Director Community Services

Leading Roles; Sydney; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Canterbury Bankstown is seeking an accomplished executive to lead the Community Services portfolio, shaping services for a diverse and growing city of 389,000 residents. The Director Community Services reports to the Chief Executive Officer and oversees libraries, cultural services, leisure and facilities, and customer experience.

You will lead four managers and ~664 staff, drive service integration, workplace culture improvements and strong stakeholder engagement with residents,

Qualifications

• Substantial executive leadership experience in a complex, community-facing environment.
• Record of strengthening workplace culture and developing managers.
• Experience overseeing major service or facility transitions.
• Sound commercial and financial judgement balanced by equity and public value.
• Credibility with elected representatives and complex stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead community and cultural services, libraries and children's services, leisure, facilities and customer experience.
• Shape service integration and organisational capability across a large local government portfolio.
• Provide professional advice and navigate complex policy, legislation and political priorities.
• Foster trusted relationships with residents, community organisations and elected representatives.

Skills

Executive leadership

Workplace culture

Stakeholder management

Financial judgement

Job description

Director Community Services

City of Canterbury Bankstown

• Shape essential services across one of Sydney's largest and most diverse cities
• Lead four managers and approximately 664 employees
• Join the Executive Leadership Team with a mandate for service and cultural improvement

The opportunity

The City of Canterbury Bankstown serves approximately 389,000 residents across a culturally, socially and economically diverse community. Council is seeking an accomplished executive to lead the services that most directly shape residents' everyday experience of their city.

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Director Community Services leads:

• community and cultural services;
• libraries and children's services;
• leisure, aquatics and recreation;
• community facilities; and
• customer experience.

The portfolio combines significant organisational scale with highly visible services, major facilities, regulated activities and complex relationships with residents, community organisations and elected representatives.

The early mandate

The appointment comes at an important point of transition. A reshaped portfolio allows greater focus on community outcomes, service integration and leadership capability.

Immediate priorities include commissioning the new Canterbury Leisure and Aquatic Centre, progressing major community infrastructure, strengthening service sustainability and performance, and supporting areas requiring closer attention to workplace culture, accountability and management capability.

The leadership challenge

Success requires confidence in complexity and a mature understanding of how cultural, religious and community expectations intersect with legislation, policy and political priorities.

The Director must listen carefully, provide clear professional advice and find practical, lawful ways forward when competing expectations cannot all be met. Political judgement, cultural awareness and the ability to maintain trusted relationships will be central to the role.

The experience required

Council is seeking candidates with:

• substantial executive leadership experience in a complex, community-facing environment;
• a record of strengthening workplace culture and developing managers;
• experience overseeing major service or facility transitions;
• sound commercial and financial judgement, balanced by an understanding of equity, access and public value; and
• credibility with elected representatives and other complex stakeholders.

Direct expertise across every service is not required. More important is the ability to lead capable specialists, ask the right questions and connect operational, financial, workforce and community perspectives.

Why consider the role

The successful candidate will join an established Executive Leadership Team where collaboration, self-awareness and an independent executive voice are valued.

For an executive motivated by visible public impact, this is an opportunity to shape essential services and organisational capability across one of Australia’s major local government organisations.

Applications close: 5:00pm AEST Monday 19 October 2026.