Program Manager

Alliance Program Manager

Canberra

Level 8 SCHADS plus super, leave loading and packaging.

Right now, too many people fall through the cracks between mental health and alcohol and other drug services.

In response, the ACT AoD-MH Alliance is a two-year reform program jointly delivered by the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT (ATODA) and the Mental Health Community Coalition ACT (MHCC). Funded by the ACT Government, the Alliance aims to improve the way co-occurring alcohol and other drug (AoD) and mental health (MH) services are delivered in the ACT by strengthening collaboration, governance and integrated care models.

The ACT ATODA-MHCC Alliance isn't just another project. Its an opportunity to change how two critical sectors work together - sectors that have long operated in silos, despite serving the same people. This project is about redesigning the system around those people. It is much more than just writing reports, but changing how services interact, refer, collaborate and support people with complex needs.

You'll be working at the heart of real reform and help solve a known problem.

You'll be in the room with CEOs, clinicians, government, and people with lived experience driving practical change, developing models of care, embedding governance, and testing new approaches in real-time.

This is a true collaboration between MHCC and ATODA and you'll work with both peak bodies, have desk space at both, and be part of an integrated team, modelling the kind of shared leadership the project aims to embed across the sector.

You'll help shift culture.

The work is about more than systems - its about relationships, trust, and accountability. You'll play a role in challenging assumptions, surfacing fears, and guiding two sectors to deliver on key project deliverables while maintaining their distinct strengths.

You'll grow.

Whether its writing a model of care, facilitating learning circles, building Communities of Practice, or rethinking service design, this work will stretch and develop your strategic, relational, and leadership muscles. Its a rare opportunity to influence from within.

Its not for everyone but for the right person, its career-defining.

If you want certainty, routine, and minimal stakeholder complexity, this might not be for you. But if you thrive in grey zones, want to do work that matters, and care deeply about systems change and social impact you wont get a better opportunity in Canberra right now.

What you'll do

You'll improve the service experience for people experiencing co-occurring mental health and alcohol & other drug (AoD) issues. Working across ATODA and the Mental Health Community Coalition ACT (MHCC), you'll coordinate program delivery, stakeholder engagement, governance development, and workforce strategy. You'll also lead the design of a co-designed Model of Care and Clinical Governance Framework.

What you'll need

• A strong grasp of service design, governance, and cross-sector reform
• Proven experience in managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects
• Exceptional communicator able to navigate challenging conversations with tact, clarity and respect.

This project seeks to drive whole-of-system change not by tweaking existing programs, but by redesigning how the two sectors interact, how clients are supported, and how the system can be made more person-centred, responsive, and evidence-based.

You can call me, Jo Shapley on for a confidential discuss about this opportunity or email me on If you don't have an up-to-date CV, don't worry, call me or send an email. We can deal with the CV later. As this is a two-year program the sooner we can get you started the better so please respond as soon as possible.