[Hiring] General Manager Quality and Safeguarding @Mission Australia

Role Description

As General Manager, Quality and Safeguarding, you will lead the organisation’s approach to safeguarding, quality and clinical governance – ensuring the people we support are safe, protected and receiving high-quality care across all Mission Australia services.

Reporting to the Executive, Practice, Evidence and Impact, this role provides critical oversight of safety, quality and risk across a diverse national service portfolio. You will work closely with senior leaders and the Board to strengthen organisational accountability, identify emerging risks, and embed consistent, best-practice approaches to safeguarding, clinical governance and quality.

This is a pivotal leadership role where you will shape culture as much as systems, driving continuous improvement, building capability across services, and ensuring we meet our regulatory, ethical and community expectations while delivering safe, high-quality outcomes for vulnerable Australians.

Your key responsibilities will be to:

• Lead the organisation-wide Quality and Safeguarding function, providing strong governance, oversight and independent assurance across all services.
• Drive the development, implementation and ongoing maturity of the Clinical and Care Governance Framework and the Safeguarding Framework.
• Monitor, analyse and interpret quality, incident, risk and compliance data to identify trends and drive improvements across the organisation.
• Partner with service delivery leaders to implement improvement actions and lift quality and safety outcomes across services.
• Provide trusted, expert advice to senior leaders on safeguarding risks, quality issues and regulatory obligations.
• Oversee responses to safeguarding incidents and critical events, ensuring timely action and compliance with reporting requirements.
• Strengthen safeguarding culture and capability, ensuring all staff understand their responsibilities and are equipped to respond to risks of harm.
• Maintain and enhance policies, procedures and frameworks to ensure alignment with regulatory requirements and organisational standards.
• Deliver clear, evidence-based reporting to the Executive Leadership Team and Board Committees on quality, safety and safeguarding performance.
• Build strong relationships with regulators, partners and internal stakeholders to support best practice and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Significant senior leadership experience within community, human services, government or not-for-profit sectors.
• Demonstrated expertise in safeguarding, quality, risk, compliance or clinical governance within complex, regulated environments.
• Strong understanding of service delivery in the early childhood, child and family, youth, disability, aged care, mental health and/or related sectors.
• Proven ability to identify and manage risk, respond to incidents, and lead organisation-wide improvement initiatives.
• Exceptional leadership capability, with experience building high-performing teams and driving a culture of accountability, learning and continuous improvement.
• Highly developed analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to synthesise complex information and translate it into practical action.
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate at executive and Board level.
• Tertiary qualifications in Social Work, Human Services, Psychology, Nursing, Allied Health or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• A deep commitment to safeguarding, ethical practice and Mission Australia’s purpose and values.

Requirements

• Before starting work with us, you will need to undertake a national police history check, qualifications, and referee checks, and have a clearance to work with children/vulnerable people.

Benefits

• Rewarding work – every day you know you’re making a real difference.
• Not-for-profit salary packaging, reducing your tax (details via AccessPay).
• Free external, confidential counselling and access to chaplaincy support.
• Volunteering opportunities.
• Opportunity to purchase additional annual leave.
• Extra leave including Mission Australia Thank You Day & Work Anniversary Day off.