* Join a collaborative, values-led team making shaping the life of the Uniting Church
* Hybrid work environment, based in Sydney, work with people across Australia
About the Role
To enable the Assembly to faithfully discern, set and deliver its vision and strategy by strengthening how the Church makes decisions, governs itself and works together. This role aligns strategy, governance and ways of working to build clarity, capability and accountability, ensuring the Church can act with purpose and fully participate in God's mission. This role focuses on ordering our life for God's mission by supporting the work of the Commission for Governance, Resourcing and Administration in fulfilling the Assembly's vision for sharing our common life and wealth.
Key Responsibilities
* Actively support and enable the Assembly Strategy 2026-31.
* Support the General Secretary in implementing the Assembly's 5‐year strategy, ensuring input from the ASC, the President and key stakeholders, and alignment with the Church's vision as described in the Basis of Union.
* Partner with General Secretary to commission new strategic initiatives, defining scope, outcomes and success measures.
* Establish frameworks and processes to track strategic delivery, manage risks and ensure accountability.
* Embed project management capability, including governance standards, shared language and consistent delivery tools.
* Build shared understanding and ownership of strategy delivery across all staff through effective communication and engagement.
* Act as Governance Secretary, ensuring governing bodies and committees operate effectively through well‐structured meetings and accurate record‐keeping.
* Provide governance advice to governing bodies and leadership, ensuring alignment with obligations, processes and good governance practice.
* Design and optimise governance frameworks that clarify roles, decision rights and accountabilities.
* Lead enterprise risk frameworks to support effective identification, management and reporting of risks.
* Define and maintain policy and delegation frameworks to ensure clarity of authority and consistent organisational practice.
* Develop and implement standardised ways of working across the Secretariat (and Assembly where appropriate) to improve efficiency and reduce duplication.
* Build organisational capability by identifying gaps and leading targeted development initiatives.
* Support decisions on operating models, including centralisation, delegation and accountability structures.
* Ensure effective escalation pathways for timely issue resolution and decision‐making.
* Strengthen knowledge management and collaboration to improve information sharing and automation.
* Source short‐term specialist expertise to support strategic and operational needs.
* Act as the key IT contact, ensuring alignment with strategy and operational needs.
* Foster a positive, values-led, interdisciplinary team culture grounded in trust, collaboration and accountability.
* Coach and develop staff to strengthen capability, performance and wellbeing.
* Manage resources strategically, aligning them to priorities and maximising impact.
* Ensure compliance with financial policies and strong governance.
About You
You are a strategic, values‐driven leader who brings deep experience in strategy, governance and organisational effectiveness. You combine strong analytical capability with the ability to think theologically and work collaboratively across diverse contexts. Grounded in the ethos of the Uniting Church, you navigate complexity with wisdom and help organisations work together in ways that enable mission, stewardship and faithful decision‐making.
You will bring:
* Tertiary qualifications in a relevant field, such as Theology, Missiology, Business Administration, Commerce, Strategy, Public Policy, Public Administration, Governance, Law or Economics (postgraduate qualifications such as an MBA, Master of Public Policy, or Master of Business Administration desirable)
* Extensive experience in strategy, governance or organisational leadership, with a strong record of delivering strategic initiatives and improving organisational performance (10+ years preferred).
* Ability to reflect theologically in ways that inform and shape your work, with formal theological study and familiarity with the Uniting Church's theological foundations.
* Demonstrated experience in strategy development and execution, including performance frameworks, delivery tracking and embedding change in complex organisations.
* Strong governance capability, including supporting Boards/Committees, acting as a Board Secretary (or equivalent), and advising on governance, policy and decision‐making frameworks.
* Sound understanding of the Basis of Union, Constitution, Regulations and Manual for Meetings.
* Proven project management capability, including commissioning initiatives, embedding delivery disciplines and building organisational capability.
* Experience improving organisational effectiveness, including operating models, ways of working, and technology‐enabled efficiency.
* Experience working in complex, multi-stakeholder environments, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and balance competing priorities.
* Strong communication skills, including the ability to synthesise complex information and provide clear, actionable insights to leaders and governance bodies.
* Proven leadership experience, including developing teams, building capability, fostering accountability and delivering results.
* Demonstrated experience working in and leading multi-disciplinary teams, integrating diverse expertise to achieve shared outcomes.
* A demonstrated commitment to culturally safe and respectful practice, including faithful engagement in intercultural contexts and honouring relationships between First and Second Peoples.
Why Join Us?
Joining the Assembly offers the opportunity to contribute to a Church deeply committed to discernment, justice and shared mission. his role provides meaningful, purpose‐driven work, a supportive and collaborative environment, and the chance to strengthen the Church's capacity to faithfully participate in God's mission today and into the future.
About Uniting Church and the National Assembly
The Uniting Church is one of the largest Christian denominations in Australia. Across the country more than 1,500 congregations worship at a Uniting Church including many congregations that worship in languages other than English. Our churches can be found deep in the heart of our cities, rural towns and regional and extended regions of Australia. The Uniting Church is organised not by a hierarchy, but by groups of people, lay and ordained, meeting together, usually making decisions by consensus, in each area of the Church's life. Alongside this we have a network of community services across 1,600 sites nationwide.
The Assembly is the National council of the Church, led by the President of the Uniting Church, with a General Secretary as chief executive officer. It has three agency. Frontier Services supports our ministry in remote Australia, UnitingCare Australia supports advocacy work of the network of community service agencies of the Church and UnitingWorld which leads our relief and development work, particularly in Asia and the Pacific.
The Assembly leads the National work of the Uniting Church in areas of theology, public advocacy, international and ecumenical relationships, governance and regulations and promoting the mission of the Church. It also works closely with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress as part of our covenant relationship.
To apply, please email your resume and a two-page cover letter to gensec@nat.uca.org.au.
#J-18808-Ljbffr