Overview
* Help build a network of Community Engagement Points in the Ipswich and Somerset regions
* Full time hours (or part-time a possibility for the right candidate)
* Initial 5 month contract (until June 30, 2026) — extension dependent on continued funding
* $100k per annum + superannuation + vehicle allowance + tech allowance
* Applications due: 30th January 2026
About us
Beacon Strategies is a health and social services consultancy. Since 2015, we've worked alongside government agencies, Primary Health Networks, hospitals and not-for-profits to support practical, place-based approaches to improving community health and wellbeing.
We're a small and values-driven team that's deeply committed to respectful relationships, honest communication, and doing meaningful work. We have offices in Cairns and Brisbane, and a growing remote team across Australia.
About the project
Beacon Strategies has been commissioned to deliver part of the Distress Brief Support (DBS) initiative in Ipswich and Somerset. The initiative supports people experiencing distress by enabling trusted places in the community — called Community Engagement Points (CEPs) — to offer appropriate first responses and refer people to a formal support team.
Community Engagement Points exist in everyday settings where people gather — such as neighbourhood centres, sports clubs, churches, cultural groups, and local businesses.
Our role is to engage and support Community Engagement Points in the Ipswich and Somerset regions. We are not delivering direct support to individuals in distress — our work focuses on strengthening the local people and places already providing informal support.
About the role
Throughout the course of your week, you might:
* Meet with a local community group to introduce the project and onboard them as a new Community Engagement Point
* Deliver an introductory training session on responding to distress in a non-clinical, community setting
* Provide one-on-one support to a Community Engagement Point who's navigating a tricky situation or needs help linking someone to a formal support service
* Facilitate a networking session with local Community Engagement Points to share insights and build peer-to-peer support
* Prepare input for a quarterly project report, capturing progress and feedback from Community Engagement Points
* Liaise with our funder to coordinate data, training needs, or local communications
This role would suit someone with a community development, stakeholder engagement or partnerships background, particularly within the community sector with a focus on the mental health or suicide prevention subject matter.
You'll need to bring
* Experience in community-based roles that involve engagement, training or capacity building
* A strong understanding of distress or mental health in a community context
* Great communication and relationship-building skills
* Comfort working independently while being part of a supportive remote team
* A Bachelor-level qualification in a relevant field (e.g. community development, public health, social work, education)
* Residency in the Ipswich or Somerset regions
* Your own vehicle (we will pay a vehicle allowance)
* Your own technology (we will pay a technology allowance)
What you'll get from us
Full-time role (part-time considered for the right person)
* Flexible working hours with local travel only
* An annual learning and development budget of $2,000
* Supportive team culture — no expectation of overtime
* Staff off-sites, regular check-ins, and a team who genuinely enjoy working together
Interested?
Great — we'd love to hear from you.
Submit your application through Seek or reach out via the Seek portal with any questions. All correspondence with applicants will be managed by the Seek portal to ensure a fair and transparent experience for candidates.
We encourage early applications as we'd like to have shortlisted the majority of applications by closing date.