Associate Director, Operational Partnering

NSW Department of Customer Service; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 154,000 - 178,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working across locations

Job summary

NSW Department of Customer Service is seeking an experienced Associate Director, Operational Partnering in Sydney with a strong generalist partnering mindset. You will lead a team of People & Culture Business Partners to deliver strategic and operational advice across the employee lifecycle, translating priorities into workforce strategies and improving workforce effectiveness and the employee experience.

Case management is central to the role; you will guide high‑risk matters to fair, timely

Qualifications

• Extensive People & Culture business partnering experience in a complex organisation.
• Proven success leading high-performing teams and improving service quality and customer outcomes.
• Ability to translate senior leaders' business priorities into practical workforce solutions.
• Deep, current case management capability for high‑risk matters with sound judgement.
• Strong track record building leadership capability through trusted advice and coaching.

Responsibilities

• Partner with senior leaders to translate priorities into practical workforce strategies and initiatives.
• Provide strategic and practical People & Culture advice across the employee lifecycle to support performance and service delivery.
• Coach leaders to manage people matters with accountability and timeliness.
• Lead a portfolio of complex and sensitive employee matters with high visibility and ensure fair outcomes.
• Identify patterns in the case portfolio and translate insights into preventative actions and targeted support.
• Use workforce data and insights to identify trends, opportunities and risks.
• Contribute to change initiatives in organisational change, workforce planning, capability, talent, engagement and performance.
• Improve partnering services, governance and ways of working to strengthen consistency and customer experience.
• Lead and develop a high-performing People & Culture team.

Skills

People & Culture partnering

Leadership

Case management

Strategic advisory

Data analytics

Job description

Associate Director, Operational Partnering

Clerk Grade: 11/12

Salary Range: $154,231 - $178,369 per annum plus super

Employment Type: Ongoing, Full-Time, 35 hrs per week

Location: Sydney CBD, Parramatta or Gosford location. Flexible working conditions available across locations with a minimum of two days in the office.

Shape workforce priorities. Strengthen leadership capability. Deliver better people outcomes.

Great team culture!

We're looking for an experienced People & Culture leader with a strong generalist partnering mindset and a genuine passion for case management.

As Associate Director, Operational Partnering, you'll lead a team of People & Culture Business Partners to deliver customer-focused, strategic and operational advice across the employee lifecycle. You'll partner with senior leaders to translate organisational priorities into practical workforce strategies and initiatives, strengthen leadership capability, and improve workforce effectiveness and employee experience.

Case management is a central part of this role. You'll be energised by the pace, complexity and judgement it demands - remaining close to the detail, setting direction on high‑risk matters, coaching your team through difficult decisions and ensuring cases progress to fair, consistent and timely outcomes. At the same time, you'll connect individual matters and emerging themes to broader workforce priorities, leadership capability, and employee experience.

About People & Culture

Across DCS, our People & Culture portfolios support thousands of employees working across multiple agencies who deliver on our vision to be the world's most customer‑centric government.

We partner with leaders to build capability, strengthen workplace culture, and deliver contemporary people solutions.

A typical day might include:

• Partnering with senior leaders to understand business needs and translate priorities into practical workforce strategies, plans and initiatives.
• Providing strategic and practical People & Culture advice across the employee lifecycle to support performance, capability and service delivery.
• Coaching and equipping leaders to confidently and promptly manage people matters and strengthen accountability.
• Leading a significant portfolio of complex and sensitive employee matters, maintaining strong visibility of case strategy, risk, pace and quality while providing hands‑on guidance, escalation support and coaching to achieve fair, consistent and timely outcomes.
• Identifying patterns and systemic issues across the case portfolio and translating these insights into preventative actions, stronger people practices and targeted capability support for leaders.
• Using workforce data, employee insights and business intelligence to identify trends, opportunities and emerging risks.
• Leading and contributing to initiatives across organisational change, workforce planning, capability, talent, engagement and performance.
• Improving partnering services, governance and ways of working to strengthen consistency, accessibility and customer experience.
• Leading and developing a high‑performing People & Culture team that demonstrates accountability, collaboration, professional judgement and service excellence.

Let's talk about you!

To be successful in this role, you'll bring:

• Extensive People & Culture business partnering experience in a complex organisation.
• Proven success leading high-performing teams and improving service quality and customer outcomes.
• Ability to translate senior leaders' business priorities into practical workforce solutions.
• Deep, current case management capability is essential, including leading complex, sensitive and high-risk matters through to resolution with sound judgement.
• A proactive, practical approach to case leadership that maintains momentum and builds others' judgement.
• A strong record of building leadership capability through trusted advice and coaching.
• Experience leading workforce initiatives across change, planning, capability, talent, engagement or performance.
• Strong analytical skills to turn workforce data and employee insights into action.

For any queries about the position, please contact Angela Mead, Director - People & Culture at [e-mail]

Salary Grade 11/12, with the base salary for this role starting at $154,231 base plus superannuation

Closing Date: Tuesday, October 27th, 2026 at 11:59 pm

Careers at Department of Customer Service

A career at the Department of Customer Service (DCS) gives you the opportunity to help improve government services and be part of reform that benefits people across NSW. We are focused on delivering excellent customer service, digital transformation, and regulatory reform. Come join us and influence the future of our great state.

Belong in our diverse and inclusive workplace

The strength of our workforce lies in its diversity and embracing difference, while the key to our success is leveraging the contributions of employees with different backgrounds and perspectives.

You can view our full diversity and inclusion statement here.

We provide adjustments to the recruitment process for candidates, including individuals with disability. If you require an adjustment during the recruitment process, including alternate formats or have questions about the support available, please contact Talent Operations on 02 8276 8130 or [e-mail].