Return to Work Lead

About the role

Reporting to the Manager, Workplace Health and Safety, you'll develop, implement and monitor NHVR's work-related and non-work-related rehabilitation and return-to-work programs nationally. As the central point of contact for injured and ill employees, you'll guide them through recovery while ensuring NHVR meets its obligations across each jurisdiction in which we operate.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Managing end-to-end return-to-work and injury management cases for both work-related and non-work-related, physical and psychological injury and illness.
• Identifying and negotiating suitable duties and reasonable adjustments, and developing, monitoring and reviewing return-to-work plans in consultation with workers, treating practitioners and leaders.
• Acting as the key liaison with insurers, workers' compensation schemes, treating doctors, allied health providers and rehabilitation providers to coordinate recovery and progress claims.
• Lodging and managing workers' compensation claims, and preparing employer responses, submissions and supporting documentation in line with scheme requirements and timeframes.
• Supporting the safe and durable redeployment of workers into alternative suitable roles where they cannot return to their pre-injury duties.
• Partnering with and coaching leaders to build their knowledge and capability in return to work, injury management and their obligations under relevant legislation.
• Designing and improving systems and processes that support fitness for work and early intervention.
• Coordinating independent medical examinations (IMEs) and managing panels of external providers, including IME providers, treating and allied health practitioners, and rehabilitation case management services.
• Maintaining accurate, confidential case notes and records, and producing reports, briefing notes, data and trend analysis on return-to-work performance.
• Promoting the health benefits of good work and fostering an early-reporting, recovery-focused culture across NHVR.

About you

You're a calm, credible and persistent professional who genuinely cares about getting people back to health and work, while also being able to hold the line on process and obligations while doing it.

You'll bring:

• Demonstrated experience in end-to-end return-to-work and injury management case coordination, ideally across multiple workers' compensation schemes and jurisdictions.
• Sound, practical knowledge of workers' compensation legislation, return-to-work obligations and suitable-duties principles, and the confidence to apply them operationally to real cases.
• Strong skills in developing and reviewing return-to-work plans, assessing functional capacity against the inherent requirements of a role, and identifying suitable duties and reasonable adjustments.
• A proven ability to manage relationships with insurers, treating practitioners, allied health and rehabilitation providers, and to keep complex claims moving toward good outcomes.
• Confidence handling sensitive and complex matters, including psychological injury, with discretion, empathy and sound judgement.
• The ability to influence and coach leaders, support distressed employees, and navigate competing priorities and occasional conflict with professionalism.
• Strong written communication skills, including drafting RTW plans, employer responses to claims, reports and briefing notes to a high standard.
• Meticulous attention to documentation, confidentiality and privacy when handling medical and personal information.

Qualifications and Experience

Highly Regarded:

• Tertiary qualification in occupational therapy, physiotherapy, rehabilitation counselling, nursing, or a related allied health or injury management discipline.
• Completion of (or willingness to obtain) Rehabilitation and Return to Work Coordinator certification (e.g. BSBWHS417).
• Minimum 3 years' experience in injury management, return to work or workplace rehabilitation, or demonstrable equivalent experience.
• Experience managing claims and return-to-work outcomes across more than one jurisdiction (for example, across NSW, QLD, VIC, SA, TAS and the ACT), with an understanding of how scheme requirements differ between states.

 Desirable

• Experience as an occupational therapist, rehabilitation coordinator or workplace rehabilitation consultant.
• Experience managing psychological injury claims and supporting psychologically safe return-to-work outcomes.
• Experience working in a geographically dispersed, multi-site national organisation.

Why Join NHVR?

• Competitive Salary $ 135.995.90 plus superannuation
• Enterprise Agreement offering Competitive Remuneration, offering a variety of working arrangements to support work-life balance, purchased leave and more!
• Access to excellent end-of-trip facilities at our corporate offices
• Additional leave over the Christmas and year-end period
• Opportunities for rostered days off or accrued time off
• A family-friendly and supportive team culture
• Access to an Employee Assistance Program
• Up to 14.75% employer superannuation through a co-contribution scheme

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the NHVR recruitment team on recruitment@nhvr.gov.au

Successful applicants will be required to complete standard pre-employment checks including a national police and work rights check

Please Note: We will not require any support from Recruitment Agencies at this time and kindly request no contact is made. Only direct applications will be considered.