• Become part of our family and make a difference to young Australians through supporting their education
• Two available positions (full-time contract until 30 June 2024 and permanent part-time 18.75h per week)
• Role based in Brisbane, QLD

The Smith Family is an independent children's charity helping Australian children living in disadvantage to get the most out of their education, so they can create better futures for themselves. As we lead up to our Centenary, it’s an exciting time to be joining our family. We are currently seeking a Program Specialist, Student2Student to help us achieve The Smith Family’s vision.

The Program Specialist’s role is to support and coordinate the successful delivery of student2student (s2s) within Queensland. You can find out more about our Student2Student program here. This role provides leadership and guidance to the Learning for Life team around successful delivery and operates as a subject matter expert within the state.

This is a key role where your know-how will add lasting value for education programs for Australian children. A day in the life of a Program Specialist, Student2Student might look like this, but every day can be different.

Primarily, you will be responsible for:

• Working with the Program Manager to deliver the Student2Student program successfully
• Providing direction to team members and volunteers and responding to challenges as they occur
• Developing and maintaining strong working relationships with program representatives from partner schools
• Monitoring and reporting on participants' progress to Learning for Life Program Coordinators and partner school representatives or directly to participants’ parents/caregivers
• Training of student volunteer 'Buddies' and troubleshooting program engagement/satisfaction issues as needed
• Supporting the development of required resources, both internal and external, including but not limited to promotional materials, training materials, etc.
• Providing appropriate mentoring and support to new Learning for Life Program Coordinators and new Program Specialists
• Ensuring data entry is correct and timely
• Appropriately managing any child protection concerns within The Smith Family's framework

Our successful candidate will bring the following:

• Demonstrated experience in program delivery
• Exceptional ability to establish, build and maintain internal and external networks and relationships
• Demonstrated experience in organisational administration (including computer literacy and time management)
• Demonstrated experience in presenting and facilitating
• Highly effective communication skills that demonstrate professional and appropriate language in written and verbal form for a variety of audiences
• Ability to identify problems and communicate these to the appropriate people along with possible solutions

Ideally, you will have a Tertiary qualification (preferably in project management or social services) and demonstrated experience in program management and training.

You will be capable of working independently and leading the program in Queensland whilst being part of a national team. You will possess proven time management skills and the ability to plan and project anticipated workloads.

Here’s why we think you’ll love The Smith Family:

Living up to our employment promise, our team members tell us that working for The Smith Family they have great job flexibility and the ability to work alongside committed, passionate and professional team members whilst engaging in challenging, interesting, and purposeful work.

In turn, our team members believe that they offer commitment to our vision, mission and values and effective collaboration with fellow team members to deliver strong performance outcomes and make a difference to the lives of Australian children every day.

next steps

If you are passionate about what you do, committed to make a difference and this sounds like your next role, please click Apply Now, we’d love to hear from you. You may view the position description attached.

or any other information, please contact Caitlin Thomas, Team Leader - Program Specialists at [email protected] using the subject line: Program Specialist - Student2Student enquiry via EthicalJobs.

To apply, please submit a current CV and a cover letter that provides responses to the following three questions:

1. What attracts you to working at The Smith Family and why are you interested in the Program Specialist role?
2. What are the key skills, attributes and experience you would bring to the Program Specialist role?
3. How do you lead and influence stakeholders to achieve desired outcomes?
4. Please provide examples from your current and/or previous roles in your responses.

Due to the nature of this role, the successful candidate must be prepared to undertake a National Police Check and a Working with Children’s Check. We are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to principles of cultural diversity.

Applications from people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent are encouraged.

A position description is attached.