Support & Recovery Principal - Injury & Compensation

We're an iconic Aussie brand with a global footprint. Our purpose is to build a connected future so everyone can thrive. We're all about providing the best experience and delivering the best tech on the best network.

This includes making Telstra the place you want to work. For you, that means a having career that grows with you and working with a team powered by human connection that prioritises wellbeing and choice.

Focus of the role

As the Support & Recovery Principal within Telstra’s Safety, Security & Wellbeing (SSW) function, you will lead strategic initiatives that contribute to safe and healthy work environments by optimising Telstra’s Workers Compensation insurance portfolio and delivering high-quality claims, injury prevention, and recovery services.

Reporting to the Safety, Security & Wellbeing Executive, you will provide purposeful leadership to foster a high-performing team culture. You’ll oversee operational and strategic activities aligned with employee value and financial objectives, while role-modelling Telstra’s behaviours and habits through coaching, capability uplift, and performance enablement. Your leadership will drive outcomes that strengthen engagement, productivity, and employee satisfaction.

About the Team

Telstra Group holds a self-insurance licence under the Commonwealth Comcare Workers compensation scheme. This gives Telstra the authority to have an in-house claims management team, to determine and manage claims for entitlements, made for work-related injury and illness.

The team offers tailored, health-focused support to employees and their leaders when an injury, illness, or disability affects their ability to work. This support is available to all Telstra employees, regardless of whether the condition originated at work or elsewhere.

We assist employees who:

• Are currently absent from work and need help returning safely and sustainably.
• Are at work but require specialist oversight for workplace adjustments to manage their hours, duties, or workplace safety.
• Are seeking reasonable workplace accommodations due to a medical condition or disability and require specialist support to implement these.

What You’ll Do

You will be a key member of the SSW Leadership Team, championing safety, security, and wellbeing across Telstra’s global footprint. Through strategic advice and program oversight, you’ll support our people, partners, and communities to thrive.

Your role is instrumental in supporting our business to achieve Telstra’s strategic goals through supporting our people to perform, transform and thrive. We want to be the place that the best people choose to build their careers and grow. We will continue to lead in flexible and hybrid work practices in a workplace that’s safe, respectful and inclusive. You will need to:

• Leverage your extensive knowledge and professional expertise in health management, rehabilitation, and compensation services to lead, coach and mentor a team of dedicated specialists to provide expert advice to Telstra’s business leaders;
• Empower and support your team to effectively interpret and ensure the implementation of relevant regulatory and compliance standards, processes and frameworks;
• Leverage insights to define and develop strategic and innovative insurance, claims and recovery solutions to minimise loss;
• Engage and effectively influence a complex and diverse group of stakeholders to directly shape and promote a culture of accountability and action;
• Collaborate across Telstra to ensure consistent application of systems, policies, and procedures.

In this role, your key responsibilities will be to:

• Lead and oversee programs that deliver best-practice health management, rehabilitation, and compensation services to our people.
• Develop and deliver strategies with the business to address emerging health, rehabilitation, and claims risks.
• Ensure compliance with licence, regulatory, and legal obligations under the SRC Act.
• Optimise and manage Telstra’s Workers Compensation insurance portfolio.
• Drive continuous improvement in health management, rehabilitation, and compensation performance across the organisation.
• Contribute to health promotion campaigns to enhance wellbeing and improve our people and service delivery partners’ ability to stay safe and well.
• Manage budget, operational resourcing, prioritisation and execution of all programs of work within the Support & Recovery team.
• Contribute to Board and operational reporting, ensuring timely and accurate communication to stakeholders.
• As a key leader within the Safety, Security and Wellbeing (SSW) leadership team, actively promote and contribute to the success of SSW programs of work by fostering cross-functional collaboration, aligning initiatives with strategic priorities, and championing a culture of safety, care, and continuous improvement across the organisation.

This role can be worked flexibly from either Melbourne or Sydney.

About you

To be successful, you’ll need:

• Tertiary qualifications in health, safety, HR, or other relevant discipline.
• Strong experience in managing a workers compensation team in a large, complex organisation
• Expert knowledge and proven experience in the interpretation and application of workers’ compensation legislation
• Expertise in developing and executing annual plans
• Demonstrated experience in partnering and influencing senior stakeholders
• A broad knowledge of commercial, technical and legal Workers Comp issues
• Experience in dealing with complex Workers Comp issues
• Experience working in a proactive early response environment
• Previous experience in self-insurance in Commonwealth preferred.

What We Offer

We offer a range of great benefits, including:

• Performance-related pay
• Access to thousands of learning programs so you can level up
• Global presence across 22 countries; opportunities to work where we do business
• Purchased annual leave scheme
• Additional Telstra day off
• Additional 30% off Telstra products and services
• Toolkit provided (laptop + mobile phone + plan paid for)