This Opportunity

The Manager of Social Services plays a critical role in overseeing a diverse portfolio of programs, including Reconnect, Family and Relationship Services, Child and Parenting Services, and Emergency Relief.

This position demands experienced leadership to navigate the complex landscape of social service delivery, ensuring that our programs meet the evolving needs of the community.

Key responsibilities include fostering community engagement, enhancing service delivery, and maintaining sustained connections with stakeholders. The Manager will lead a dedicated team, promoting collaboration with other agencies and community organisations to maximise the impact of our services. By leveraging innovative approaches and best practices, the Manager will create opportunities for growth and development within the team and the broader community.

The ideal candidate will possess strong leadership and communication skills, a deep understanding of social services, and a passion for making a meaningful difference in the lives of individuals and families. This role is essential for driving strategic initiatives and ensuring our services are responsive, effective, and aligned with community needs.

Key Role Responsibilities

• Responsible for managing all contractual and funding relationships with stakeholders, ensuring effective communication and negotiating service provisions that align with the organisation's best interests.
• Responsible for all facets of contract management as it relates to the service.
• Develop service procedures and operational practices that adhere to contractual obligations and organisational policies.
• Accountable for overseeing all service operations, including the creation of the annual budget in partnership with the Finance team, and managing expenditures.
• Develop quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods for each service and program in line with funding agreements and service outcome requirements.
• Evaluate and report outcomes and impact of each service using social return on investment and performance indicators, in line with service agreement targets, review for opportunities for improvement and risk management.
• Establish programs in line with contemporary best practice understanding and relevant industry standards / frameworks.
• Build partnerships and strong, collaborative relationships with relevant industry and community stakeholder groups and First Nations peoples.
• Contribute to the ongoing development, implementation, and evaluation of services to ensure continuous quality improvement.
• Collaborative leadership including supporting the service to achieve strategic goals, coordinating workflow management, coaching and support.
• Working closely with the organisation’s leadership team to provide input to development and implementation of the service compliance Risk Management Plans and Risk Matrices and systems.
• Foster a safe working environment including ensuring all employees are equipped with information, instruction, resources, and training required.
• Lead and oversee the undertaking of tender submissions for existing and new services.
• Source additional funding opportunities and preparing the grant applications as required.

Essential Requirements

• Tertiary qualification in a Human or Community Services discipline, such as social work or psychology
• Demonstrated experience with strategic and operational planning.
• Demonstrated knowledge of child development, and experience in assessing child wellbeing and safety factors.
• Demonstrated experience working with parents to assess strengths and vulnerabilities, develop skills and increase confidence in parenting.
• Demonstrated experience using high-level clinical and case management skills.
• Demonstrated experience in trauma informed practice delivery.