Innovation Lead | McAuley Community Services for Women

Ready to shape the future of services that empower women and children? As our Innovation Lead, you'll turn ideas into impact, driving innovation, service improvement, and human-centred design across McAuley.

ABOUT US:

At McAuley Community Services for Women, we support women and children impacted by family violence and homelessness to rebuild their lives with safety, dignity and hope.

We are currently seeking an Innovation Lead to join the team at McAuley, for a full-time ongoing position.

Working closely with teams across the organisation, you'll use data, insights, and lived experience to develop smarter solutions, strengthen systems, and scale what works.

If you're passionate about creating meaningful change and thrive on bringing people, ideas, and innovation together, we'd love to hear from you.

ROLE REQUIREMENTS:

Reporting to the Head of Innovation & Business Development, you will:

• Lead & Inspire - Coach and support team members while fostering a culture of continuous improvement, collaboration, and trauma-informed practice.
• Drive Innovation - Identify opportunities to improve services and outcomes through human-centred design, co-design, and innovative problem-solving
• Deliver Strategic Projects - Lead multiple projects from concept to implementation, ensuring priorities align with organisational goals and deliver meaningful impact.
• Champion Quality & Impact - Embed continuous improvement practices, using client, staff and lived experience insights, data, and evaluation to inform decisions.
• Enhance Systems & Knowledge - Strengthen digital tools, knowledge-sharing, and innovation practices that help teams work smarter and achieve better outcomes.
• Build Partnerships - Develop strong relationships with colleagues, clients, and external stakeholders, representing McAuley and contributing to sector-wide collaboration.

 KEY SELECTION CRITERIA:

Please note, we are only considering female identifying candidates for this position. McAuley Community Services for Women has an exemption to gender equality requirements. 

To be successful in this role, you will have:

• Relevant tertiary qualification and proven experience in innovation, continuous improvement, service design, or project leadership. Experience in the family violence or community services sector will be highly regarded
• Experience using data, evaluation, and stakeholder insights to identify opportunities, measure impact, and inform strategic decisions.
• Experience leading service improvement, innovation, and human-centred design initiatives that deliver meaningful outcomes for clients and communities.
• Strong leadership, coaching, and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and drive change across complex environments
• Understanding of family violence, risk assessment, coercive control and safe information-sharing practices.
• Commitment to the values, mission and client-centred approach of McAuley

We value the unique knowledge, perspectives, and cultural contributions of First Nations peoples. Your experience and insights are important to us, and we strongly encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates to apply. 

You must have a:

• Valid and current Driver’s Licence;
• Satisfactory Criminal History Check (paid for by MacKillop);
• Valid Employee Working with Children Check;
• Right to work in Australia;

Please address the full Key Selection Criteria outlined in the PD as part of your application.

For a full position listing, please click APPLY. The Position Description is available for review at the bottom of the page.

For more information, please contact: helenw@mcauley.org.au

WHAT WE OFFER:

• Competitive pay - SCHADS Level 6, based on experience & qualifications
• More money in your pocket – up to $18,550 per year, which allows you to reduce the amount of tax you pay.
• Wellbeing that matters - Free, confidential support for mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.
• Sanctuary Organisation - MacKillop’s work is underpinned by the Sanctuary Model, an evidence-supported, whole of organisation framework that brings our values to life. The model reinforces our ability to create a safe environment that teaches people to cope effectively with stress and trauma, and to heal.
• First Nations career pathways – Warrungarli Strategy supporting recruitment, retention and professional development
• Community & connection – Opportunity to join Ngindaay Guumaldanha, our Aboriginal Staff Network

OUR COMMITMENT:

McAuley is part of MacKillop Family Services and celebrates and draws strength from diversity and respects the dignity of all people. Every person has the right to be safe and to be treated justly. We value every person’s ability, cultural or linguistic backgrounds, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, intersex status, relationship status, religious or spiritual beliefs, socio-economic status, and age.

It is our goal that we continue to evolve as a culturally safe, culturally competent, and welcoming organisation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people, families, and communities.

Shortlisting for this position may commence immediately so please submit your application as soon as possible