Manager Review Performance & Permanency

NSW Department of Communities and Justice; Coffs Harbour City Council; Hybrid; AUD 154,000 - 178,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work environment

Health & Wellbeing programs

Training & development

Competitive pay & conditions

Autonomy in work

Job summary

NSW Department of Communities and Justice is seeking a senior leader to guide centralised child protection programs across NSW. You will manage staff, budgets and stakeholder relationships to deliver high-quality services for children, young people and families.

The role requires strategic oversight, strong leadership and collaboration with internal and external partners. Flexible work arrangements are available, including working from home and agile office locations across CSCs and OOHC

Qualifications

• Leadership and direction of centralised child protection programs.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and managing stakeholder relationships.
• Willingness to travel regionally across NSW for meetings.
• Tertiary qualifications in Social Work or equivalent experience in OOHC.

Responsibilities

• Oversee staff development and mentoring of caseworkers to deliver accountable practice.
• Lead cross-functional teams and ensure engagement and continuous professional development.
• Manage budgets and workplans, ensuring cost-effective operations.
• Collaborate with sector partners to implement policy and service design.
• Foster an outcome-driven culture aligned with DCJ deliverables.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

People management

Stakeholder engagement

Communication

Travel willingness

Education

Tertiary qualifications in Social Work

Job description

A Talent Pool will also be created for future Ongoing and Temporary opportunities that may arise Statewide across NSW.

Location: Parramatta

Employment Type: Temporary Opportunity, Full Time 35 hpw

Grade11/12: $154,231 - $178,369 p.a. + superannuation and annual leave loading

Flexible Working arrangements include days working from home, agile office locations at local CSCs and PSP OOHC providers.

Your role

Provide leadership, direction and delivery of centralised programs in Child Protection and Permanency and System Reform to deliver quality services and achieve positive outcomes for children, young people and families. Manage program budgets, operations, workplan implementation and build a collaborative team environment to manage and lead staff to maintain and build stakeholder relationships with DCJ district staff colleagues as well as internal & external partners.

What You’ll Do

• Provide strategic oversight and professional development to staff who are responsible for influencing, mentoring and coaching caseworkers to deliver accountable and collaborative casework that respects the culture and context of each child, young person, family, and community.
• Lead and manage cross-functional and specialised teams that demonstrate a high level of engagement, commitment to professional development and responsiveness to critique.
• Seek out and actively manage key internal and external stakeholder relationships based on open, regular discussions and feedback to ensure effective interface between program development, planning, service design and policy implementation.
• Effectively manage resources and budgets, work planning, and professional development initiatives to maximise achievement of goals and ensure effective operations and cost-effective use of organisation’s resources.
• Provide operational direction and leadership to establish and maintain an outcome-oriented culture of teamwork, achievement and accountability and continuous learning and professional development to ensure practice and policy knowledge and skills are contemporary, evidence-based and are aligned with the Secretary Focus Areas and DCJ deliverables.
• Collaborate with professional practice leaders and clinical experts across the Sector to continually build responsive and high-quality practice standards and capabilities.
• Deliver innovative, flexible and localised professional practices which are informed by evidenced based programs, responsive to and inclusive of local community knowledge and input and directly contribute to improved services.

What We’re Looking For

• Tertiary qualifications in Social Work or a related discipline and/or equivalent knowledge, skills and experience in child protection and OOHC practice.
• Willingness to travel to Hunter, Central Coast, Mid North Coast and Northern NSW regions for meetings when required.
• Someone highly organised, strategic and has considerable child protection practice experience.
• Possess strong leadership and communication skills.
• Has the capacity to engage collaboratively with key stakeholders.
• Provide leadership to support organisational reform.

Appointments are subject to reference checks and the following pre-employment checks:

• National Criminal History Record Check in accordance with the Disability Inclusion Act 2014.
• Working with Children Check clearance in accordance with the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012.

Download the role description.

We focus on hiring people who share our commitment and goals of inclusion, collaboration, adaptability, courage and integrity. If you meet the essential requirements and the role resonates with you, we do not require every desired requirement for us to want to talk to you.

What We Offer

• A challenging and rewarding career.
• Flexible, autonomous work environment.
• Competitive pay and conditions.
• Training and development opportunities to build and maintain capabilities.
• Health & Wellbeing and Employee Assistance Programs.

Want more information? Visit our website to see more information on Working for us.

We do work that really matters

Working for the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) provides lots of opportunities to make a real difference. We collaborate with other agencies and community partners, to improve lives and realise the potential of children, adults, families and communities. We're focused on breaking, rather than managing, disadvantage. It’s work that really matters.

Are you ready to join us?

Requirements

Applications close Thursday, 24 September 2026 at 11:59pm AEST. (3 weeks)

Got a question?

For more information about the role or what it’s like to work for DCJ, please contact the hiring manager Michaela Sullivan via email to [e-mail] or on 0436 691 339.

If you’ve got a question about applying or would benefit from an adjustment in the recruitment process to help you perform at your best, please contact Ashlee Roberts via email as a preference to [e-mail] or on 02 9765 4083.

Visit Recruitment adjustments on the DCJ website to learn more.

Inclusion and Diversity lies at the heart of how we recruit

We continue to hire great people with a wide variety of skills, experience and backgrounds. This includes people with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, women, people identifying as LGBTIQ+, culturally and linguistically diverse people, carers and other diversity groups.

To find out what DCJ are doing to build an inclusive and diverse workforce, visit our careers site.

Other Information

A talent pool may be created for future ongoing and temporary roles and is valid for a period of up to 18 months.

For more information visit Your recruitment journey on the DCJ website.