Team Leader - Looking Ahead Program

Refuge Victoria; City of Melbourne; On-site; AUD 85,000 - 105,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Accrued Day Off (ADO)

On-call roster

Job summary

Refuge Victoria in Melbourne is seeking an experienced Team Leader – Looking Ahead Program to guide an integrated housing and recovery initiative supporting victim survivors as they move from crisis accommodation into longer-term housing.

Reporting to the Refuge Manager, you will lead a multidisciplinary team of practitioners, provide reflective supervision, oversee workloads, and ensure trauma-informed, client-led recovery.

Qualifications

• Minimum five years' specialist family violence experience
• At least two years' experience supervising and leading direct reports
• Appropriate qualification or recognised pathway under mandatory minimum qualification requirements

Responsibilities

• Lead multidisciplinary team of Recovery and Housing Practitioners, an LGBTIQA+ Case Manager and a Housing and Tenancy Worker
• Oversee day-to-day program operations and provide reflective supervision
• Coordinate workloads and service responses; support psychosocially safe team culture
• Provide oversight on complex family violence risk, safety planning and housing pathways
• Build referral pathways, monitor outcomes and drive continuous improvement
• Maintain client-centred practice and connect with direct practice when needed

Skills

Leadership

People management

Program leadership

Family violence practice

Cultural safety

Quality & improvement

Communication

Education

Bachelor of Social Work or equivalent

Relevant professional experience

Related qualification meeting minimum requirements

Cultural knowledge or lived experience

Job description

• Full-Time | SCHADS Level 7 |
• ADO Eligible Melbourne | Head Office + outreach across Western, Inner Eastern and Southern Melbourne

Lead a new approach to housing, recovery and long-term safety

Are you an experienced family violence practitioner and people leader who is passionate about supporting victim survivors to move beyond crisis towards safety, stability and independence?

Refuge Victoria is seeking an experienced Team Leader – Looking Ahead Program to lead our integrated housing and recovery program supporting victim survivors as they transition from crisis accommodation into longer-term housing and recovery.

This is an opportunity to combine people leadership, specialist family violence practice and program development within a service designed to provide sustained support beyond the immediate crisis response.

Fixed-term for four years with potential opportunity to extend.

About Refuge Victoria

Refuge Victoria is an independent not-for-profit specialist family violence organisation and one of Victoria's largest providers of specialist family violence refuge accommodation.

We support people experiencing serious risk from family violence through refuge and crisis accommodation, safety planning, specialist case management and support to build safer and more independent lives.

We are committed to a strengths-based approach that centres the voices of women and children. Our vision is for people escaping family violence to live safe and free, and our work is guided by our values of Compassionate, Empowering, Collaborative, Integrity and Committed.

About Looking Ahead Program

The Looking Ahead Program is Refuge Victoria's new funded initiative integrating housing and recovery initiative. Support begins while victim survivors are living in crisis accommodation and continues as they transition into longer-term housing, with graduated outreach support provided over 18-24 months.

The program prioritises victim survivors experiencing repeated crisis presentations and complex barriers to housing, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victim survivors, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people living with disability, temporary visa holders and LGBTIQA+ people.

About the role

Reporting to the Refuge Manager, you will lead a multidisciplinary team of Recovery and Housing Practitioners, an LGBTIQA+ Case Manager and a Housing and Tenancy Worker.

You will oversee day-to-day program operations, provide reflective supervision and specialist practice leadership, coordinate workloads and service responses, and support a positive, accountable and psychologically safe team culture.

You will provide oversight and consultation on complex family violence risk, safety planning, housing pathways and tenancy sustainment, while supporting trauma-informed, strengths-based and client-led recovery. You will also hold a small caseload, keeping you connected to direct practice and the experiences of the people we support.

Working closely with housing, family violence and community partners, you will help build effective referral pathways, monitor program outcomes and service data, and use client feedback, incidents and practice reflection to strengthen service quality and continuous improvement.

About you

We are looking for someone who brings strong practice expertise together with confident, compassionate leadership. You will demonstrate:

• Leadership and people management: Experience leading multidisciplinary teams through reflective supervision, coaching, performance support, workload allocation and professional development, while building accountability and a positive workplace culture.
• Program leadership and judgement: The ability to coordinate day-to-day service delivery, manage competing priorities and operational risks, make sound decisions in complex or high-risk situations and provide clear direction to staff.
• Specialist family violence practice: Strong knowledge of family violence risk assessment and safety planning, including MARAM, trauma-informed and strengths-based practice, client-led recovery, professional boundaries and duty of care.
• Housing and coordinated responses: An understanding of housing and homelessness systems, tenancy sustainment and barriers to housing, together with the ability to develop effective partnerships across family violence, housing, health, mental health, AOD, legal, child and family and community services.
• Inclusive and culturally responsive practice: A demonstrated commitment to culturally safe, accessible and inclusive services and an understanding of systemic barriers experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people with disability and other marginalised communities.
• Quality and improvement: The ability to monitor client and program outcomes, maintain high-quality documentation and data, meet legislative, regulatory and organisational requirements, manage risk and use evidence, feedback and learning to continually improve services.
• Communication and collaboration: Highly developed interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to build strong relationships, navigate difficult conversations and conflict, and contribute effectively within a leadership team.

The position requires a minimum of five years' specialist family violence experience and at least two years' experience supervising and leading direct reports, together with an appropriate qualification or recognised pathway under the mandatory minimum qualification requirements.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet one of the qualification or experience pathways outlined for specialist family violence practitioners, including:

• Bachelor of Social Work or equivalent qualification; or
• relevant professional experience; or
• a related qualification meeting mandatory minimum qualification requirements; or
• significant cultural knowledge, experience or lived experience where barriers to educational pathways have been experienced.

Why join Refuge Victoria?

This is an opportunity to lead an emerging program designed to support victim survivors beyond immediate crisis and into sustained housing and recovery.

You will have the opportunity to shape program implementation, lead and develop a small multidisciplinary team, remain connected to meaningful client practice and work alongside experienced family violence and community-sector professionals.

The role is permanent full-time at SCHADS Level 7, is eligible for an Accrued Day Off (ADO) and includes participation in the on-call roster.

Employment conditions

The successful applicant will be required to satisfactorily complete Refuge Victoria's employment screening requirements, including an Australian Criminal History Check, Working with Children Check and holding a current Victorian driver's licence.

Refuge Victoria is committed to child safety and to providing an inclusive, culturally safe and responsive workplace and service environment.

In accordance with sections 12 and 28 of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic), Refuge Victoria exclusively recruits people who identify as female or non-binary for service delivery positions, reflecting the specific needs of the women and children we support.