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.
It presents an exciting opportunity to improve service planning and standards, enhance maintenance practices, and lead transformative programs.
The successful candidate will bring substantial executive leadership experience gained in a complex, large-scale organisation, with local government experience highly regarded.
More critical is a proven record of leading diverse, distributed teams through cultural change, strengthening leadership capability across manager and team leader groups, and building an environment where people are engaged, accountable, and empowered.
Candidates will demonstrate a customer-centred leadership style, balancing community expectations with organisational capability and ensuring clarity of priorities and measurable delivery of commitments.
An ability to operate with political acumen, manage public expectations, and communicate confidently with Councillors, colleagues, and community stakeholders will be key to success.
As a visible leader, the General Manager will model a "safety first" approach, with strong experience in embedding tools and techniques to support both physical and psychological safety in the workplace.
Regular one-on-one engagement, proactive issue management, and strong cross-functional collaboration within the Executive Leadership Team will be essential to success.
Council is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce and offers a large range of health and wellbeing benefits.
To find out more about the opportunity and application process, obtain a comprehensive Candidate Information Pack – visit mcarthur.com.au and enter # J**** in the job search function.
For a confidential discussion, call Julie Barr or Rebecca McPhail on 9***.
#J-*****-Ljbffr