Careers

About the Organisation

Life Without Barriers is a leading social purpose organisation of 8,000 employees working in more than 500 communities across Australia. We support children, young people and families, people with disability, older people, and people with mental illness. We work with people who are homeless and refugees and asylum seekers.  Join a community of people dedicated to breaking down barriers.

Make a real difference in the lives of vulnerable Australians with this unique opportunity to provide both corporate expertise and community support. With a focus on people, not profit, Life Without Barriers’ corporate services team partners with our direct support staff to ensure we continue our mission to change lives for the better.  If a truly inclusive, collaborative, and fast-paced work environment sounds like your next career move, this is an opening not to be missed.

We want to employ people who reflect the diversity of our clients to ensure we can support each client's individual needs and wants. We encourage people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background and people with disability to apply.

About the Role

As the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Portfolio Manager, you will provide organisation-wide leadership to embed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as a core organisational capability, aligned with Life Without Barriers’ strategic priorities and values. You will strategise, design and execute the implementation of the entire DEI Portfolio of work, and to ensure equity and inclusion are integrated across governance, workforce, culture and systems.

This is a permanent full time position that can be located in Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne or Brisbane with flexibility to work from home, however, in person engagement in your local office will be expected.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and lead organisation-wide DEI strategy implementation and embedding equity across governance, workforce and organisational culture.
• Design, develop, and lead cultural and behavioural change programs across the organisation - including influencing senior leadership behaviours.
• Position DEI as a core organisational function aligned with strategic objectives and risk management.
• Identify DEI-related organisational risk and embed equity considerations into governance and risk management frameworks, with reference to applicable legislation (DDA, NDIS Practice Standards, Fair Work Act)
• Act as a senior adviser on diversity, equity and inclusion — providing expert guidance to executives, managers and teams
• Lead multi-stream and/or organisation-wide transformation initiatives with measurable impact.
• Manage Life Without Barriers’ employee networks, organisational participation in DEI events, and implementation of the Access Inclusion and Employment Plan (AIEP) – including governance and action plans
• Design and establish DEI data frameworks, metrics and evaluation processes to measure program outcomes and drive organisational learning and the effectiveness of DEI initiatives implemented.
• Champion culturally safe practice, with particular attention to First Nations cultural authority, disability self-determination and LGBTQIA+ affirming environments across all DEI initiatives.
• Embed lived experience participation principles into the development and evaluation of DEI programs, ensuring that people with direct experience of inequity meaningfully shape organisational responses.
• Build strong and influential relationships with internal and external partners.
  
  

Qualifications & experience

• Demonstrated experience building credibility, trust and partnership with leaders and staff across diverse portfolios including First Nations peoples and communities, or equivalent experience with other structurally marginalised groups, with a commitment to self-determination and cultural authority.
• Significant experience in developing and implementing a DEI organisational program with demonstrated and measurable impact within a complex environment including experience applying a lived experience partnership framework in program development.
• Demonstrated understanding of intersectionality and structural inequity, and ability to apply culturally safe, trauma-informed practices across DEI engagement, programs and decision-making contexts.
• Demonstrated program management and implementation experience including strategic analytical thinking, planning and delivery.
• Experience in designing and developing learning, capability, education, tools and resources to enable DEI best practices by staff across all tiers of the organisation. 
• Experience designing measurement and evaluation frameworks to monitor impact of DEI program of work within a large organisation.
• Demonstrated ability to use workforce and DEI data to identify systemic inequity, analyse trends and translate findings into evidence-based organisational recommendations.
• Experience designing and delivering high-quality DEI training, tools and capability uplift programs, and coaching leaders to integrate inclusive practice into everyday decision-making.
• Demonstrated ability to build alignment with executives and senior leaders, provide expert DEI advice, navigate complexity and influence organisational direction in a constructive way.

How to Apply

Include your resume and cover letter in one document, click ‘Apply’ and follow the prompts. For any enquiries relating to the position, contact Mikaella at recruitment@lwb.org.au 

Candidates with disabilities who require adjustments to the recruitment process or the application form in an alternate format can visit https://www.lwb.org.au/careers/ for information on our access and inclusion work and how to contact us directly.

Applications close midnight 13 April.