The Opportunity

This is an exciting senior leadership opportunity for a proven leader with technical, vocational & education expertise and experience to lead the Australia Pacific Training Coalition (APTC) on behalf of the Australian Government.

The Role

The Skills for Employment and Training Director plays a key role in supporting Pacific Island Citizens to gain employment, within their home country, across the Pacific region, in Australia and New Zealand, through the acquisition of relevant skills and qualifications.

Based in Fiji, you will lead a team of over 20 staff as well as playing a key executive leadership role for a broader workforce of 200 staff who are located at APTC Country Offices in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea and in-country representatives in Tonga, Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu.

The position is based in Suva, Fiji, and will involve and international travel throughout the Pacific Region.

The Successful Candidate

Our ideal candidate will have:

• A proven track record, success and extensive experience in leading in a vocational education and training setting from a strategic, quality and compliance and operational perspective, in multiple locations to culturally and linguistically diverse client groups.
• Demonstrated effectiveness at an executive level in the areas of strategic and operational planning, financial, physical and human resource allocation and general administration, exhibiting sound business acumen and entrepreneurial flair.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively develop, implement and manage a budget and drive workforce performance to achieve financial and operational targets, particularly in an environment of disruption and rapid change.
• Proven ability in liaising and negotiating with Government, senior officials from public and/or private sectors, industry, donor agencies and NGO’s and members of the community.
• Highly developed negotiation, consultative communication and interpersonal skills as evidenced by significant achievement in contributing to organisational performance improvement with the ability to establish and maintain constructive relationships, coach others for high performance, facilitate capability development and support change.
• Excellent written and ICT skills, project planning, project management, and an ability to prepare high-level responses and reports.

Qualifications

Mandatory:

• Post Graduate qualifications in education or business management plus extensive relevant experience in a senior vocational education and training management role or equivalent.

Highly desirable requirements:

• Experience working on an aid funded project, preferably Australian Government, would be an advantage.
• TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment preferred.

The Environment

The Australia Pacific Training Coalition (APTC) is an Australian Government development program established in 2007. It works in partnership with industry, governments and selected Technical, Vocational Education and Training institutions to assist the development of a more skilled, inclusive and productive workforce aligned with labour market requirements to enhance Pacific prosperity.

The APTC provides Australian standard training qualifications across the Pacific and also forms partnerships and coalitions with stakeholders to achieve training outcomes and reforms of the technical, vocational, education and training system across the Pacific region.

APTC has country offices established in Fiji, Vanuatu, PNG, Samoa and the Solomon Islands. The Country Offices are supported by a range of services provided from a regional office located in Suva, Fiji.

TAFE Queensland manages the Training Coalition on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. As an employee of TAFE Queensland International Education, you will be part of the Queensland’s leading provider of further education and training committed to quality teaching, a safe working environment and delivering real outcomes for our students. We are currently pivoting to support the Pacific Island Countries to respond to the impacts of COVID-19.

Remuneration

Remuneration and benefits include:

• A core remuneration package of AU$151,440 to $189,288 per annum, including superannuation, subject to skills and experience
• A range of allowances and other benefits available including substantial mobility allowance, reimbursement of housing costs and limited access to company motor vehicle with home garaging
• Potential tax benefits as delivering Australian Official Development Assistance (OAD)

APTC is an equal opportunity employer; fostering a fair, safe and socially inclusive environment, embracing all forms of diversity.

We strongly encourage applications if you are:

• Gender diverse
• A person with a disability
• Culturally and linguistically diverse

To learn more about the role, please visit our website.

* Position offer is subject to DFAT Deployment approval.

APTC is committed to diversity and inclusion and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all religious and ethnical backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities to apply.