National Pathways Lead, Wheelchair Basketball

Basketball Australia; Melbourne; Remote; AUD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Basketball Australia seeks a National Pathways Lead, Wheelchair Basketball to steer the national athlete pathway, ensuring alignment and long-term sustainability across Australia. This two-year fixed-term role is based at the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna South, Victoria, with national travel; location flexible within Australia.

You will lead pathway strategy, coordinate across states, drive talent ID, establish progression frameworks, and partner with Paralympics Australia to deliver a

Qualifications

• Experience leading national or large-scale sport development programs.
• Strong understanding of athlete pathways.
• Commitment to inclusion and diversity in sport.

Responsibilities

• Lead the national Wheelchair Basketball pathways strategy aligned to BA’s High-Performance Strategy.
• Drive system coherence and national alignment across states, partners, programs and competition pathways.
• Expand and strengthen the talent identification funnel across priority cohorts.
• Establish and implement progression frameworks aligned with WITTW and IAPP templates.
• Support development frameworks for Athlete (ADF) and Coach (CDF) development within the high-performance system.
• Build and lead strategic partnerships to enhance pathway access and reach.
• Provide system-level leadership of coaching as a pathway enabler without direct coaching delivery.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Program design

High-performance sport

Job description

National Pathways Lead, Wheelchair Basketball

Basketball Australia (BA) is the national governing body for one of the country’s fastest-growing and most-loved sports. In partnership with our State and Territory member associations, we lead, develop and promote the game from grassroots participation through to our world-class national teams - the Boomers, Opals, Rollers, Gliders and 3x3 programs.

Guided by the Basketball Australia Strategic Plan (2025–2028) and High-Performance Strategy (2024–2032), BA is committed to building world-class, connected, and sustainable pathways that deliver both Better People and Better Performers.

Our Values of Belonging, Safety, Leadership, Excellence & Teamwork underpin how we work, lead, and build environments that support athletes, coaches, and the broader basketball ecosystem. Our mission is simple and powerful: for basketball to be Everybody’s Game.

The Opportunity:

We are seeking a National Pathways Lead, Wheelchair Basketball to provide strategic leadership of the national athlete pathway system, ensuring alignment, cohesion, and long-term sustainability of talent identification and athlete development across Australia.

This is a 2-year fixed-term contract, scheduled to commence from January 2027. Our primary work location is at the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna South, Victoria, however this role can be based anywhere within Australia given regular domestic travel is required.

This is an exciting newly created position, responsible for:

• Leading the national Wheelchair Basketball pathways strategy aligned to BA’s High-Performance Strategy
• Driving system coherence and national alignment across states, partners, programs, and competition pathways
• Expanding and strengthening the talent identification funnel, including priority cohorts
• Establishing and implementing clear, evidence-based athlete progression frameworks aligned with the What It Takes to Win (WITTW) Framework and Individual Athlete Performance Plan (IAPP) template
• Supporting the development and implementation of Athlete (ADF) and Coach (CDF) Development Frameworks across the high-performance system.
• Building and leading strategic partnerships that enhance pathway access and reach
• Providing system-level leadership of coaching as a pathway enabler, ensuring alignment with coach development priorities without direct coaching delivery

The role ensures a clear, seamless, and high-quality athlete pathway for Wheelchair Basketball into national teams through to Brisbane 2032 and beyond. This role has been developed in conjunction with Paralympics Australia.

A full position description is available on our website.

Experience:

You have significant experience in high-performance sport, athlete pathways, or talent identification systems with demonstrated experience leading or designing national or large-scale development programs.

You understand para-sport systems (or able to rapidly develop this) and are comfortable to lead and influence across a distributed national network. You’re committed to inclusion, diversity, and athlete-centred environments with strong strategic thinking and system design capability.

You thrive in dynamic, complex stakeholder environments and don’t mind switching from hands-on to strategic work as you manage multiple priorities at once. You have excellent relationship-building skills, with both internal and external stakeholders, and are known as a natural collaborator with high-level planning, organisational and project management skills.

Our offer to you:

Your work will have national visibility and meaningful impact across high-performance sport. You will join a supportive, values-led team working towards an inspiring long-term vision. Given the nature of the work, this position can be based anywhere within Australia.

Applications close on Sunday 22nd November. Interviews may be conducted prior to the closing date, so encourage you to apply as soon as reasonably practical. Due to the expected volume of applications, only those selected for interview will be contacted.

BA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to fostering a values-led, diverse and inclusive workplace. We celebrate and embrace diversity in our workplace and want our teams to represent and reflect the diversity of all who participate in our basketball community. If you require any adjustment to the recruitment and selection process or need an alternative format to any application material, please contact ***************@australia.basketball.