General Manager – Community & Sector Capacity Building

Rebuilding Shattered Lives – supporting refugees to recover from torture and other traumatic events.

Your impact

The General Manager Community and Sector Capacity Building (GM CSCB) is responsible for leading the Community and Sector Capacity Building Program of Foundation House and is a member of the Senior Executive and plays a crucial role in the leadership, management, and strategic direction of the agency.

CSCB is an innovative program designed to facilitate and support the development, growth, and empowerment of communities from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds to; recover from pre-arrival trauma, resettle positively, and strengthen these communities across Victoria, helping them to thrive. Complementing and strengthening this work, CSCB also leads a program that builds on the capacity of the refugee and humanitarian service sector, whilst enabling mainstream health, mental health and wellbeing and education sectors to better understand the refugee and asylum seeker experience.

The CSCB does this by:

• Supporting the health, mental health, wellbeing, and trauma recovery of communities of refugee backgrounds.
• Engaging and partnering with communities to identify and analyse both current and emerging community needs, ensuring a strengths-based response to trauma and the resettlement experience.
• Developing community based and strategic programs that work across multiple communities to support their sustained development and empowerment.
• Partnering with communities to identify their health, mental health, wellbeing, and trauma recovery needs.
• Partnering with education and the youth services sector statewide to respond to professional learning needs of their staff, understanding the response to trauma and the resettlement experience among refugee and asylum seeker communities, children, and young people.
• Actively engaging with and supporting the advocacy and programs of the Victorian Refugee Health Network.
• Advocating for sustainable government and non-government programs that better balance long-term needs of communities across the continuum of prevention, early intervention, and intervention.

The role

Reporting to the CEO, the GM CSCB plays a key role in ensuring that our community capacity building and sector development work is of the highest quality and in accordance with the Foundation House Integrated Trauma Recovery Service Model, Rebuilding Shattered Lives, Community Capacity Building Framework, and international best practice.

Some of the key responsibilities for the role include:

• Overall leadership and management of the CSCB Program across Foundation House including regional CSCB delivery, Victorian Refugee Health Network, Ucan2 and Education and Early Years Programs.
• Lead and drive the development and implementation of proactive, strategic, and integrated community and sector capacity building initiatives based on community and sector needs analysis.
• Ensure the delivery of CSCB initiatives is in line with the Foundation House Integrated Trauma Recovery Service Model, Rebuilding Shattered Lives.
• Lead and drive the development of key advocacy to support trauma recovery within refugee and asylum seeker communities.
• Develop and maintain key and proactive communications and partnerships with Foundation House Mental Health and Wellbeing program leaders, both centrally and across the regions to ensure effective collaboration and information sharing.
• Lead the development, documentation and monitoring of policies and procedures relevant to CSCB activities.
• Oversee the development and implementation of a systematic approach to the monitoring and evaluation of CSCB initiatives, informed by the principles of Community Capacity Building, Recovery Goals, and the Trauma-Informed Community Capacity Building program logic.
• Lead and drive the use of data and information management to inform the effectiveness of CSCB initiatives and future planning.

This role is a full-time, ongoing position based in our Brunswick Head Office. Some travel to our other Melbourne offices will be a role requirement.

What you’ll need to successfully apply

To be successful, you will need to positively respond to the below selection criteria:

• Post graduate qualification in Public Policy, Social Work, Public Health, or related discipline.
• Demonstrated senior expertise in working with culturally diverse communities and or communities experiencing displacement and complex trauma and recovery models.
• Demonstrated leadership expertise in managing projects of increasing complexity that respond to the needs of community groups both independently and collaboratively with stakeholders.
• Leadership expertise in shaping social and government policy and programs through community engagement and development across various sectors including education and/or health.
• Expertise in cross-cultural communication and practice and development of cultural competency as community development practitioners in different cultural settings.
• Successful experience in change management, particularly to drive innovation and create a culture of continuous improvement.
• Proven experience in managing government relationships including related to funding and service and agreements.

In return

You’ll be rewarded with:

• An attractive remuneration package of circa $175k plus superannuation.
• Salary packaging benefits of up to $18,550 per year
• A fleet car will be included in your package
• A role with true purpose to make a difference in people’s lives.
• A welcoming, highly diverse and supportive team environment.
• Excellent training and professional development.
• Generous leave provisions with option to purchase additional leave.
• Access to our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for staff and family members.

Foundation House is an inclusive employer

Foundation House is an equal opportunity employer; we foster a work environment that is inclusive and diverse. We are values driven and are committed to improving the life outcomes of refugees and asylum seekers.

Foundation House is a state-wide agency offering services throughout Victoria. We currently have approximately 250 staff across our five offices in Brunswick, Dallas, Dandenong, Ringwood and Sunshine, and we also provide services in partnership with other agencies in regional and rural Victoria.

Foundation House is a Child Safe organisation committed to promoting and protecting the interests and safety of children. We actively play a part in combating family violence, as reflected in our organisational policies, protocols and staff development.

Read more about our history on our website here.

How to apply

Please upload your CV and a cover letter (maximum one to two pages) outlining why you are suitable for this role and how you meet the selection criteria as described above.

Refer to the position description for detailed information about the role. For more information about our hiring process, please refer to our careers with us page here.

Please note applications will be reviewed as they are received and applications may close early.

For enquiries please contact Justin Curreen-Harris from our HR Team via [email protected], using the subject line: General Manager – Community & Sector Capacity Building enquiry via EthicalJobs, or by phone on 03 9389 8985.

A position description is attached.

If you think you have what it takes but don’t necessarily meet all selection criteria, please still get in touch as we would love to talk with you and see if you could be a suitable fit.

Hiring is subject to satisfactory Police Check, current Working with Children Check, and proof of the right to work and live in Australia.