Hold or be able to obtain a Baseline security clearance & satisfy a National Police check (mandatory pre-employment screening). 

Next Steps

Applications closed on Thursday 28th May at 5pm AEST.

To apply, please submit your CV together with a suitability statement to our recruitment partners, Robert Walters, via email to HSRAExecutive@robertwalters.com.au

A full position description is available to download on www.robertwalters.com.au/hsra.html or via request at HSRAExecutive@robertwalters.com.au

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are encouraged to apply.
To apply please click apply or call Robert Kruger on +61 2 8289 3230 for a confidential discussion.