Service Leader

UnitingCare Queensland; Cairns Regional; On-site; AUD 110,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work arrangements

NFP Salary Packaging

Recognition & rewards platform

12 weeks paid parental leave

Diversity and inclusive leave

Career development opportunities

Positive and inclusive team

Job summary

UnitingCare Queensland’s Family Intervention Service in Cairns seeks a Service Leader to oversee operational, practice and people leadership within a home-based therapeutic program for families partnered with Child Safety and Disability services.

You will lead a multidisciplinary team, ensure quality, safeguard compliance and drive continuous improvement, with flexibility for on-call duties and occasional hours outside standard business hours.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Psychology, Human Services or related field.
• Demonstrated leadership experience within child and family services or related environment.
• Experience supervising and leading practitioners/teams.
• Strong knowledge of child protection legislation, safeguarding and risk management.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations of the Family Intervention Service.
• Provide supervision, coaching and professional leadership to practitioners.
• Drive quality practice that is child-centred and trauma-informed.
• Manage service performance, workforce planning and resources.
• Support staff through complex family situations and risk concerns.
• Build relationships with government, statutory and community stakeholders.
• Monitor quality, safeguarding and risk management requirements.
• Contribute to continuous service delivery improvements.

Skills

Leadership

Supervision & coaching

Stakeholder engagement

Communication

Driver's Licence

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Social Work / Psychology / Human Services

Job description

Service Leader | Family Intervention Service | Cairns

• Employment Term: Permanent Full-time (38 hours per week)
• Remuneration: $59.66 p/h + Super + NFP Salary Packaging (increase your take-home pay)
• Applications Close: Friday 18th September 2026

Make a meaningful difference with UnitingCare Queensland

At UnitingCare we are leaders in crisis response, the protection of vulnerable people and children, financial resilience, and family wellbeing. Our FaDS (Family and Disability Services) team work passionately across Queensland to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

Your part in our UnitingCare team

The Family Intervention Service is a home-based therapeutic service that partners with families involved with the Department of Child Safety, Seniors and Disability Services. Using strengths-based and evidence-informed approaches, we work alongside parents and carers to build their capacity, resilience and confidence to provide safe, stable and nurturing environments for their children.

As the Service Leader, you will provide operational, practice and people leadership to ensure the delivery of high-quality, trauma-responsive and culturally safe services that achieve positive outcomes for children and families. You'll lead a dedicated multidisciplinary team while ensuring contractual, quality and service delivery requirements are met.

Key responsibilities:

• Leading the day-to-day operations of the Family Intervention Service.
• Providing supervision, coaching and professional leadership to Child & Family Practitioners and support staff.
• Driving quality practice that is child-centred, family-focused, trauma-responsive and culturally safe.
• Managing service performance, workforce planning, resource allocation and operational outcomes.
• Supporting employees to navigate complex family situations, risk concerns and critical incidents.
• Building strong relationships with government, statutory and community stakeholders.
• Monitoring quality, compliance, safeguarding and risk management requirements.
• Contributing to continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen service delivery and client outcomes

Please note: This role may participate in a shared on-call roster and may require availability outside standard business hours.

What makes a difference for us?

• A tertiary qualification (minimum bachelor’s degree) in Social Work, Psychology, Human Services, Behavioural Science or a related human services discipline.
• Demonstrated leadership experience within child and family services, child protection or a related human services environment.
• Experience providing supervision, coaching and performance leadership to practitioners and teams.
• Strong knowledge of child protection legislation, safeguarding requirements and contemporary risk management principles.
• Understanding of child development, trauma, attachment and strengths-based practice approaches.
• Highly developed communication, stakeholder engagement and partnership-building skills.
• Current Queensland Driver’s Licence
• Valid Working with Children Check (Blue Card)

What makes a difference for you?

• Flexible work arrangements to support work-life balance
• NFP Salary Packaging: Save tax and increase your take home pay by salary packaging your everyday living expenses and bills (up to $15,900) and meal entertainment (up to $2,650) per annum. To learn more about this benefit watch the video via the following link: Salary Packaging Explained
• A recognition and rewards platform, providing employee discounts at hundreds of retailers, including everyday expenses, holidays, health insurance, annual awards celebration, wellbeing and employee assistance programs
• 12 weeks paid parental leave and 2 weeks paid partner leave, available after 6 months service, in addition to the government scheme
• Diversity and inclusive leave, offering paid gender affirmation leave and cultural leave options (paid and unpaid) for those who may celebrate Lunar New Year, Diwali, Ramadan, NAIDOC weeks and other significant cultural events
• Career development opportunities to challenge yourself, grow and make a meaningful difference
• A positive and inclusive team based on respect, shared standards, strong values and a commitment to serving others

We’d love you to be part of our UnitingCare family

Joining our FaDS, team, you’ll also be welcomed as part of the UnitingCare family. The second-largest Queensland employer, we’re a proud not-for-profit with more than 16,500 staff and 9,000 volunteers across our brands of BlueCare, Lifeline, ARRCS, The Wesley Hospital, Buderim Private Hospital, St Stephen’s Hospital, and St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital, and have been leading by example for more than 100 years.

Child safe, Child friendly

UnitingCare is committed to being a Child Safe, Child Friendly organisation and will:

• provide welcoming, safe and nurturing services for children
• implement measures to prevent child abuse and neglect within our services
• appropriately and immediately address child abuse and neglect if it does occur
• abide by the Child Safe Standards and adhere to the Reportable Conduct Scheme

Diversity & Inclusion

Our approach is simple – everybody is welcome here. At UnitingCare, diversity is at the core of our who we are, our mission and our values. We are committed to providing equal opportunities to all employees no matter their sex, race, culture, sexual orientation, disability or gender identity. Demonstrating our commitment to reconciliation and building long-term employment opportunities for First Nations peoples, UnitingCare strongly encourages Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants for this position.

We work hard to make our services welcoming and safe for every person. We are united in keeping children, young people and the elderly safe from harm, within our services, workplaces and the communities we support. We are committed to speaking up loudly for their safety.

Commitment to Safeguarding

We are committed in creating services and workplaces that are welcoming and safe for every person. We work together to protect children, young people, adults and the elderly from harm within our services and the communities we support. We speak up for their safety to ensure their voices are heard. Our recruitment and workplace practices reflect our dedication in preventing abuse, harm and exploitation across UnitingCare.