• Employment status: Fixed Term - 30 June 2025
• Environment: Flexible working arrangements with occasionally travelling to a meeting space for collaboration with other team members and CEO.

Job summary

The Strategic Partnership Manager is responsible for identifying, developing, and nurturing relationships with key partners that align with Community Mental Health Australia’s (CMHA) strategic goals. They will oversee the community engagement and communication strategies for the Assisting Communities through Direct Connection (ACDC) Project and work in close relationship with the Operations & Communications Manager for a successful implementation of the ACDC Project. They will ensure successful and healthy partnerships are established with stakeholders and community groups, enabling the objectives of the ACDC Project to be achieved.

This multifaceted position requires a highly motivated and strategic individual with exceptional communication, presentation and interpersonal skills. This role involves negotiating partnership agreements, managing ongoing partner relationships, and ensuring the successful implementation of partnership initiatives. The Strategic Partnership Manager has demonstrated experience with building and maintaining strong, trust-based relationships; excellent oral and written communication skills; creative problem-solver with the ability to navigate complex situations; the ability to ‘innovatively think on their feet and outside the box’; multi-task priorities with exceptional planning and organisation skills; optimising processes with a high level of self-motivation and attention to detail, while working independently in a small team and contributing to CMHA and its ACDC Project.

About CMHA

Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA) is a Federated Peak representing the Community Managed Mental Health Sector, governed by a Board of Directors. CMHA embodies member State and Territory Peaks, which in turn represent over a thousand community managed organisations.

CMHA was established to provide national strategic advocacy and influence on mental health policy and progressive future directions by influencing and providing strategic advocacy to Federal Government Ministers, Government Department decision makers and community stakeholders.

CMHA is governed by a Board of Directors comprising representatives from the state and territory member Peaks and independent board members.

Further information is at: https://cmha.org.au

About the ACDC Project

CMHA is in receipt of an Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) grant from the Commonwealth Department of Social Services (DSS). ILC is about ensuring communities become more accessible and inclusive of people living with a disability.

The ACDC Project is part of the ILC program. The national project is a community initiative, with CMHA building innovative ways to increase the independence, social and community participation of people who live with a psychosocial disability to access services and supports. More information about the ACDC Project on acdc.org.au.

Key responsibilities

1. Identify and evaluate potential partners. Research and analyse potential partners that align with the ACDC Project strategic objectives and work collaboratively with the CMHA Member Executive group to assess the benefits and risks associated with potential partnerships.
2. Develop information resources for the ACDC Project in collaboration with local stakeholders.
3. Develop and execute partnership strategies. Create and implement partnership strategies that align with the ACDC Project long-term goals. Integrate partnership initiatives into CMHA's broader strategic plans.
4. Member engagement. Support collaboration and input to the project from CMHA member organisations.
5. Negotiate partnership agreements. With the Operations & Communications Manager, lead negotiations to establish mutually beneficial agreements with partners and ongoing management of subcontractors. Define partnership terms, including roles, responsibilities, performance metrics, and financial arrangements. Ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements during the negotiation and execution of agreements.
6. Manage and nurture ongoing relationships. Act as the primary point of contact for strategic partners. Foster strong, collaborative relationships with partners to ensure the ACDC Project’s success. Monitor and evaluate the performance of partnerships, addressing any issues or challenges that arise.
7. Collaborate with ACDC Project team members and delivery partners. Work closely with the Operations & Communications Manager on Project awareness, information resource development, and other Project tasks to align partnership activities with the ACDC Project objectives. Facilitate communication and collaboration between all stakeholders. Provide guidance and support to delivery partners to ensure the effective execution of partnership related initiatives and community engagement.
8. Communication. Implement comprehensive communication strategies to increase awareness, visibility, and understanding of the ACDC Project and other CMHA initiatives among target audiences. This includes presentations at Interagency meetings, radio interviews etc.
9. Monitoring and evaluation. Support the evaluation, analysis, and feedback of key components of the ACDC Project as part of the continual improvement process.
10. Research and evaluation. Support the research and evaluation partners of the Project to ensure that deliverables are met in a timely manner and at sufficient quality. Contribute to the project research and evaluation reports and research papers.
11. Reporting. Contribute to the mandatory reporting requirements and funding agreement milestones, e.g., Project Progress Reports, Activity Workplan.
12. Training. Development or editing of training materials, e.g., participant workbook, facilitator guide, digital learning modules and administering the e-learning platform.
13. General. Bring forward thinking and creativity to all activities. Ensure all activities recognise and reflect lived experience, recovery-oriented practice, and trauma-informed care. Abide by the Code of Conduct and comply with all Commonwealth and State legislation. Collaborate with the ACDC team members to assist in all areas of the project implementation and evaluation.

Essential criteria

• Knowledge and connectedness in the sector. Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of contemporary issues in mental health services and the mental health community sector in Australia. Knowledge and understanding may be through either: experience working in a professional role within the mental health or community mental health sector, qualifications attained in a relevant field, a personal lived experience of mental distress and recovery, or a combination of the above.
• Valuing diverse communities and contributions. Demonstrated understanding and valuing of the contemporary roles of people with lived experience of mental distress, their families and carers, the value and roles of government, the contribution of research and education, and the full range of diverse services and service providers in the community.
• Building relationships. Demonstrated experience and skills in liaison and building meaningful partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders; demonstrated ability to engage, empower and coordinate ongoing relationships using outstanding negotiation and relationship management skills. Analytical mindset with the ability to access partnership opportunities and their potential impact.
• Communication. Demonstrated interpersonal and communication skills including across diverse communities, demonstrated ability to produce effective and accurate written documentation, including ability to present and implement effective remote conferencing.
• Delivering change. Demonstrated ability to implement innovative solutions, manage change and risks within the context of stakeholder accountability with a hands-on approach.
• Facilitation of groups. Demonstrated experience facilitating, empowering and supporting groups to achieve outcomes.
• Time management. Ability to work effectively on tight deadlines, independently, and as part of a team.
• Advocacy. A passion for mental health advocacy and a commitment to promoting positive mental well-being.

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge and understanding of contemporary issues in mental health services. Knowledge and understanding may be through either; experience working in a professional role within the mental health or community mental health sector, qualifications attained in a relevant field, a personal lived experience of mental distress and recovery, or a combination of the above.
• Training. Experience in the health or workforce education sectors.
• Development of materials. Demonstrated ability to liaise, consult and co-design materials relevant to health/ mental health.

Interstate travel could be required, however with this Project, CMHA is striving towards low carbon emissions through the proactive use of technology and limiting air travel and long-distance car travel.

This is a full-time fixed term position with flexible hours as required. Remuneration is $120,000 - $132,000 + 11.5% superannuation per year and salary sacrifice benefits.