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National Director - Anywhere in Australia

Australian Parents for Climate Action

Position Details

  • Employment type: Fixed Contract - 6 months, with a preference for long-term extension subject to performance and funding
  • Time commitment: 28 hours per week
  • Salary range: $90,000 - $95,000 pro rata plus 9.5% superannuation
  • Reports to: Board
  • Location: Flexible - your home office anywhere in Australia

About Australian Parents for Climate Action

Australian Parents for Climate Action is Australia’s leading organisation to engage, organise and empower parents and carers to advocate for a safe climate for our children’s future. With over 14,000 supporters and 30 local groups, our supporters are from across the political spectrum, in every Australian electorate, and from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. We seek non-partisan responses from government and business to climate change and its impacts. For more information, visit www.ap4ca.org.

We are a young, rapidly-growing Australian charity nationally recognised in the Australian climate movement, with a well connected founding Board and a high-profile Advisory Group. Our rapid start-up phase has involved engaging thousands of parents previously unengaged on climate, developing dozens of parents as climate spokespeople, and achieving hundreds of media articles and numerous parent-led meetings with politicians. Our current Solar Our Schools campaign has strong support from influencers, councils and state governments. We now seek a highly motivated, skilled new National Director to lead our organisation through the next exciting scaling-up phase of our operations.

We value diverse experiences and perspectives to strengthen our team, strategies, and movement. We strongly encourage applications from First Nations people, people of colour, parents and carers from all types of families, and people living anywhere in Australia. We offer flexibility in working hours to fit with your family commitments.

About this Position

Reporting to an active and committed Board, the National Director (ND) will lead Australian Parents for Climate Action (AP4CA) to deliver its vision and strategic plan through high impact advocacy and community engagement.

To lead our work, the National Director will be a highly effective communicator, a skilled and well-connected fundraiser, and have strong people and advocacy skills. The ND will understand the Australian context of community and political climate action, and the opportunities and challenges of engaging and empowering parents to advocate for climate action in Australia.

This is an exciting opportunity for a strategic, skilled and inspirational leader whose values and mission strongly align with AP4CA and who is seeking the opportunity to scale up an impactful growing climate organisation in a parent-friendly working environment.

Roles and Responsibilities

  1. Leading and managing a non-profit. The ND runs the organisation including strategy, fundraising, executing the mission and vision, managing a small paid team and volunteers, and growing our supporter base. They work with our book-keeper to produce financial statements and manage annual audits, and ensure legal compliance (in conjunction with the Company Secretary).
  2. Fundraising. A core focus for the ND is to manage existing funding relationships and create new funding avenues to ensure the ongoing financial security of the organisation. The ND refines and applies a strong strategic plan and Theory of Change to their fundraising.
  3. Strategic planning. The ND, in consultation with the Board, is responsible for implementing and when necessary revising the strategic plan, and designing strategies that create change and balance short-term opportunities with the long-term objectives of AP4CA.
  4. Execution of campaigns and projects. The ND guides and assists staff and volunteers to execute projects and campaigns, including our current Solar Our Schools campaign and expanding our Developing Parent Climate Spokespeople project.
  5. Media. The ND regularly represents AP4CA in the media, and works with our supporters and parent spokespeople to amplify their voices.
  6. Managing staff and volunteers. AP4CA has grown quickly and now has three part-time staff members (including the ND) and a strong network of volunteers who are integral to the success of the organisation. The ND must have management and team building experience, the ability to draw out the best from their staff and volunteers and manage a diverse group of parents working remotely across Australia.
  7. Building our supporter base. The ND guides and assists staff and volunteers to develop and implement strategies to engage, organise and empower existing and new supporters both online and offline.
  8. Relationships and influence. The ND builds relationships with key allies among climate, parenting, education and other civil society groups to further AP4CA’s goals.

Core Competencies

  1. Written and verbal communications - The ND must be able to confidently and articulately represent AP4CA’s position verbally and in writing. The ND will need to inspire audiences of all sizes through public speaking, donor and stakeholder engagement, and media interviews.
  2. Leadership - The successful candidate will have demonstrated leadership capability, able to inspire confidence in relevant stakeholder groups, including supporters, partners and donors. The ND must have the leadership and management skills to effectively lead our two part-time staff and many volunteers.
  3. Strategic thinking and initiative - AP4CA is a fast paced and dynamic organisation. The ND needs to be able to independently make strategic judgement calls about week-to-week priorities, that balance short-term opportunities with ensuring delivery on the long-term strategic objectives of the organisation. The ND must be able to competently implement and when necessary review the organisation’s Strategic Plan and Theories of Change.
  4. Persuasiveness - For AP4CA to continue growing, retaining staff and achieving its objectives, the ND must be confident and effective in making asks of donors and other stakeholders. They must have high emotional intelligence and empathy and be a skilled influencer. They must have demonstrated strengths in preparing grant applications and pitches to major donors that are grounded in strong Theories of Change.
  5. Relationship building - For AP4CA to succeed we need strong relationships with stakeholders across parenting, climate and community groups and across the political spectrum. The ND must be a ‘people person’, showing a track record of being able to effectively build relationships and strong networks across a diverse range of stakeholders.
  6. Political savvy - AP4CA aims to engage constructively with all sides of politics to drive climate action outcomes. The ND needs to understand the Australian context of community and political climate action, and the opportunities and challenges of engaging and empowering parents to advocate for climate action in Australia.
  7. Planning and organising - The successful candidate will be a skilled project manager, able to deliver work on time and within budget. They must have proven experience in planning and executing projects.
  8. Motivation and resilience - The successful candidate will have the motivation and resilience to excel in this position guiding a small, busy team, where the extension of staff contracts (including their own) is largely dependent on effective fundraising by the ND.
  9. Passion for action to address the climate crisis - The ND must be genuinely passionate about the urgent need to address climate change for the safe future of our children.

Note: We value and recognise experience that has been gained in a variety of ways - paid or unpaid, from the grassroots, and lived experience. If you are unsure if you meet the criteria for this position, please get in touch.

Hours, Location and Salary

This position is part time, working 28 hours a week. This is initially a six-month contract, with a strong preference for extension depending on performance and funding - we are seeking our next National Director to lead us through the exciting multi-year scaling-up phase of our operations. The location is flexible - all of our staff and volunteers work from their own home offices across Australia. The salary range is $90,000 - $95,000 pro rata plus 9.5% superannuation, negotiable commensurate with skills and experience. Please contact us with any questions or to organise a confidential discussion about the role via [email protected] using the subject line: National Director - Flexible Location enquiry via EthicalJobs.

A position description is attached.

How to apply

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