Assistant Base Manager

The Role

Are you ready to lead in a role where no two days are the same? Where your leadership directly supports critical operations, enables capability, and helps shape the future of Defence?

We are seeking dynamic, solutions-focused leaders to join our high-performing teams as Assistant Base Managers in remote and regional locations including Darwin and Tindal NT, and Townsville QLD. As an Assistant Base Manager, you will play a pivotal role in the strategic and operational management of Defence bases, ensuring they remain safe, secure, and capable of supporting Defence's mission.

As an Assistant Base Manager, you will:

• Lead and manage multidisciplinary teams, providing direction, support, and performance oversight to ensure high-quality service delivery across base operations.
• Foster a positive team culture, promoting collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Mentor and develop staff, identifying training needs, supporting career development, and building capability within the team.
• Coordinate and oversee base support services, ensuring alignment with Defence priorities and operational requirements.
• Provide strategic advice to senior stakeholders on base operations, infrastructure planning, and risk management.
• Manage and lead responses to critical incidents, high-risk weather events, and emergency situations, ensuring continuity of operations and protection of Defence capability.
• Support and represent the Base Manager, acting as delegate when required, and contributing to the development and implementation of base-level strategies and plans.
• Coordinate support to Defence exercises and operations, including the facilitation of access to training areas and the provision of essential services to deployed personnel.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with Defence personnel, contractors, and other government agencies to ensure seamless service delivery and future planning.

Assistant Base Managers provide leadership and coordination across Defence bases. You will be responsible for developing and leading high performing teams who ensure the day-to-day safe and secure operations of Defence sites. They are the eyes and ears on the ground, ensuring the smooth running of base operations, managing critical incidents, supporting Defence activities and exercises, and working closely with a broad range of stakeholders, including Defence personnel, service providers, contractors, and local communities.

Assistant Base Managers are problem solvers, trusted advisors, and personnel managers who help ensure Defence sites are safe, secure, and ready to respond to any challenge, from supporting Defence exercises and operations to managing the impacts of severe weather or critical incidents.

About our Team

Northern and Central Zone is a branch of Service Delivery Division within the Security and Estate Group. Service Delivery Division is at the forefront of enhancing Defence capabilities and personnel readiness through innovative service delivery and support mechanisms. Our work directly contributes to the operational excellence and welfare of Australia's Defence force, offering unparalleled opportunities to make a meaningful impact. Northern and Central Zone is a critical business enabler of Defence capabilities, prioritising base resources and ensuring service delivery standards across the Defence Estate.

Northern and Central Zone is instrumental in facilitating critical Defence exercises and operations, focused on optimising support for the ADF. Northern and Central Zone manages the most significant and largest training areas and ranges in Australia, enabling substantial multinational and bilateral exercises such as Pitch Black and Talisman Sabre. We provide essential, on-the-ground services and support to Defence personnel at locations throughout Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region in Western Australia.

Our Ideal Candidate

We are looking for leaders who are adaptable, solutions-oriented, and calm under pressure. You will be someone who can think on your feet and anticipate future challenges, work collaboratively across a wide range of stakeholders, and bring a strong customer service mindset to everything you do. Our ideal candidate is proactive in managing risks and safety, comfortable in an operational environment, and ready to respond when incidents or issues arise.

These roles require leaders to influence and drive a culture of safety, accountability and service excellence. Successful candidates will have a proven record of achieving organisational goals whilst contributing to a high-performance service delivery culture.

The skills that we seek in you:

• Demonstrated strong leadership capability with the ability to guide teams, influence stakeholders, and drive positive outcomes.
• People and team management with the ability to build team capability through coaching, feedback and mentoring in an operational or service delivery environment.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills and the ability to build trusted relationships with Defence personnel, contractors, service providers, and community partners.
• Demonstrated ability to think critically and strategically, identify issues and drive continuous improvement activities.
• Confidently manage competing priorities while maintaining a focus on safety, security, and operational continuity.
• Understand the importance of customer service and delivering high-quality support to Defence personnel, with proven experience in anticipating stakeholders' needs.
• The ability to forward plan a workload and the agility to reprioritise at short notice.
• Resilient, adaptable, and comfortable working in fast-paced and complex operational environments.
• Confident managing risk and compliance in a large and complex estate environment.

In turn, we will provide you with the following:

• Remote locality benefits including additional leave and allowances.
• Annual leave of 20 days per year.
• Christmas stand down (a paid break during the Christmas and New Year period in addition to standard leave).
• Competitive salary and performance-related salary progression for eligible employees.
• 15.4% superannuation.
• Standard hours of 37.5 hours per week.
• Negotiated flexible work arrangements.
• Ongoing training and development.
• Personal/Carer's leave of 15 days per year.
• An additional day of leave per calendar year in addition to regular leave.
• A range of Parental and Reservist leave.
• Several health, well-being, diversity and inclusion networks.
• Defence Employee Assistance Program provided by Converge International.

We are looking for enthusiastic leaders to join our team immediately. Working in a remote location offers unique opportunities and exposure to a range of Defence capabilities that may not otherwise be available. These roles are ideal for energetic and motivated people and operational leaders who are focused on ongoing self-improvement and professional development. A Merit Pool of suitable candidates will also be created for future placement.

Application Closing Date: Thursday 9 October 2025

For further information please review the job information pack, reference
SEG/07769/25
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