Deputy Team Leader, Program Enablement - PLMSP

Palladium: Make It Possible; City of Brisbane; On-site; AUD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Palladium is seeking a Deputy Team Leader, Program Enablement, to provide senior leadership across the Pacific Labour Mobility Support Program (PLMSP). You will optimise program enablers, guide transition and change management, and ensure enabling functions support agile, responsive delivery.

Based in Brisbane or Canberra, you will work with DFAT and senior stakeholders, shaping program direction, driving performance, and fostering continuous improvement in a complex, high‑stakes environment.

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years' experience in senior leadership roles.
• Experience leading organisational change and governance reform.
• Proven ability to engage senior stakeholders, including government.
• Ability to operate in complex, politically sensitive environments.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic oversight to program enabling functions with delegated accountability.
• Oversee contract management, procurement and workforce planning.
• Lead organisational change program with clear priorities and measures of success.
• Guide transition planning for key roles across the program.
• Supervise Stream Leads for operations, people, technology, and communications.

Skills

Senior leadership

Change management

Stakeholder engagement

Strategic thinking

Cross-cultural engagement

Education

Relevant tertiary qualification

Job description

• Full-time through to September 2028, with the possibility of extension subject to project requirements and funding.
• Location: Brisbane (or Canberra)
• This opportunity is open to suitably qualified applicants with valid work rights in Australia

Looking for a role where you can influence strategy, lead organisational change, and drive impact at scale? As Deputy Team Leader, Program Enablement, you will provide senior leadership across a complex program, optimising operations, strengthening performance, and fostering continuous improvement. This is an exciting opportunity to work closely with senior stakeholders, shape program direction, and ensure delivery remains agile, effective, and fit for purpose.

Pacific Labour Mobility Support Program (PLMSP)

The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme is a signature initiative for the Australian Government that enables workers from 9 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and Timor-Leste to work in priority sectors in Australia. The Pacific Labour Mobility Support Program’s (PLMSP) role is to provide the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and governments in 9 PICs and Timor-Leste with support to enable workers to access the PALM scheme in inclusive ways that maximise the benefits for workers and national economies while minimising risks from labour mobility participation. Palladium is contracted to deliver PLMSP on behalf of DFAT.

About the Role

The Deputy Team Leader (DTL), Program Enablement will provide senior strategic and operational leadership across PLMSP, with a focus on optimising program enablers, guiding transition and change management, and ensuring enabling functions support flexible, responsive and risk‑aware delivery.

As a member of the PLMSP Senior Leadership Team, the DTL, Program Enablement will contribute to program direction, organisational change management and decision‑making; strengthen program effectiveness and continuous improvement to ensure PLMSP remains agile, efficient and fit for purpose as priorities and operating environments evolve, and support effective engagement with DFAT and other senior stakeholders.

Primary Responsibilities

• Provide strategic oversight and direction to program enabling functions, while Stream Leads retain direct accountability for the day-to‑day management and delivery of their respective functions, consistent with agreed delegations and governance arrangements.
• Provide strategic oversight of program enabling functions, including contract management, procurement and workforce planning, to ensure the program has the systems, resources and support required to deliver activities effectively, respond with agility to emerging client priorities, and continuously improve delivery capability.
• Lead the development and implementation of an agreed program of organisational change, initially informed by the strategic review, with clear priorities, sequencing, accountabilities and measures of success.
• Guide transition planning for key roles and functions across the program, including informing the purpose, scope and accountabilities of new or revised roles, and ensuring continuity of leadership, decision‑making and delivery during transition periods.
• Provide strategic supervision to Stream Leads responsible for program enabling and cross‑cutting functions, currently including operations and people, technology and communications, while maintaining flexibility to adjust supervisory arrangements as program needs evolve.

Please refer to the Terms of Reference to learn more about the role: ToR Deputy Team Leader Program Enablement.pdf

About You

• Tertiary qualifications in a relevant discipline such as business administration, organisational leadership, change management, public policy, international development, program management or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years' experience in senior leadership roles within complex programs, organisations or business functions.
• Demonstrated experience leading organisational change, business improvement, governance reform, strategic risk management or organisational transformation initiatives.
• Experience operating in complex, politically sensitive or rapidly evolving environments, with the ability to adapt to changing priorities and stakeholder expectations while maintaining delivery outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through ambiguity, exercise sound judgement and make effective decisions in uncertain environments.
• Strong experience engaging and influencing senior stakeholders, including government, client or executive‑level audiences. Experience working with DFAT or comparable government stakeholders is highly desirable.
• Proven people leadership capability, including mentoring senior staff, leading through change and fostering collaborative, high‑performing and values‑driven cultures.
• Strong interpersonal, communication and cross‑cultural engagement skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships across diverse teams and stakeholder groups.
• Flexibility to undertake domestic and international travel as required.

We are committed to building a diverse, geographically dispersed workforce to maximise our support. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, including First Nations peoples, people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and people with disabilities - disclosure will not affect your application, and we will work with you to provide appropriate adjustments.

To be considered for this position, you must have valid work rights in Australia. Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

While this role does not involve direct work with children, the successful candidate will still be required to complete a police check and relevant due diligence checks as part of Palladium’s commitment to being a child‑safe organisation

About Palladium

Palladium is a global development and consulting firm, part of the GISI Consulting Group, working alongside some of the world’s leading project management and engineering organisations. We partner with governments, businesses, investors and communities to design and deliver complex programs that create lasting impact. With a presence across more than 90 countries, Palladium offers the opportunity to work on meaningful challenges, alongside talented colleagues, in environments where your work can truly make a difference.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio‑economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as all the actions taken by Palladium to protect our people, communities where we work and our clients from harm, including Sexual Exploitation, Abuse or Sexual Harassment; Child Abuse in any form; Trafficking for sexual exploitation of adults or children and any form of Trafficking of children. We have zero tolerance for all forms of child abuse as well as sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment and zero‑tolerance for inaction to prevent, protect against, respond to and report harm. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding‑focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process. Our Code of Conduct and Child Safeguarding and Protection against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment Guidelines have additional details.