Ms Sarah McCann-Bartlett
Sarah McCann-Bartlett is CEO and Managing Director of the Australian HR Institute (AHRI), Australia’s professional body for HR practitioners.
Sarah is a highly experienced leader of professional and industry bodies, with a passion to help members achieve their goals by providing world leading insight, support and advocacy.
She is known as a transformational leader who drives change by bringing organisations, employees and stakeholders together to envision the strategy, agree the journey, and lead teams to deliver the desired outcomes.
In her current role as CEO of AHRI, Sarah and the AHRI team have focused on supporting members and the broader HR profession through COVID-19 with practical advice, policy development and research on emerging issues including employee wellbeing, post-pandemic skills development and the future of work.
At the same time, Sarah is leading AHRI through an organisation-wide transformation focused on member experience, digital transformation, and HR standards and capability.
Prior to joining AHRI, Sarah held the position of Director General of the British Constructional Steelwork Association where she led the certification of the sector to comply with emerging European regulation, established a new market development company to grow steel’s market share in construction across the UK, and partnered with government to set the broader UK metals sector’s strategic vision. Sarah previously held the position of Deputy Commissioner of the Building and Plumbing Industry Commission, where she was instrumental in delivering regulation to support public safety and amenity, including the introduction of the 5 Star environmental standard and the approval of the first bushfire bunker design in Australia. She also delivered an organisational transformation, including the merging of the two Commissions. Sarah has also held a range of senior positions at the Woolmark Company in Australia, the UK and the USA.
Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne, a Diploma in Marketing from the UK Chartered Institute of Marketing and an MBA from Monash University. She is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an Advisory Board Member at the Centre for Workplace Excellence at the University of South Australia.