Director: People and Culture

DIRECTOR: PEOPLE AND CULTURE | Sydney Catholic Schools
Commencement Date: Immediate start or by negotiation
Closing Date: Friday, 15 July 2022
Contract Type: Fixed Term, Full-time  (5-year appointment)

About Sydney Catholic Schools

Catholic schools have been delivering excellence in education to Sydney school students for 200 years. Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) continues to be a thriving and growing contemporary educational community with 150 schools, more than 71,000 current students, 10,000 staff and a large alumni community. 

About the role

Sydney Catholic Schools is looking for an experienced and energetic leader to join our Executive Leadership Team (ELT). The Director of People and Culture will work with a team of Directors and senior leaders to facilitate the innovation, partnership and holistic approach to contemporary education which is at the heart of our thriving Catholic communities across the Archdiocese of Sydney. 

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director: People and Culture sits on the ELT and is responsible for acting as a strategic leader delivering key systemic initiatives, Network accountability, and Sydney Catholic Schools’ vision, mission, and values.

The successful candidate will be responsible for leading all people-related functions and activities for Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS). They will ensure the effective management of all people-related activities and day-to-day operations, including organisational development, attraction and retention of talent, employment relations, change management, injury management, payroll, employee engagement, workplace health & safety and workplace culture. 

About you

Sydney Catholic Schools is looking for an experienced leader with vision, energy and passion. Someone who can draw on their experience to lead the people and culture team.

The Director: People and Culture is required to lead work that includes but is not limited to:

• developing and leading the implementation of the people and culture strategy in line with Catholic social teaching and SCS vision, mission and values
• developing, maintaining and role modelling a culture among staff that is open to change and supports continuous collaboration, respect and accountability
• working collaboratively with the SCS leadership team to identify, develop and implement key organisational culture, engagement and change initiatives and strategies
• developing and delivering workforce planning strategies to ensure the future workforce needs of SCSs are met, using workforce planning metrics and data
• managing end-to-end workforce planning, including job design, recruitment and selection processes, onboarding new employees, and coaching and liaising with managers
• leading all employment relations functions, including industrial relations, enterprise bargaining, managing complaints & investigations, responding to findings of misconduct and terminations
• leading, monitoring and reviewing the performance management system, and ensuring that appropriate plans are in place for managing retention, talent and career development
• ensuring that all training and professional development is linked to organisational goals and coaching individuals to improve performance and capability
• managing all aspects of registration and accreditation of teachers, including Working With Children Check verifications
• managing SCS workers’ compensation, non-work related staff injuries and return to work programs
• managing the SCS work health & safety management system
• overseeing SCS’s payroll functions.

Essential Criteria

To be considered for this role, you will have the following experience, skills and knowledge:

• postgraduate qualification in the relevant discipline and a commitment to ongoing personal and professional learning
• solid HR experience, preferably in education, academia, consulting, not-for-profit or similar environment
• demonstrated exceptional leadership skills, including strong influencing, negotiation and conflict resolution skills
• demonstrated knowledge, experience and passion for leading transformation on a large scale
• demonstrated ability and willingness to challenge existing processes and structures and explore contemporary working methods
• demonstrated exceptional communication, interpersonal and relational skills to work collaboratively as part of an executive team and influence a diverse range of internal stakeholders
• demonstrated solid and highly competent experience in managing performance and misconduct issues
• evidenced robust and up-to-date knowledge of industrial relations and employment law
• demonstrated experience in leading a multi-disciplined team
• is a Baptised Catholic with demonstrated evidence of ongoing commitment to the teachings of the Catholic Church and engagement in the life of a Catholic faith community such as a parish or an established community within the Catholic Church, as an expression of their relationship with Jesus Christ
• ability to represent the mission of the Catholic Church through your personal and professional conduct.

Sydney Catholic Schools offers a generous salary package for senior leadership positions commensurate with the experience and skills of the appropriate candidate.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Submit your application via the ‘Apply’ button and follow the steps to complete your application. To support your application, you will be required to attach;

• current resume
• cover letter addressing the 2 targeted questions below:

1. What is the value of a strong People and Culture strategy and workforce to contemporary Catholic Education?  (300 words or less) 
2. Outline your demonstrated experience in leading transformational change in times of uncertainty (300 words or less) 

• Parish Priest reference 

If you have any questions regarding the role, please contact Emma Gleeson, Recruitment Supervisor hr.recruitment@syd.catholic.edu.au 

Working With Children Check (WWCC)
This role is classified as child-related work and therefore requires a WWCC clearance prior to commencement of employment.

COVID-19 Vaccination Evidence

Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) is committed to ensuring the safety of our staff, students and school communities. In line with SCS’ COVID-19 Policy, all staff are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (or subsequent variants) or have an approved medical contraindication which prevents them from receiving any dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine in order to work at or with a school, in central office or at any other location at which work is carried out by SCS. Compliance with this policy and providing evidence of vaccination is an essential requirement of employment. 

OUR MISSION
To know and love Christ through learning.

OUR VISION
Thriving Catholic communities through excellent teaching and learning.

OUR VALUES
Truth, empathy, excellence, curiosity, and collaboration.