Early Career Talent Consultant

Optus; Australia; Hybrid; AUD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working arrangements

Employee discounts

Parental leave

Diversity & inclusion networks

Job summary

Optus is seeking an Early Careers Talent Consultant in NSW to lead and continuously improve graduate, internship and cadet programs. You’ll manage onboarding, rotations and engagement while partnering with leaders and People & Culture to strengthen Optus’ talent pipeline.

You’ll drive candidate experiences from onboarding to completion, design development activities, and optimise program outcomes using workforce data. A hybrid role offers flexible office and remote work options.

Qualifications

• Experience delivering early career programs in a large, complex organisation.
• Experience partnering with Talent Acquisition on attraction, employer branding and recruitment.
• Experience designing or facilitating development programs, workshops and engagement initiatives.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing across business units and community organisations.
• Ability to use workforce data to inform decisions, evaluate program effectiveness and planning.
• Experience managing budgets, contracts and vendors with good organisation and communication.

Responsibilities

• Lead early career programs across multiple cohorts from onboarding through to completion.
• Manage inductions, orientation events, welcome communications, rotations and buddy programs.
• Plan and deliver networking sessions, development workshops and cohort engagement activities.
• Act as a trusted point of contact for participants, leaders and stakeholders, providing support and escalation when required.
• Collaborate with sponsors, leaders and People & Culture colleagues to ensure strong execution of all program elements.
• Maintain participant records, cohort tracking, schedules, governance documentation and dashboards.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition to build relationships with universities, TA providers and industry bodies.
• Manage program budgets, purchase orders, invoices, vendors and compliance requirements.
• Contribute to developing alternative entry pathways to build a diverse workforce for Optus.

Skills

Early career programs

Stakeholder management

Budget management

Data-driven decisions

Program leadership

Job description

Optus is an Australian telecommunications company, delivering more than 11 million services to our customers every day across mobile, broadband and digital solutions.

We’re looking for an Early Careers Talent Consultant to join our team and play a key role in delivering and continuously improving Optus early career programs, including graduate, internship, cadet and alternative entry pathway initiatives.

This is an exciting opportunity for an early careers professional who is passionate about creating meaningful experiences for emerging talent. You’ll manage the participant journey from onboarding and development through to rotations, engagement, performance support and program completion, while partnering with leaders and People & Culture teams to strengthen Optus future talent pipeline. You’ll also contribute to the evolution of how Optus attracts and develops early career talent, helping create inclusive pathways for school leavers, emerging talent, and people from diverse backgrounds. This role combines stakeholder engagement, program leadership, and talent development, making it ideal for someone who is passionate about emerging talent and motivated by helping people realise their potential.

What You’ll Do

• Lead early career programs across multiple concurrent cohorts, from onboarding through to completion.
• Manage inductions, orientation events, welcome communications, participant rotations and buddy programs.
• Plan and deliver networking sessions, development workshops, speaker events and other cohort engagement activities.
• Act as a trusted point of contact for participants, people leaders and stakeholders, providing support and escalating issues when required.
• Collaborate with program stakeholders including sponsors, leaders and People & Culture colleagues to ensure strong execution of all program elements
• Maintain participant records, cohort tracking, schedules, governance documentation and dashboards, while monitoring outcomes and recommending improvements.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition to build relationships with universities, TAFEs, industry bodies, community organisations and learning providers.
• Manage program budgets, purchase orders, invoices, vendors and compliance requirements.
• Contribute to the development of alternative entry pathways to build a diverse and future-ready workforce for Optus

What Makes You Perfect for the Role?

• Demonstrated experience delivering early career or talent programs within a large and complex organisation.
• Experience partnering with Talent Acquisition on attraction, employer branding, assessment, recruitment and candidate engagement activities.
• Experience designing or facilitating development programs, workshops and participant engagement initiatives.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with experience building partnerships across business units, industry bodies, community organisations or workforce providers.
• Ability to use workforce, talent or recruitment data to inform decisions, evaluate program effectiveness and support workforce planning, capability development or succession initiatives.
• Experience managing budgets, contracts and vendors, combined with strong organisation, communication and problem-solving skills and a commitment to inclusive pathways, innovation and continuous improvement.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive remuneration and employee discounts. Make life easier (and more affordable) with $80 monthly credit and 25% off Optus products and unique shopping discounts with our retail partners.
• Flexible working arrangements with opportunities to work three days in the office, two days remote or home.
• Competitive leave policies, including additional 'Connected’ days to focus on culture, family, health, community, or whatever’s important to you.
• We support growing families with inclusive, carer-neutral paid Parental Leave of up to 16 weeks.
• Build meaningful connections through employee-led networks and diversity initiatives including Culture Connect, Elevate Women, Disability Network and Express Yourself (LGBTQIA+).
• Put your wellbeing first with free access to counselling and support services, 24/7 in-person, by phone, SMS, or video.
• Free Optus bus from Macquarie University Metro Station (every 6-8 minutes); morning and afternoon.

At Optus, we are strengthened by others and that means valuing diversity and saying ‘yes’ to embracing individual differences. We are committed to ensuring that our application process provides an equal employment opportunity to all job seekers, including individuals from diverse gender, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, individuals with a disability, individuals identifying as being part of the LGBTQIA+ community, individuals who may have served in the armed forces or who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. We also want to do our best to make our recruitment process inclusive. If you require any adjustments or accessibility support to participate fairly and equitably in the recruitment process, please email [e-mail] or call 1800 309 170. We're here to help. When you contact us, please advise your preferred method of contact and we will be in touch within 48 hours.

For more information on Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging at Optus, please visit https://www.optus.com.au/about/inclusion-diversity