Head of Corporate Services

Title:                                                Head of Corporate Services

Work Location:                                Hybrid – subject to change - flexible

Employment Type:                        Full time. Some work is required outside normal working hours 

ABOUT US

The Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA) supports councils and elected representatives (councillors) to deliver positive outcomes for their local communities through high performance leadership and effective governance. We are member-run and non-partisan.

We offer direct support, training, professional development, events, networks and resources to members and carry out research, policy analysis and advocacy on behalf of local councils.

We are the leading voice for local councils and offer our members the opportunity to realise their true leadership potential and increase their impact.

POSITION OBJECTIVES

The primary purpose in this position is to focus human, financial, and systems resources to create robust internal governance, accounting, and administration processes, and the application of strategy to guide and support the operations of the VLGA. This role provides leadership and direction to a small team, ensuring the delivery of high quality tactical and strategic services across a range of corporate service functions to meet the current and evolving needs of the VLGA and our members.

ORGANISATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Reports to:                                      Chief Executive Officer  

Supervises/Manages:                    Three direct reports

Internal Liaisons:                            VLGA staff and board members

External Liaisons:                           VLGA members and stakeholders, particularly elected representatives (councillors), corporate partners and key stakeholders in local government

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Leadership

  • Lead the team to deliver against agreed objectives and key performance targets.
  • Lead a wide range of business development activities across the full spectrum of relationship management, growth, and identification and assessment of new business.
  • Lead the development and management of workplace policies, processes, procedures, and standards.
  • Lead the implementation and management of sound governance processes and corporate reporting responsibilities.

Operations

  • Finance – monitor, control and report accurate financial information.
  • Ensure compliance with statutory, regulatory, accounting and taxation obligations.
  • ICT – monitor, develop and manage ICT infrastructure, systems and software.
  • HR – oversee effective recruitment, remuneration, professional development, health, safety and the management of employee relations and conditions.
  • Projects and Strategy – support strategy development, project delivery and collaborative ways of working across VLGA.
  • Risk and Compliance – oversee robust management and reporting to address regulatory and statutory requirements.
  • Administration – ensure effective administrative support and ability to action requests for information.
  • Property Management – negotiate, manage, and oversee any tenancy arrangements that the VLGA have or wish to pursue.

Strategy and frameworks

  • Work closely with the Board, CEO and Executive Management Team to develop and enable business strategies and frameworks to support business performance.
  • Deliver against the VLGA Strategic Plan 2023-2027, Annual Plan and business strategies.
  • Lead and support development of implementation plans to enable strategies and business transformation and provide for uptake of frameworks by members and staff.

Relationship management

  • Strengthen partnerships Local Government sector to share and develop mutually benefiting operations, service delivery capability and other member / partner focused collateral.
  • Actively participate in and represent VLGA at a range of Victorian and national committees, industry forums and working groups.
  • Maintain and establish commercial relationships to deliver strategic business development and commercial initiatives.

Continuous improvement and agile delivery

  • Lead monitoring, evaluation, diagnosis, review and innovation practices to continuously improve service and solution offerings.
  • Support the wider VLGA Victoria team by actively leading continuous improvement processes.
  • Lead together with the Executive Management team strong internal relationship building and the fostering of a supportive and engaged team culture.

KEY SELECTION CRITERIA

Essential

Leadership

  • Experience in executive leadership, leading teams to meet service, performance, and financial targets through fostering integrity and high-performance. Working with the CEO and Board and representing the VLGA at public and industry forums.

Collaboration and communication

  • Highly developed interpersonal skills with a demonstrated tendency to work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders. High level written and verbal skills including the capacity to listen, present confidently and accurately, build trust, influence and exercise sound judgement, discretion, and confidentiality.

 People leadership

  • Ability to lead teams and improve outcomes for team members. Be a strong role model, effective coach and support development, continuous improvement, and performance.

Partnership engagement and creation of strong relationships at all levels

  • Experience creating new partnerships and engaging effectively with members. Ability to create good relationships with staff, thought leaders and senior local government sector leaders.

Operations

  • Experience in delivering services, governance, and reporting requirements through effective management of finance, ICT, HR, projects, strategy and risk.
  • Experienced in development of business cases, reviewing, and managing contracts, data analysis and performance metrics.

Knowledge of the local government sector

  • Lived experience of the workings of local governments including a demonstrated passion of, and commitment to, the sector is essential.

Qualifications

  • Business administration and strong financial/corporate services experience

Closing date for applications will be midnight Sunday, 17 September 2023

To apply send your one page cover letter and no more than 3-page resume, to hr@vlga.org.au