Head of Government

Federal and State governments are an extremely important partner of the tournament. This role will build strong relationships at all levels of government and will manage the flow of information between the LOC functional areas and government agencies.

Reporting to the EGM Operations, there will be a close working relationship with all areas of the business within the LOC. The Head of Government and Host City Relations will have a small number of direct reports.

**About the role**
- Provide strategic advice to the Managing Director and EGM Operations on all government related matters
- Understand the political landscape within each jurisdiction and ensuring the Men’s RWC 2027 is a priority project for governments
- Manage the creation and administration of government working groups ensuring a continual flow of information between governments and the LOC and ensuring mechanisms are in place to manage and resolve issues
- Manage Governments and associated stakeholder relationships to ensure the delivery of all hosting obligations and commitments under the relevant agreements
- Act as the LOC’s central point of contact for the Federal Government, Host Cities, and other government agencies, ensuring proactive sharing of information between local stakeholders, the LOC and World Rugby
- Act as the LOC’s central point of contact for the Host City Managers during the tournament, ensuring all operational deliverables in a city are being delivered in accordance with contractual obligations and stakeholder requirementsPrepare government submissions, plans, presentations and reports as required under the funding agreements

**About you**
- You have proven experience working with State and Federal Governments within a major event environment (single sport multi-city events or multi-sport single city events) or within a sport which has responsibility to deliver content domestically and internationally, or in an equivalent environment
- You are politically astute and a natural communicator with the ability to secure ‘buy-in’, and make key decisions for the business through critical problem-solving skills and the use of sound judgement
- You have a good understanding of, and experience with, the machinery of State and Federal Government processes and procedures
- You have the ability to build, maintain and leverage relationships with credibility at all levels (internal and external)
- You have effective negotiation skills, excellent verbal and written communication skills and positive relationship-management skills
- You are experienced at working in a fast-paced environment supporting multiple individuals across a varied portfolio of responsibilities
- You are proactive, can anticipate needs and are a true team player - you are willing to muck in and support the broader team as we are growing and changing
- You have the flexibility to work irregular hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, depending on event schedulesYou can navigate ambiguity and cut through complexity, taking a logical and creative approach to problem-solving

**About us
World Rugby is the international federation responsible for the global development of Rugby. It’s strategic mission is to accelerate the growth of Rugby, inspiring more people to engage with the sport. Australia’s hosting of Rugby World Cup 2027 and 2029 are at the heart of that mission, representing an exciting growth opportunity for Rugby in Australia, the region, and the global game more broadly.

Rugby World Cup is one of the biggest sporting and entertainment brands in the world and the dual men’s and women’s hosting model creates a transformative opportunity to showcase the very best of Rugby and Australia to an unprecedented global audience.

The 2027 tournament will be a nationwide celebration of the sport, its values and Australia’s cities, culture and people, engaging new audiences and inspiring a new generation of fans and players. In Australia, the tournament is expected to generate $1.3B in direct visitor expenditure across Australia from more than 250,000 international visitors and inject a further $80m into the Australia economy as a result of hosting in 2027 alone.

With women and the heart of World Rugby’s growth mission, Rugby World Cup 2029 represents a transformative opportunity take the sport to the next level. Women’s Rugby is one of the world’s fastest growing sports and the fanbase growing at a faster rate than other sports with 166 million fans globally. The commercial value of women’s Rugby is expected to grow by 10x over the next decade, which is great for Australia.

Hosting both tournaments also presents a fantastic opportunity for Rugby Australia to harness the power of the Rugby World Cup and grow its participation across Australia.

Whilst the LOC has carriage of both the 2027 and 2029 RWC’s, all roles are being recruited on the basis of working to deliver 2027, with a contract end date reflective of the successful