Job Description

Merri-bek City Council is a progressive council of 175,000 residents: one community, proudly diverse. Our council area sits within the banks of the Merri Creek and the Moonee Ponds Creek, and includes Brunswick, Coburg, Fawkner, Glenroy, Gowanbrae, Hadfield, Oak Park and Pascoe Vale. Our city is vibrant and energetic, known for its active community, cultural diversity, creative industries and the arts. Our long-term vision has ambitious goals for environmental sustainability, social justice, community wellbeing, and creating great places. With the Civic Centre located in Coburg, 8 kilometres north of Melbourne’s CBD, there are excellent public transport options and great food and cafés right at the doorstep.

Merri-bek Council strives to be a contemporary, innovative and collaborative organisation with a deep commitment to engaging and supporting the Merri-bek community.  Our organisational vision is to be one team, brave and diverse, making a difference.

This fast-paced, dynamic leadership role is a key position within the Merri-bek Senior Management Team, with responsibility for ensuring that Council’s contact with its community is of the highest standard. This role is critical to the delivery of Council’s customer service, communications and community engagement functions and represents an incredible opportunity for an engaging, contemporary people leader to direct how the organisation continues to evolve to more closely meet contemporary community expectations of engagement. This role will champion principles of fairness, transparency and participation into interactions with our community.

Reporting to the Director Community, the Manager will drive the implementation of Council’s Customer Service standards and customer experience transformation programs and Community Engagement Policy and Framework. The role will enhance the organisation’s capacity to deliver high quality customer service, and engagement, and manage Council’s brand and reputation through effective and contemporary communication, marketing and issues and reputation management.

The role oversees five direct reports and an overall team of 60 staff. Key responsibilities will include:

• Lead and manage a proactive and effective customer service, communications and community engagement branch, with clear expectations, accountability and delivery
• Provide strategic oversight of Council’s customer service, communications and community engagement functions, ensuring alignment with key strategies and plans as well as key contextual organisational, local and political sensitivities
• Lead an organisational wide, customer centric approach to customer service to assist the organisation to improve the way we deliver customer service, manage customer requests and respond to complaints through multiple channels.
• Ensure best practice Community Engagement is embedded across the organisation, through the implementation of the community engagement policy and framework, particularly for more complex engagement, participation and enablement activities.
• Continually exploring opportunities to enhance the organisation’s capacity to deliver high quality customer service and engagement, managing Council’s brand and reputation through effective communication, marketing and issues management.
• Overseeing Council’s corporate brand through media, communications, campaigns and marketing strategies, and provide high level of advice and support to Councillors, CEO, senior management and across the organisation in relation to communications activities
• Developing the organisation’s capacity to better assist and enable community led initiatives, through triage and brokering with the appropriate parts of the organisation
• Leading an organisational approach to customer service to improve the way that Council delivers customer service, manages customer requests and respond to complaints through multiple channels
• Management of Council’s Customer Service centres and contact centre, with oversight of Council’s complaints management processes

Relevant tertiary qualifications will be expected in communications, public relations, public administration or a similar field, with substantial relevant people leadership experience, ideally from within Local Government or the Public Sector. Substantial experience will be required in one or more of communications and reputation management, customer service or community engagement, with the ability to influence at all levels in a complex political environment. Highly developed leadership, interpersonal, communication and presentation skills will be essential.

The role’s significant interaction with a range of both internal and external stakeholders will require a strong customer focus and the ability to work and communicate credibly with stakeholders of all levels including the CEO and Councillors.

Download the position description by copying and pasting bit.ly/3AKMegb into your browser, or please contact Charlie Cole on charlie@camdensearch.com.au for any specific questions. Applications close on Friday 29th November and will be treated with absolute confidence.

Merri-bek City Council has adopted a Statement of Commitment to Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung People and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of the municipality. The statement recognises the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people as the traditional owners of the lands and waterways of our municipality.

Merri-bek City Council is committed to being a Child Safe organisation and have zero tolerance for child abuse. We believe children and young people have the right to be and feel safe and that their safety and wellbeing is the responsibility of everyone. You can read more about our Child Safety Commitment Statement on our website.