Overview
Lying on the east coast of Queensland, the Gladstone Region is a one-hour flight or six-hour drive north of Brisbane. The region balances the community's lifestyle and opportunities for the 63,000 residents who call the locality home. This regional community enjoys a coastal and rural way of life, and is an attractive destination for investors, businesses, individuals, families, holidaymakers and professionals seeking a lifestyle upgrade.
Gladstone Regional Council is seeking an accomplished and people-focused leader for a pivotal executive position that plays a critical part in shaping the future of the region and drives the delivery of Council's operational services across infrastructure, maintenance, customer outcomes, and organisational performance. This is a role of scale and influence, requiring both strategic vision and an unwavering commitment to accountability, delivery, and cultural transformation. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, the General Manager Operations will lead a large, geographically dispersed and multi-disciplinary workforce responsible for critical frontline services. This is not a construction-heavy role, but one that focuses on operational delivery of water, roads, parks services, maintenance, waste, fleet management, and community-facing services.
Responsibilities
Lead and manage a large, geographically dispersed, multi-disciplinary team delivering frontline services across water, roads, parks services, maintenance, waste, fleet management, and community-facing services.
Drive operational delivery, service planning and standards, strengthen maintenance practices, and lead transformative programs.
Ensure safety, accountability, and delivery excellence; model a "safety first" approach and embed tools to support physical and psychological safety.
Foster cross-functional collaboration within the Executive Leadership Team and engage regularly with staff, Councillors, and community stakeholders.
Qualifications
Substantial executive leadership experience in a complex, large-scale organisation, with local government experience highly regarded.
Proven track record of leading diverse, distributed teams through cultural change and building leadership capability across managers and team leaders.
Customer-centred leadership style, ability to balance community expectations with organisational capacity, and a focus on clear priorities and measurable delivery.
Ability to operate with political acumen, manage public expectations, and communicate confidently with Councillors, colleagues, and community stakeholders.
Benefits
Council is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce and offers a large range of health and wellbeing benefits.
How to apply
To find out more about the opportunity and application process, obtain a comprehensive Candidate Information Pack - visit mcarthur.com.au and enter #J8127 in the job search function.
For a confidential discussion, call Julie Barr or Rebecca McPhail on .
Other information
Note: This description previously included sections unrelated to the role such as policy prompts and site-specific insights; those have been removed to maintain focus on the position's responsibilities, qualifications, and application details.
#J-18808-Ljbffr