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Operations Director - Brisbane / Melbourne

Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network
  • This is an identified role suitable for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants only.
  • Reporting To: Seed National Director
  • Employment Basis: 2 year contract, full time (38 hours/week)
  • Salary: negotiable depending on experience (please contact us for a confidential discussion regarding salary range)
  • Location: Brisbane or Melbourne (negotiable)

We’re looking for an Operations Director to join our team at Seed Mob!

If you’re an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young person who is passionate about protecting country, building up young people and you have experience in and a love for organisational operations, then we want to hear from you!

Who is Seed?

Seed is Australia’s first and only Indigenous Youth Climate Network. We are building a movement led by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to protect our country, culture and communities from the causes and impacts of climate change. Since launching in 2014, Seed has rapidly grown to be a powerful, national grassroots network of over 250 volunteers across the country. Through our movement building and training programs, together with our bold campaigns, namely the ‘Don't Frack the Northern Territory’ campaign, we are working towards our vision for First Nations people to lead solutions to the climate crisis and build strong, resilient and sustainable communities.

The unique moment we're in

We believe that First Nations leadership and self-determination is critical in addressing the climate crisis, because we believe that there is no climate justice without First Nations justice. As we look to the future for Seed, it’s critical to ensure that our organisational structures and strategy align with our vision and principles for self-determination.

That’s why we made the decision to grow from a program of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) to become our own independent organisation. We are currently in the process of setting up the new organisation, which will be the first and only Indigenous youth-led environmental organisation in the country. This decision allows us to build our own organisational structure and governance systems, including our board of directors, to be entirely led by and for First Nations people.

Excitingly, as Operations Director, you will play a critical role in building and leading the organisation through a time of significant change and growth in order to have the biggest impact we can in the fight for climate justice.

Position Summary

The Operations Director is a key senior leadership role in the Seed staff team, providing high-level strategic leadership, support and direction across business development, finance, information technology (IT) and human resources (HR).

The Operations Director role is a broad and challenging one, in which you will work closely with the National Director, senior leadership team and the board on finance and funding, ensuring best practice standards in governance and compliance, and advising and contributing to strategic decisions. This includes developing strong, cohesive relationships across a range of stakeholders, internally and externally.

In this role you will coordinate critical and consistent internal controls and processes, statutory reporting and auditing. This will include managing risk and compliance initiatives including the maintenance of the risk register ensuring insurances, Work Health & Safety (WHS) procedures, privacy and security practices are in place, compliant, up to date, understood and implemented by the whole staff team.

The Operations Director will also play a key role in resource allocation to support organisational objectives, in partnership with the National Director and other members of the Leadership Team, as well as create and drive overall synergies across Seed ensuring cultural alignment and organisation-wide best practice initiatives are developed and adhered to.

Key Responsibilities

  • Management of the Seed Operations team including the Operations Officer and Training & Development Manager
  • Support the National Director on the day-to-day management of the organisation including managing the operations, finance, human resources and risk management functions
  • Work closely with the senior leadership team to implement Seed’s organisational strategy, vision and impact-orientated goals - this includes implementation, monitoring and evaluation of strategic priorities and oversight of annual planning cycles, work plans and internal workflow
  • Lead the financial management of the organisation - this includes working directly with the National Director, fundraising team and accountants to deliver monthly financial statements, financial forecasts and audited accounts as well as driving the annual budgeting process
  • Lead on the development, review and implementation of policies and procedures that reflect Seed’s values, maximise efficiency of day-to-day operations and minimise organisational risks
  • Monitor and maintain a strong workplace culture that is purpose driven and fosters collaboration, support, innovation, accountability and self-determination
  • Ensure best practice human resource management to attract and retain high quality staff - this includes working closely with the senior leadership team in recruitment and retention processes, succession planning and providing professional development, training and performance reviews
  • Support Seed’s board and National Director with the administration of board meetings including preparation of meeting agendas, board papers, meeting logistics, minute-taking and communication with directors
  • Identify and mitigate organisational risks and maintenance of compliance including development and regular reviews of the risk registry and working closely with staff and volunteers to understand and implement controls
  • Other related duties as delegated by the National Director, with regard to your skills and experience

Key Selection Criteria:

Formal education and qualifications matter less to us than excellence, initiative and drive. If even a couple of these criteria speak to you, you could be the candidate we’re looking for and we’d love for you to apply!

Essential:

  • You’re an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young person who is passionate about protecting country and working with young people to lead change in their communities
  • Experience working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities
  • 2+ years proven experience in an Operations leadership position
  • Strong alignment with Seed’s mission, vision and values
  • Demonstrated skills across a portfolio of company operations including finance, human resources, workplace culture, risk, compliance, governance, IT systems, revenue growth and partnerships
  • An excellent track record in strategic planning, reporting and directing an organisation's activities, operations and management of resources to achieve objectives
  • Strong people leadership skills combined with empathy, decision making, sound judgement, adaptability and resilience
  • Demonstrated leadership, interpersonal, influencing, negotiation and people management skills
  • Exceptional ability to build and manage trusting relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders
  • A proven track record of implementing continuous improvement strategies and projects to enhance overall efficiencies, effectiveness and reliability
  • Highly developed written and verbal communication skills
  • Ability to be self-motivated, responsive and flexible with a proven ability to work independently and with a team, with competing deadlines, time pressures and priorities
  • Experience overseeing the design and delivery of digital and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiatives
  • Knowledge of general business software and aptitude to learn new applications
  • Highly developed financial and resource management skills
  • Willing and able to travel (in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions)
  • Ability to obtain a Working With Children Check or state/territory equivalent

Desirable:

  • A tertiary qualification in Business Management, HR, Finance and/or other relevant qualifications
  • Experience implementing impact measurement, monitoring and evaluation frameworks
  • Working knowledge of management software programs, including Xero, Employment Hero, Asana, Slack and Nationbuilder
  • Strong IT skills, including database development
  • Experience in a not-for-profit setting
  • Experience working in a politically sensitive environment or complex organisation.
  • Understanding of the climate/environment sector and issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

How to apply

You can apply by clicking Apply Now and following the prompts.

This is an identified role suitable for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants only.

Applications are currently open and will be assessed on a rolling basis until the position is filled, please submit your application as soon as possible. We anticipate holding interviews throughout September 2021.

For a confidential discussion regarding this position, including the salary range and employment conditions, please don’t hesitate to contact Seed National Director: [email protected] using the subject line: Operations Director - Brisbane / Melbourne enquiry via EthicalJobs // 0413249073. For more information about Seed check out our website seedmob.org.au, find us on Facebook under Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network or find us on Twitter and Instagram under @SeedMob.

A position description is attached.

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