Director Operational Strategy

State Government Of Victoria, Australia; Williamstown; Hybrid; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary packaging options

Free on-site parking

Job summary

Ambulance Victoria invites applications for Director, Operational Strategy to lead strategic initiatives across Victoria’s ambulance and emergency services. Reporting to the Executive Director, Regional Operations, you will translate priorities into practical, measurable outcomes and drive high‑performance change across the organisation.

This role requires strong stakeholder engagement, a track record in operational excellence, and the ability to mentor senior leaders.

Qualifications

• Translate organisational strategy into practical operational initiatives.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills.
• Proven track record of sustainable organisational improvement.
• Significant operations management experience in ambulance, health, or emergency services.
• Experience providing trusted strategic advice to senior leaders.
• Postgraduate degree or relevant certification would be advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Strategically balance competing priorities to ensure high-quality emergency and non-emergency services.
• Provide expert strategic advice and leadership to the Regional Operations Senior Leadership Team.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to foster collaboration.
• Proactively identify and address service access, capacity and operational challenges, especially for rural and remote communities.
• Foster a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace aligned with AV values and continuous improvement.
• Drive cultural, operational and clinical performance improvements to deliver sustainable outcomes.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Continuous improvement

Operational excellence

Policy translation

Education

Postgraduate degree in business/management/public administration

Job description

At Ambulance Victoria (AV) we are proud to share our commitment to saving and improving lives by providing outstanding care for our patients. This is our promise to every patient, and it sits at the heart of everything we do. No matter what corporate or support role you play in delivering our critical services to Victorians, you will join a team dedicated to bringing our vision to be a world leading ambulance service to life.

About the role

We are currently seeking a Director, Operational Strategy to join Ambulance Victoria in this pivotal leadership role. Responsible for leading and continuously enhancing the delivery of high-quality, complex emergency and non-emergency services to communities across Victoria, this position plays a critical role in driving meaningful and sustainable organisational change, ensuring service excellence and strong operational outcomes.

Reporting to the Executive Director, Regional Operations, the successful candidate will provide strategic leadership across cultural, operational and clinical performance, translating organisational priorities into practical, measurable outcomes. They will foster a high-performance culture, drive continuous improvement, and lead initiatives that strengthen organisational capability, service delivery and community impact.

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Strategically balancing competing priorities, risks and service impacts to ensure the consistent delivery of high-quality emergency and non-emergency response services, meeting patient care objectives, performance targets, legislative obligations and community expectations.
• Contributing as a valued member of the Regional Operations Senior Leadership Team to provide expert strategic advice and leadership to anticipate and respond to complex operational, clinical and service delivery challenges.
• Building and maintaining strong, trusted relationships with internal and external stakeholders, engaging and influencing diverse groups to foster collaboration, gaining commitment and successfully leading transformational change initiatives.
• Provision of specialist expertise to proactively identify and address complex service access, capacity and operational challenges, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective and responsive care, particularly for rural and remote communities.
• Fostering a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace culture by demonstrating ethical leadership and behaviours aligned with Ambulance Victoria's values, while promoting accountability, wellbeing and continuous improvement.
• Driving cultural, operational and clinical performance improvements, embedding a high-performance culture and strengthening organisational capability to deliver sustainable outcomes.

About you

The be successful in this role, you will bring a proven track record of strategic leadership, operational excellence and stakeholder engagement, including:

• Demonstrated ability to translate organisational strategy and priorities into practical operational initiatives, delivering measurable outcomes that align with business objectives and community needs.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships, bring people on the journey and achieve commitment to strategic priorities and transformational change.
• Proven experience driving sustainable organisational improvement through strategic leadership, fostering collaboration, innovation and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Significant operations management experience in ambulance, health, allied health, or emergency service organisation and a deep understanding of the development, implementation and evaluation of a wide scale service delivery and operational programs .
• Demonstrated success in providing trusted strategic advice and expert guidance to senior leaders and key stakeholders, influencing decision-making and contributing to the achievement of organisational priorities.
• Completion a postgraduate degree or industry specialised certification in business, management or public administration would be advantageous.

Working at Ambulance Victoria

As a valued member of AV, you will enjoy a professional working environment that recognises the importance of work/life balance. We offer salary packaging options, generous personal leave entitlements, accrued days off for full-time roles, and other benefits including free on-site parking.

We believe our people are our greatest resource, and the sustainability of our workforce depends on how well we utilise our people's skills and abilities and whether our staffing reflects the diversity of the Victorian community. If you are ready to be an integralpartin bringing our values of Care, Accountability, Respect and Excellence to life at AV, we want to hear from you!

By applying for a position, you agree to undertake an assessment of any Secondary Employment or outside interests, in line with AV's Secondary Employment procedure. This is required to ensure there is no perceived or actual conflict of interest for AV should you be successful and commence in the role.

Successful applicants will need to be willing to complete pre-employment screening including references, misconduct and Police Checks.

This position is classified as an AV7 under the Ambulance Victoria (Management and Administrative Staff) Enterprise Agreement 2025

This is a Full-Time Permanent position. While WFH/Hybrid options are available, it is essential that the successful applicant maintains a presence at Doncaster and across the state in line with our hybrid working model.

Applications close Thursday 1 October 2026 at 11.59pm

Director Operational Strategy - Williamstown, SA, AU