Human Resources Management

Sean Wilson is is a senior people, culture and organisational leader with more than 20 years’ executive experience building high-performing workforces across complex organisations.

He has managed all stages of the HR life cycle for hundreds of employees (hiring, onboarding, paying, performance, training, safety, retirement, termination, transfer and more) across multiple industries, countries and operating environments, from frontline and specialist roles through to executive and C-Suite appointments. His experience spans growth organisations, regulated sectors, member bodies and purpose-led enterprises, giving him rare breadth in workforce design, talent strategy and leadership selection.

As a board-appointed CEO and HR leader, Sean has led people and culture strategy at BetterHR, Zonda, Kolling Foundation, the Housing Industry Association and more, aligning workforce capability, governance and culture with organisational strategy and performance outcomes.

He combines deep HR expertise with executive accountability and a strong knowledge of employment laws. Holding full P&L responsibility for portfolios exceeding $85M, he understands hiring not as an HR function, but as a core business decision — shaping operating models, leadership capability and long-term organisational resilience.

His strengths include:

• Recruitment at all levels from frontline to specialist roles through to executive and C-Suite

• Large-scale workforce hiring and organisational scaling

• Workforce planning and operating model design

• Culture transformation and leadership development

• Industrial relations, employment law and governance oversight

• Executive succession, remuneration and performance frameworks

Sean is known for translating strategy into execution — building aligned teams, resetting organisational rhythm, and creating cultures of accountability, trust and performance.

With qualifications spanning Human Resources, Legal Services, Business, Marketing, Technology and Company Director education, he integrates people strategy with commercial, governance and operational realities.

He operates with an owner’s mindset: making clear decisions, building strong leadership teams, and ensuring organisations have the right people in the right roles to deliver sustainable performance.

Proven HR Leadership & Strategic Management Experience

As CEO and HR Director at BetterHR for over seven years, he successfully managed the whole organisation, including a national team of HR and employment law advisors and consultants, supporting thousands of users. Often leading from the front to inspire and motivate the team, demonstrate commitment, and foster a culture of shared responsibility. He actively participated in providing HR advice and support to hundreds of business owners and managers across many industries and borders, showing others how things can be done, and being visible and approachable. This helped increase morale, enhance flexibility in responding to challenges, and achieved more holistic decision-making. He published an HR Blog with HR tips and updates on changes to employment laws. He presented HR Talks in person at events such as national conferences, and online in video webinars, for partners such as Telstra, Telstra Health, ADP Payroll, industry associations, franchise groups, etc. He also served as Chief Technology & Product Officer at BetterHR for over 10 years, consecutively, leading the design and development of award-winning HR software & advisory services. He achieved numerous HR related awards and honours (Best HR Software & Advisory Firm – Australia, Best HR & Employment Law CEO, HRD 5-Star HR Software Award, Top 10 Human Resources Management Solutions Providers in APAC, etc).

As CEO at Zonda Global and Zonda Care, he led a $20m portfolio of companies including a group of recruitment agencies supplying permanent and casual staffing for healthcare and aged care facilities across Australia, including government providers. As well as NDIS participants.

As CEO for Kolling Foundation, he led organisation wide HR responsibilities. Including successfully set up a new team as part of the launch of the new $100m Kolling Building for Medical Research in partnership with NSW Health and the University of Sydney. Kolling Foundation is the fundraising partner of the Northern Sydney Local Health District, including Royal North Shore Hospital, Ryde Hospital, Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital, and the Kolling Institute. Supporting over 200 doctors and scientists involved in medical research.

As National General Manager Sales & Marketing at The Housing Industry Association, he successfully led the national restructure and commercial transformation of 23 offices covering all Australian states/territories (200+ staff, field sales and services, 20+ retail stores, Home Ideas Centres in Canberra and Newcastle, print and digital media and publications such as Housing magazine, events team, IT team providing tools such as Tradebuild website, etc), which transformed declining membership and revenue to achieve strong growth (eg. over 10,000 new members). He also launched a new national call centre based in Sydney, which improved member engagement and satisfaction levels year on year. He also led organisational culture initiatives, which delivered improved employee retention, satisfaction, and engagement.

As National Sales Director at Sensis, he successfully led the growth and transformation of a national sales group for a $2b company. Including the setup of a new National Sales Team to service over 5,000 government clients nationally, including all federal, foreign, and ACT government departments, agencies, and statutory authorities, as well as all embassies and consulates, and parliamentarians (commonwealth and ACT).

As Senior Manager in Government, he also sat on numerous HR related boards and committees, such as:

• Consultative Committee, which introduced a new competency-based pay system for all employees in NSW.

• Structural Reform Committees, which led government amalgamations and technology transformations across NSW.

He's also directed national HR functions, teams, and projects, and provided hands-on HR advice and support, in other executive management roles, and board and committee roles.

HR Compliance & Risk Management

As CEO & HR Director at BetterHR for over seven years, he led HR compliance and risk management for a national company that specialised in HR and employment law compliance and risk management. Supporting over 60,000 users and more than 300 partners across Australia. As well as intentional clients with workers in Australia.

He's presented over 100 HR Talks on topics to help business owners and managers achieve best-practice HR management and compliance with Australian employment laws, such as the Fair Work Act and National Employment Standards, to maximise performance, whilst minimising risks such as costly penalties and employee claims. Events such as Telstra business forums, national conferences for industry associations & franchise groups, sponsored events for ADP Payroll, Xero, MYOB, Australian Business Forum, etc, at locations such as the International Convention Centre in Sydney, etc.

Under his tenure, BetterHR achieved a 100% compliance rating with zero insurance claims, including during Covid when faced with significant challenges and uncertain conditions for a prolonged period.