Operations Director, Health Translation Queensland

Work with a diverse network of private and public stakeholders
Work across the evolving national health context
Based at the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital - Herston
About UQ
As part of the UQ community, you’ll have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world.
Everyone here has a role to play. As a member of our professional staff cohort, you will be actively involved in working towards our vision of a better world. By supporting the academic endeavour across teaching, research, and the student life, you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to activities that have a lasting impact on our community.
Join a community where excellence is at the core of our culture, contributions are valued and a range of are available, such as:
26 weeks paid parental leave or 14 weeks paid primary caregiver leave
17% superannuation contributions
17.5% annual leave loading
Access to flexible working arrangements including hybrid working options, flexible start/finish times, purchased leave, and a condensed fortnight
Health and wellness discounts – fitness passport access, free yearly flu vaccinations, discounted health insurance, and access to our Employee Assistance Program for staff and their immediate family
On campus childcare options
Cheap parking (from just $5.75 a day)
Salary packaging options
About This Opportunity
The Operations Director will drive the strategic and operational direction needed for HTQ to achieve its objectives, by finding constructive ways to navigate and balance the complex interests (and operational practices) of 13 individual partner organisations in a dynamic and evolving global context, and translate this intent into high performing operations and successful delivery outcomes.
This will require skillful negotiation, sophisticated leadership and the ability to establish highly collaborative executive-level relationships with the most senior stakeholders across HTQ’s member organisations and a diverse network of private and public sector stakeholders. This will be critical in order to deliver on the shared commitment and outcome the partners (which include and transcend the mandate of each individual partner organisation) and maximise the opportunities available for translational research.
Working across the complex and evolving national health context, the Operations Director will be required to act on behalf of HTQ in a range of capacities. This includes:
representing HTQ at national translation-related forums, with the ability to represent the nuanced interests of HTQ’s diverse partner group;
positioning and advocating (in various forums) for Queensland as an international ‘region of choice’ for translation efforts.
engaging directly with funding partners to negotiate and report on arrangements in a way that positions HTQ strongly in a highly competitive funding environment; (Note: This includes gaining a deep understanding of the complex and evolving funding landscape and working in partnership with the Executive Director to identify and capture emerging opportunities that advance HTQ’s, and Queensland’s, translational research interests.)
collaborating in peer forums with other Research Translation Centres (RTCs) on national system-level initiatives to determine scope, and focus national efforts in a way that identifies and advances collective objectives.
Within the HTQ team, the Operations Director has direct responsibility for ensuring the high performance of HTQ’s operations and the delivery of outstanding programs (with a view to setting the standard, both in Australia and internationally, in highly effective, collaborative efforts related to translational research). This encompasses responsibility for managing HTQ’s financial and human resources, operational and program planning, risk management, governance and compliance systems reporting, communication and stakeholder engagement.
The Operations Director will work closely with the Executive Director to drive the implementation of the HTQ strategic plan and the development, implementation and evaluation of operational and program plans. The Operations Director will play a role in the facilitation of project commissioning processes and the negotiation, implementation and oversight of any contractual arrangements arising from these.
This is a full-time (100%), fixed-term position until 30/06/2026.
At HEW level 10A, the full-time equivalent base salary will be in the range $142,104 - $189,126, plus a generous super allowance of up to 17%.
About You
Postgraduate qualifications in a relevant area are essential, or an equivalent combination of relevant experience and education/training;
High levels of confidence with navigating a complex and dynamic environment, with evolving interdependencies and high levels of technical content that influence/drive strategic decisions and direction;
Strong stakeholder engagement capability, including the ability to collaborate skillfully regarding complex issues and influence others through strategic advice and influence;
Inclusive and collaborative leadership style with a proven ability to build respected relationships with senior clinical, academic and professional staff within the health, research and education sectors and wider community;
Extensive relevant work experience in a senior or executive management role, with a focus on financial and budget planning, human resource management, technology and digital business systems, healthcare administration and/or research administration;
Broad knowledge and understanding of translational health and medical research in healthcare settings, and the ability to communicate complex scientific concepts and ideas to the general public;
Demonstrated ability to develop, implement and evaluate the physical, financial, marketing and human resource management strategies and initiatives that advance organisational goals. Related to this is a proven ability to contribute to strategic planning, policy formulation and implementation initiatives; and
Highly developed interpersonal, written and oral communication skills, with demonstrated ability to liaise and consult in a skillful and effective way; deliver high quality reports and submissions; negotiate and manage change; and communicate with diverse groups, both within the health and research sectors and the broader community.
In addition, the following mandatory requirements apply:
Work Rights: You must have unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply.
Mandatory Immunisations: It is a condition of employment for this role that you will be required to provide evidence of immunisation against certain vaccine preventable diseases.
Background Checks: All final applicants for this position may be asked to consent to a criminal record check. Please note that people with criminal records are not automatically barred from applying for this position. Each application will be considered on its merits.
Questions?
For more information about this opportunity, please contact For application queries, please contact stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line.
Want to Apply?
All applicants must upload the following documents in order for your application to be considered:
Cover letter addressing the ‘About You’ section
Resume
Other Information
At UQ we know that our greatest strengths come from our diverse mix of colleagues, this is reflected in our ongoing commitment to creating an environment focused on . We ensure that we are always attracting, retaining and promoting colleagues who are representative of the diversity in the broader community, whether that be , , , , or . Accessibility requirements and/or adjustments can be directed to .
If you are a current employee (including casual staff and HDR scholars) or hold an unpaid/affiliate appointment, please login to your staff and visit the internal careers board to apply for this opportunity. Please do NOT apply via the external job board.
Applications close: 21 March 2024 at 11.00pm AEST (Job Reference Number - R-35799).