Head of Cultural Heritage Governance & Assurance

About BHP

 

At BHP we support our people to grow, learn, develop their skills and reach their potential. With a global portfolio of operations, we offer a diverse and inclusive environment with extraordinary career opportunities. Our strategy is to focus on creating a safe work environment where our employees feel strongly connected to our values and objectives, and where the capability of our people is key to our success. Come and be a part of this success through this leadership role!

 

About the role

 

In the role of Head of Cultural Heritage Governance & Assurance, you will provide enterprise leadership of BHP’s global Cultural Heritage second‑line function, accountable for setting direction, strengthening governance and enabling robust management of cultural heritage risk across operated assets, growth projects and relevant commercial activities. The role operates as part of BHP’s second line, maintaining clear separation from delivery and reinforcing first-line accountability for risk ownership and control execution.

 

Acting as the enterprise authority for Cultural Heritage second‑line accountability, you will provide assurance and challenge on the effectiveness of first‑line controls. You will aim to ensure standards are fit for purpose, and that material risks are appropriately identified, escalated and managed in line with BHP’s Risk Framework and international expectations. Through strong governance, cross‑functional integration and global thought leadership, the role embeds Indigenous rights considerations, uplifts capability across diverse jurisdictions and strengthens BHP’s social licence to operate while supporting safe, sustainable production.

As the Head of Cultural Heritage Governance & Assurance, you will be accountable for:

• Owning global second-line accountability for Cultural Heritage risk, providing oversight and assurance over of first-line effectiveness, independent challenge, and clear enterprise escalation pathways for material risk.
• Defining & maintaining governance requirements. 
• Leading consolidation from regionally developed standards to a coherent global framework.
• Setting & governing enterprise data and systems requirement for Cultural Heritage.  
• Providing independent second-line challenge and escalation to senior leadership and governance forums, reinforcing separation from delivery functions and safeguarding enterprise credibility in high-risk decision contexts.
• Independently assessing Cultural Heritage risks within the enterprise risk framework, working closely with Group Risk Representatives and functional risk owners to ensure interconnected risks are coherently managed.
• Interpreting & anticipating complex and evolving Cultural Heritage regulatory frameworks across multiple jurisdictions, translating legal and regulatory obligations into enterprise controls, standards and risk mitigation strategies.
• Monitoring and anticipating emerging Cultural Heritage issues and shifting stakeholder expectations and proactively advising senior leadership on strategic implications.
• Ensuring readiness for external independent assurance and investor scrutiny, strengthening transparency, auditability, and alignment with global performance expectations relating to Cultural Heritage & Indigenous Peoples.
• Leading and developing a geographically dispersed global second-line Cultural Heritage team.
• Providing enterprise thought leadership on Cultural Heritage, influencing senior forums and leaders to embed a culture of care, accountability and respect for tangible and intangible heritage in business decision-making, risk trade-offs and growth execution.

 

In this role, you can be based in the following preferred locations: Brisbane, Adelaide or Perth or Santiago. 

About you

 

With deep expertise in Cultural Heritage management within regulated environments, you have a strong ability to interpret complex regulatory requirements and translate them into clear standards, controls and effective governance processes.  You can challenge and deliver balanced judgement, particularly in high‑consequence and culturally sensitive contexts, and are comfortable operating where decisions carry significant social, cultural and enterprise risk.

 

Your outstanding communication skills, enable you to engage across all organisational levels, providing trusted advice to senior leaders. You have substantial experience working respectfully and authentically with Indigenous Peoples across diverse jurisdictions, and understand the importance of cultural context, partnership and accountability in decision‑making.

 

You have experience in corpor