Location: Fully remote, based in Wollongong or Sydney, with other locations in Australia considered for the right candidate

Employment: Initial 2-year contract, possibly ongoing

FTE: Full-time, 0.8 - 0.9 FTE considered for the right candidate

Salary: Pay will be negotiated and responsive to the experience you bring to the role

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

• Drive impact through operational leadership in an ambitious, values-led peak body
• Be at the heart of work to unlock the power of social enterprise, and for an economy that puts people and planet first
• Thrive with a talented, impact and values-led team

Social Enterprise Australia

Social Enterprise Australia is the national peak body for social enterprise. We’re for an economy that puts people and the planet first, and for unlocking the power of social enterprise to help get us there. We connect, build and advocate for the sector, and coordinate its national strategy. Our direction is set by the sector, and we provide a way for it to partner with the Australian Government and others to grow impact.

Social Enterprise Australia develops ecosystem-wide infrastructure and partnerships to:

• connect the ecosystem to plan, act and learn together
• build and share sector data, insights and practical supports
• advocate for the customers, capital, policy and investment the sector needs

We are a young, impact and values-led national team, working remotely with high autonomy and trust. We are a four-year-old organisation that has grown fast and built strong foundations: the sector’s national strategy, member-based governance, and relationships and infrastructure to connect, advocate for and build the sector. We are now strengthening our underpinning operations to support our next phase to turn strategy into action.

The opportunity

This is a newly scoped executive role at the heart of Social Enterprise Australia’s next chapter.

Our current Chief Operating Officer will change roles to focus her exceptional skills and passion as Social Enterprise Australia’s new Chief Product Officer.

As Chief Operating Officer, you will turn strategy into operations. You will hold overall responsibility for the performance and well-being of our team, the soundness of our financial and commercial position, and the quality of the systems that underpin our work. This is a senior leadership role with full accountability for how Social Enterprise Australia operates day-to-day.

This is also a building role. Our systems, structures, team and business model are evolving. We are looking for a leader who is energised by that. Someone who brings the discipline and experience to establish strong, stable operational foundations and to know and keep what needs to stay adaptive.

Reporting to the CEO, you will give them the space to focus on strategy, advocacy and a more outward focus.

What you'll lead

• Strategy execution and central coordination: translation of the sector’s national strategy and Social Enterprise Australia’s annual plan into well-coordinated operations.
• People and culture: lead our team with values-aligned, developmental leadership; embed practices that make remote collaboration genuinely effective.
• Financial management and business model development: oversee budgeting, forecasting, reporting, compliance and audit; develop and progress commercialisation strategy, funding diversification, and earned income.
• Operational systems: design and embed the project, contract, stakeholder and information systems we need.
• Governance and risk: support sound organisational governance, statutory compliance and Board reporting alongside the CEO and Head of Governance and Legal.

Who we're looking for

We are open to leaders from for-purpose, social enterprise or commercial backgrounds, and we are especially interested in candidates whose careers have spanned more than one of these contexts.

What matters most is operational depth, values alignment and a real interest in Social Enterprise Australia’s purpose.

You will likely bring:

• senior operational leadership experience as a Chief Operating Officer, Director of Operations, General Manager or equivalent, with whole-of-organisation or significant division-level accountability
• a track record of leading and developing teams, including in remote or distributed environments, with a leadership style that earns trust and builds accountability
• strong financial management capability and comfort with organisational budgets, board-level reporting and commercial strategy
• experience designing and embedding operational systems that are rigorous without being rigid or oversized
• confidence and curiosity as a user of digital technology and AI, including understanding both their potential and potential harms
• exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across a small, diverse and geographically dispersed team
• genuine alignment with Social Enterprise Australia’s values and First Nations commitment, and a real belief in social enterprise as a driver of systems change
• comfort working in a young, agile and evolving organisation where building is part of the job

Helpful additions (desirable)

• direct experience in or alongside the social enterprise, for-purpose or social economy sector
• familiarity with peak body, field-building or member-based structures
• experience in First Nations engagement, decolonisation practice or work shaped by First Nations leadership and knowledge

Working at Social Enterprise Australia

We are a fully remote, nationally distributed organisation. We work with a high degree of autonomy and trust, and we invest in the tools, practices and face-to-face connection that make distributed collaboration genuinely effective.

We are a small team with significant ambitions, and everyone carries real responsibility and has genuine scope to shape how we work. We value and create space for reflection and learning in our team, and strong capability to engage with and role model these practices will be essential to success in this role.

Diversity

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. We are committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of the communities and sector we serve, and we particularly encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, culturally and linguistically diverse leaders, people with disability, and others underrepresented at executive level.

If there is anything we can do to make the application process more accessible to you, please let us know.

How to apply

This search is being managed by Kyrstie Dunn Consulting on behalf of Social Enterprise Australia.

Confidential enquiries should be directed to [email protected] using the subject line: Chief Operating Officer - Sydney / Wollongong / Remote enquiry via EthicalJobs.

To apply, please click the "Apply Now" button and submit:

• responses to the questions below
• your CV (maximum two pages)
• a short covering letter (maximum one page) outlining your interest in the role and relevant experience

Please provide short answers (maximum 1–2 pages) to these questions as part of your application.

1. Tell us about a time you built or strengthened the operational foundations and team of an organisation. What was the context, what did you do, and what did you learn?
2. Social Enterprise Australia operates as a small, remote and values-led team with a strong culture of autonomy, collaboration and trust. How would you approach leading people in this environment and building systems for this?
3. What is your unique value proposition for this role?
4. Please share with us your salary expectations for this role, given what you know of the role, the skills and experience you bring, and the context in which Social Enterprise Australia operates. If the benchmarked salary range is not aligned with your expectations, we'll let you know as early as possible and give you the choice to withdraw or continue with your application.

We welcome confidential conversations throughout the recruitment process. As a first step, we encourage interested candidates to apply.

We are not able to have detailed conversations with everyone interested in the role and Social Enterprise Australia’s work upfront.

However, if it would help you to ask specific questions about the role, please reach out.

Social Enterprise Australia acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we work and live. We recognise that these lands were never ceded and that connection to land, waters and culture is ongoing. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and to emerging leaders.