General Manager, Geelong

**Job no**: 535351

**Work type**: Full-time

**Location**: Geelong - Waurn Ponds

**Categories**: Management
- Based at our Geelong, Waurn Ponds Campus
- Full-time and fixed term for 5 years
- Above HEW 10 + 17% Superannuation

Founded in 1974, Deakin is a public university in Victoria with 61,000 students across five campuses: Melbourne Burwood, Geelong Waurn Ponds, Geelong Waterfront, Warrnambool, and the online Campus. We are a progressive and open-minded university, with the highest student satisfaction in Victoria and consistently ranked in the top 1% of the world’s universities.

The General Manager, Geelong is responsible for the leadership, management, and delivery of an integrated on and off campus accommodation service to students at Deakin’s Geelong based campuses including the daily operation of the residential complex along with marketing, recruitment, business, facility management, service and student support functions.

The role engages in long range strategic planning, including property and market development encompassing supply, demand and feasibility analysis for a significant capital investment program. Leads the local development and implementation of residential leadership and support programs to achieve positive residential student outcomes including safety and security, customer satisfaction and a supportive community culture. Develops, implements and ensures the ongoing review of Risk Management plans, Critical Incident Response Protocols and a Business Continuity Plan, ensuring capacity and readiness for rapid professional response 24/7.

**Your key responsibilities will include**:

- Set high standards of team performance, effectively manage time and resourcing restraints
- Agree clear performance standards and gives timely praise and recognition. Deliver constructive feedback in a manner that gains acceptance and achieves resolution. Deal with under-performance promptly
- Resolve conflict using appropriate strategies
- Drive performance and quality to consistently achieve objectives and strive for continuous improvement
- Ensure high quality service delivery by championing continuous improvement strategies and align operations with leading practice
- Maintain a strong focus on quality control and promote a proactive approach to all client issues
- Adhere to documentation procedures and see tasks through to completion
- Provide outstanding professional service and support that is both efficient and timely, to meet the changing needs of staff and students, whilst complying with University and DRS guidelines and governance requirements
- Ensure the safety and security of residents through strong preventative and risk management strategies and rapid response to incidents at all hours
- Ensure the implementation of all University and DRS policies that relate to the areas for which the position is responsible, in particular, those relating to equal opportunity, occupational health and safety, risk management, staff development and staff performance planning and review
- Identify and establish functional risk mitigation and management plans for all risks associated with such a facility and operation including financial, personal safety and welfare, security, facilities/infrastructure and human behaviour
- Act as a coach and work with team members to facilitate growth and development by giving balanced, constructive feedback considering individual capability and team performance, in alignment with Deakin’s code of conduct and core university strategies and policies that promote a safe, sustainable and productive working environment

**To be successful, you’ll have**:

- Relevant tertiary qualification and / or substantial senior management experience and success in developing, managing and operating relevant residential facilities within or outside the education sector
- Demonstrated capacity to build and maintain strong and productive relationships with internal and external partners and customers
- Proven ability to exercise judgement, influence others, be flexible and adaptive to environmental changes and priorities, and gain support for new plans, programs or initiatives
- Highly developed consulting, interpersonal, communication (written and oral) and presentation skills
- Demonstrated capacity for analytical and conceptual thought in the diagnosis of problems and in providing innovative, timely, relevant and practical solutions
- Demonstrated ability to develop collaborative work teams and proven capability to achieve quality customer service to clients and quality improvement to a wide range of practices and services
- Proven successful and extensive management experience with budgetary requirements, meeting operational objectives, and achieving long term viability of a similar commercial operation including achievement of associated performance outcomes
- Demonstrated team leadership and management capacity, and an ability to build and maintain a culture of teamwork, qua