Operations Lead & Deputy Team Leader – REnew Pacific

About Palladium

Palladium is a global leader in the design, development, and delivery of Positive Impact – the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value. We work with governments, businesses, and investors to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. With a team of more than 4,000 employees operating in 90-plus countries and a global network of over 35,000 experts, we help improve economies, societies, and, most importantly, people’s lives.

About the Program

Palladium is the Managing Contractor for the Australian Government’s Renew Pacific program, an AU$75M program over 4.5 years. REnew Pacific aims to scale and expand on the critical lessons learned in the DFAT-funded Business Partnerships Platform (BPP) pilot to support DFAT and the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP) to address climate infrastructure mitigation, adaptation and r esilience among Pacific states and help Australia be the climate infrastructure partner of choice in the Pacific.

Role

The Operations Lead & Deputy Team Leader provides critical support to the program by leading overall program operational management and compliance and providing seamless integration between Palladium corporate project management group functions and the project. The Operations Lead & Deputy Team Leader provides strong technical and people leadership to the Operations Team (both in Australia and Pacific based) by setting standards of operating, coaching and guiding team members to develop in their roles and setting the required frameworks for continuous improvement to maximise efficiency, effectives and compliance. The role leads day-to-day management of program budget, procurement, recruitment, security, and risk. In addition, the role deputises for the Team Leader and holds overall responsibility for the program in his/her absence.

Location

The role is based in Brisbane or Canberra on a full-time basis.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Plan and manage project start-up and closeout to ensure delivery of required inputs from corporate services, service providers and stakeholders.
• Responsible for the overall development, management and implementation of the REnew Grants Management Framework, ensuing a robust and flexible approach to grant award, monitoring and acquittal consistent with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and including use of milestone, output, result based and other appropriate grant management modalities.
• Responsible for project operational functions; management and administrative functions (budget and finance, asset and records management, transport, security, occupational health and safety, office management, operational IT and communications) ensuring that appropriate corporate contractual and finance resources are provided to support high-quality and timely program implementation.
• Draft and maintain the project operations manual, ensuring compliance with Palladium and head contract requirements.
• Lead the development, implementation and regular maintenance of a suite of standard operating procedures, ensuring staff within the operations team and wider project team are sufficiently trained and competent.
• Support corporate program management to ensure information is provided to meet requirements for internal forecasting, client invoicing and compliance with Palladium and Head Contract policies and guidelines.
• Support the Human Resources team with operational activities including management of third-party vendors, management of vendors in partner countries, and providing operational support to Pacific based Operations team members for in-country HR support.
• Oversee weekly project payment run and ensure that payments and reimbursements are made in alignment with relevant Palladium and DFAT policies and guidelines.
• Monitor expenditure against budgets and forecasts and provide regular updates to DFAT, through the development of a detailed financial reporting system.
• Support Palladium corporate with head contract amendments as required.
• Develop and maintain a project wide document management system with appropriate protocols, SOPs, naming conventions and records management suitable to head contract requirements. Ensure training and compliance across the project.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with both internal (Corporate and project) and external (DFAT and suppliers) stakeholders for collaborative, people focused outcomes.
• Lead the Operations team to ensure staff align with DFAT culture, practices, processes, and expectations. Support cross-stream collaboration and engagement and manage changes effectively with robust change management and communication.
• Develop and maintain a risk register to anticipate and minimize risk and optimize strategic outcomes and operational strengthening for team.
• Anticipate future operational needs or challenges and proactively take steps to address those challenges.
• Plan and manage project closeout
• Understand how innovation and technology shape the way we work and introduce new ways of working through AI, data and technology.

Minimum education and experience required

• Tertiary qualifications in a relevant discipline or; an equivalent combination of relevant experience and/or education.
• A minimum of 10 years relevant work experience at a Project Management / Operational Management level, including experience with DFAT or other development agency work including: program financial management; technical contract management; managing donor and stakeholder relationships; risk, fraud and compliance management; achieving tight milestones deadlines; and developing and interpreting project plans
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Sound problem solving and decision-making skills.
• Strong management skills with ability to lead effective teams and to mentor, coach, lead, develop and evaluate staff.
• Ability to work independently and as a part of a team.
• Strong interpersonal skills with an ability to operate diplomatically and with cross-cultural sensitivity with government, private sector, and community stakeholders.
• Highly developed financial and commercial acumen;
• Highly developed organisational skills, agility and the ability to balance and prioritise multiple tasks, and work well under pressure;
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including at senior leadership levels;
• Flexibility to travel to various locations throughout the APAC region;
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, particularly in a multi-cultural environment.

Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis.

Please note – we are only accepting applications from job seekers with full working rights within Australia as this role is unable to be sponsored. We are not accepting resumes from recruitment agencies for this role.