Strategic Workforce Planning Manager

SALARY:

Excellent base salary of up to $150k + Super + 20% STI (total package of up to $198,000).

LOCATION:

Sydney Inner West - free parking available on-site.

ABOUT THE COMPANY:

We are proud to be exclusively retained by one of Australia's fastest growing multi-site early childhood education organisations. Since inception less than 10 years ago, this organisation has experienced consistent double-digit year on year organic and acquisitive growth and has a strategic vision to continue this growth in the coming years. With a prominent brand and instant recognition in the industry, this organisation have significant presence across the country. They have built one of the best reputations and brands within the market through a high-quality service offering and genuine focus on customer experience. Through this, they have created a culture of collaboration and true alignment of values evident from their consistently high eNPS and customer NPS as well as strong retention of staff.

With 20 centres currently and a strategic plan to expand to over 50 centres in the next 2-3 years, a brand-new role has been created for a Strategic Workforce Planning Manager to work closely with the Head of Finance and Head of Operations and a high performing executive leadership team. If you are looking for an organisation and sector that naturally has purpose, providing positive outcomes for families, educations, peers and the community, then this is for you.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

The Strategic Workforce Planning Manager is a pivotal operational role reporting directly to the Head of Finance with a dotted line to the Head of Operations. The purpose of the role is to lead and continuously improve the organisation's workforce planning and rostering practices, ensuring optimal labour utilisation across all centres while maintaining compliance with regulatory and funding requirements. This role is critical in supporting Centre Directors to align staffing with enrolment patterns, funding models, and service delivery needs.

In this highly collaborative and data-informed role, you will act as the internal expert on labour cost optimisation, award interpretation, and workforce deployment. You will be responsible for overseeing the fortnightly rostering process, ensuring accuracy, fairness, and alignment with budgeted labour ratios. You will also play a key role in supporting the organisation's growth by embedding scalable workforce systems and practices that support operational excellence.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

The role will incorporate all the traditional aspects of a Strategic Workforce Planning Manager role including:

• Leadership & Support
  – Provide guidance and coaching to Centre Directors, Area Managers and administrative teams on effective rostering practices, award compliance, and workforce planning;
• Labour Cost Management
  – Monitor and analyse labour spend across centres, identifying trends, risks, and opportunities to improve efficiency and service delivery;
• Rostering Oversight
  – Manage the end-to-end fortnightly rostering cycle, ensuring rosters are submitted, reviewed, and approved in line with deadlines and compliance requirements;
• System Stewardship
  – Act as the business owner of the rostering and timekeeping platform (e.g. OWNA, Tanda), ensuring data integrity, user training, and continuous improvement;
• Award Interpretation & Compliance
  – Provide expert advice on the Children's Services Award and other relevant industrial instruments, ensuring rosters and pay outcomes are compliant;
• Operational Partnership
  – Work closely with the Head of Operations, Area Managers and Centre Directors to align workforce deployment with occupancy, funding, and service delivery needs;
• Reporting & Insights
  – Develop and maintain dashboards and reports that provide visibility over labour metrics, including ratios, absenteeism, overtime, and casual usage;
• Process Improvement
  – Identify and implement opportunities to automate, standardise, and streamline rostering and workforce planning processes;
• Project Support
  – Contribute to broader operational and finance projects, including new centre openings, funding model changes, and system upgrades;
• Stakeholder Engagement
  – Build strong relationships with Area Managers and Centre Directors to ensure workforce strategies are aligned and effectively executed;
• Governance & Risk
  – Ensure all workforce practices are compliant with relevant legislation, funding agreements, and internal policies, and support audit readiness.

Critical to the role will be your ability to balance operational realities with financial discipline, supporting Area Managers and Centre Directors to make informed, sustainable staffing decisions. This will involve building trust, providing timely and accurate data, and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

The ideal candidate is a workforce planning professional with a passion for operational excellence. You will have a demonstrated track record in managing rostering systems, interpreting awards, and partnering with operational leaders to drive labour efficiency and compliance.

You will be confident working with data, systems, and people, and will bring a proactive, solutions-focused mindset to every challenge. You will be comfortable navigating the complexities of a multi-site environment and will thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth organisation.

As the Strategic Workforce Planning Manager, you will support the Head of Finance and Head of Operations in delivering strategic workforce outcomes that balance quality, compliance, and cost. You will be a trusted advisor to Area Managers and Centre Directors, a key contributor to the organisation's operational and financial performance.

This role requires a high level of attention to detail, strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to influence without authority. You will be hands-on, adaptable, and driven by a desire to make a meaningful impact on the lives of children, families, and educators.

This role not only requires an excellent technical and analytical mind but also someone that can think outside of the box and not be afraid to challenge the status quo.

Culture fit is key, this organisation is a high growth, high quality business. The Strategic Workforce Planning Manager needs to have immediate credibility and be able to earn the trust and confidence of the Founder, the finance, operations and the executive leadership team. You will demonstrate proven commercial acumen and strategic thinking supported by a high level of competency in marketing management. You will have significant experience in working with, advising and/or supporting a Senior Leadership function.

This is a mid-sized business therefore, you must display the hunger, energy and drive that you are willing to be hands-on, not afraid of a challenge whilst having the gravitas to communicate and influence an impressive Executive team.

Key Selection Criteria:

• Demonstrated experience in workforce planning, rostering, or operations management. This role would suit an experienced finance analyst who is passionate about data, analytics and business partnering or an experienced operations lead;
• Proven ability to manage and improve rostering systems and processes;
• High level of proficiency in workforce management software (e.g. Tanda, OWNA) and Excel;
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and provide actionable insights;
• Experience supporting multi-site operations and partnering with centre-based leaders;
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to coach and influence stakeholders at all levels;
• Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities and meet tight deadlines;
• A proactive, hands-on approach with a continuous improvement mindset;
• Understanding of funding models and their impact on staffing (e.g. Start Strong, CCS);
• Commitment to compliance, quality, and service delivery in early childhood education;
• High energy, resilience, and a collaborative spirit.

BENEFITS AND PERKS:

This organisation will provide the right entrepreneurial marketing leader the opportunity to lead the work force planning function of the organisation and be instrumental in growing the enterprise value for the group. In addition, other key benefits include:

• Outstanding opportunity to partner with a highly inspirational Founder and participate in a highly successful fast growth Australian organisation.
• Extremely rare opportunity to be a part of a high growth journey where you will be instrumental in driving real enterprise value, transformation and insights.
• Be part of a highly engaged, winning team with a genuine positive culture.
• Work for an organisation that lives and breathes their purpose and values in everything they do having also been recognised in the industry as a top employer of choice.
• Opportunity to be part of a brand that you will love and be proud of.
• Highly strategic and commercial role.
• Own the group marketing function providing you with unlimited opportunity to make a difference. The destiny is truly in your hands.
• A workplace that's strongly focused on customer experience and on the well-being and happiness of its staff.
• Be apart of an organisation that is truly purpose driven and inspired.

APPLY:

If you are ready to RECODE your career, please apply clicking the link and send your resume in word format. For a confidential discussion, please reach out to
Richard Skaf
directly via email

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