Delivering an executive search to appoint a contemporary community care leader to drive service improvement and navigate significant aged care reforms in a large local government care division.
The Brief
Future Leadership™ was engaged by a Victorian local government organisation to appoint a Manager Community Care responsible for leading a large multidisciplinary community services division.
The organisation sought a contemporary, values‑aligned leader to assess departmental strengths and weaknesses, drive high‑performing and collaborative teams, strengthen quality assurance practices, and navigate significant upcoming Commonwealth reforms in aged care. The role held responsibility for more than 160 staff and multiple service areas, including early years programs, maternal and child health, youth services, service access functions and community support.
Candidate net Promote Score
Future Leadership combines truly personalised relationships with innovative technology solutions to ensure an approachable and efficient process for all our Net Promoter Score across clients, successful candidates and unsuccessful candidates is well above industry standard.
Candidates supported every year
We maintain genuine relationships with past candidates and continue to support them with leadership solutions long term, after they land their role.
Senior Women Appointed since 2002
Over half of the executive search assignments undertaken by our team have resulted in the appointment of outstanding female or LGBTQI+ leaders to high profile roles.
Candidate Retention Rate for 12 months since 2002
Our thorough briefing process and ability to engage passive candidates mean that we go to great lengths to find the right person for the role – long term!
The Process
Future Leadership™ undertook a comprehensive, nationwide search to identify high‑calibre leaders with a deep understanding of community care service delivery in complex environments.
Key steps included:
- Briefing and Strategy Development: Engaged with organisational leaders to understand strategic priorities, community needs, service reform requirements and key leadership expectations for the role.
- Targeted Candidate Search: Conducted an Australia‑wide search, supported by digital advertising, sector‑specific platforms, and Future Leadership’s proprietary research resources. Targeted sectors included local government, community services and related not‑for‑profit organisations.
- Candidate Assessment: Candidates were assessed for their experience in policy, planning, program development, continuous improvement, stakeholder engagement and team leadership across diverse, multidisciplinary services. All internal candidates were interviewed and benchmarked against the selection criteria to ensure fairness and consistency.
- Shortlisting and Client Interviews: A longlist was provided followed by detailed shortlisting discussions. Selected candidates progressed to client interviews supported by psychometric assessment, referencing and final evaluation.
Emerging Capabilities
Stakeholder Relations
Ability to build collaborative partnerships across government, community groups and service providers to deliver integrated support for diverse communities.
Culture and Engagement
Experienced in shaping high‑performing, values‑aligned teams committed to quality community outcomes.
Organisational Capability
Demonstrated capability to lead large multidisciplinary service areas and implement service improvements at scale.
Communication and Influence
Strong communication skills applied across community, government and internal teams to build alignment and trust.
Governance and Compliance
Deep understanding of policy frameworks and regulatory settings affecting community care, including upcoming reforms.
The Outcome
An experienced community service leader within local government with strong capability in organisational improvement, contemporary human services leadership and collaborative engagement was appointed to the role.
The appointment set the council in good stead to navigate imminent Commonwealth aged care reforms, uplift service quality, and strengthen community outcomes across a diverse municipality.
