People & Culture Manager

You’ll be the go-to person for recruitment, employee relations, performance management, compliance, and day-to-day HR operations—helping our teams work effectively while maintaining the culture that makes FK unique.

• Culture & Engagement: Help maintain FK’s collaborative, people-first culture, balancing wellbeing and inclusion with the realities of deadlines, resourcing, and project delivery.
• Team Development: Support workforce planning, onboarding, training coordination, and capability-building to keep teams high-performing and adaptable.
• HR Operations: Oversee contracts, HRIS, payroll coordination, and policy administration, ensuring accuracy and compliance while keeping things practical.
• Compliance & Risk: Maintain awareness of employment legislation, modern awards, and industry obligations—and ensure our practices reflect them without unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Performance & Reward: Coordinate performance review cycles, support goal-setting, and help develop reward and recognition processes tailored to a creative studio.
• Recruitment & Resourcing: Lead end-to-end recruitment for critical roles, partnering with design leaders to identify talent, shape role briefs, and deliver an excellent candidate experience.
• Employee Relations: Navigate the human side of creative practice—address issues with care and pragmatism, balancing compliance with empathy.

We believe that diverse perspectives lead to better design, stronger teams, and more meaningful outcomes. If you’re excited about this role—even if your background isn’t traditional corporate HR—we’d love to hear from you.

We’re looking for an experienced People & Culture Manager to join our Melbourne studio. This is a unique role for someone who understands the creative studio environment, with all its energy, pace, and nuance—and knows how to balance people-focused support with practical, operational HR.

• Experience: 4-8 yrs + years in HR, operations management, or senior generalist roles, ideally in creative industries (architecture, design, advertising, consulting) or professional services.
• Collaboration: A genuine partner to the studio leadership team, able to balance strategic priorities with day-to-day HR delivery.
• Knowledge: Strong grasp of Australian employment law, modern awards (including Fair Work compliance), and best-practice people processes.
• Approach: Calm, pragmatic, solutions-focused. Able to build trust at all levels—from Directors to grads—and handle sensitive situations with maturity.
• Skills: Recruitment expertise, practical ER/IR capability, confident performance management, and HR operations know-how.
• Understanding: Deep appreciation for the studio model—project-based work, strong personalities, fluid teams—and how to support it rather than “control” it.

Join a team where individuality is valued, creativity is encouraged, and you’re supported to do your best work.

FK is a design-led, award-winning practice with a strong national reputation. We value learning, shared success, and personal growth. We offer flexible working options and a genuine commitment to wellbeing.

Here, you’ll find mentoring, professional development, and clear pathways for progression—all within a collaborative, creative team that genuinely enjoys working together.