Head of Children’s Program

Primary Purpose of the Role:

An exciting opportunity exists for a Head of Children Programs to join the Community Programs division at the Brotherhood of St Laurence. Reporting to the Director of Community Programs, this position will focus on driving strategic change in service delivery and the policy context to mitigate the impact of disadvantage and allow children to achieve their potential and aspirations.

This position will lead a team that is responsible for the development and implementation of innovative models and approaches to respond to areas of need, and address gaps in services for children and their families. The role will collaborate with the BSL’s Policy and Research Centre to develop a strong evidence base to support advocacy for the adoption of service models and policies that address disadvantage by government and peer organisations.

Role Requirements:

Skills

• Demonstrated understanding of the policy environment and capacity to advocate for policy change.
• Ability to build strong cross-functional and external stakeholder relationships and communities of practice.
• Ability to develop innovative models and build evidence of model effectiveness.
• Ability to build strong cross-functional and external stakeholder relationships.
• Well-developed influencing, communication, negotiation, conflict resolution and interpersonal skills.

Experience

• Significant experience leading high performing teams.
• Proven experience in negotiating significant government funding contracts.
• Experience in managing programs that provide assessment and intervention services for children and their families.
• Proven understanding and experience of community engagement and community capacity building strategies.
• Demonstrated experience in establishing and managing the operational delivery of programs with service delivery KPI’s.
• Proven experience in leading and managing a multi-disciplinary team.
• Ability to provide strategic advice on financial matters; contribute to the executive team and support the Executive Director, Board and relevant committees.

Knowledge and Qualifications Required

• Tertiary qualifications in children’s development, Social Science, welfare, community development or similar field with deep experience in the area of children.
• Sound knowledge of relevant legislation and policies including a commitment to continual improvement.
• Sounds knowledge and awareness of the range of issues impacting vulnerable children and their families.
• Strong enterprise leadership mindset – collaborative, team-based approach to working and a high level of comfort working in a Not-for-profit environment.

Wisdom and Valuing

• Integrity, maturity and strong personal and business ethics combined with sound judgement and a commitment to transparency and accountability.
• Uses discernment and interpersonal skills to establish other’s needs, concerns, feelings, expectations and motivations.
• Role model enterprise leadership behaviour and contribute to the development of a culture representative of the values and drivers of BSL.

A copy of the position description can be downloaded at https://www.bsl.org.au/about/careers/jobs/. For further information about the role please contact Lucia Boxelaar via lucia.boxelaar@bsl.org.au.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence has a vision of an Australia free of Poverty. We embrace, and value, diversity of culture, working arrangements, sexual orientation and gender identity to ensure our workforce is representative of the community that we work within. We promote a workplace that actively seeks to include and welcome unique contributions of all people. We embrace and celebrate the value of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, their skills and contribution to our organisation.  Applicants should be aware that as required, we conduct police and working with children checks as we acknowledge the importance of Child Safety.