Experienced Placemaker & Operations Lead
Salary: $90,000 - $105,000 + super (negotiable)
Hours: Full time (Part time may be considered)
In a nutshell
You’re an experienced project leader and you have a background in placemaking, engagement, design, planning or community development. You also love thinking strategically about operations, and helping the team get their best work done. You thrive in a dynamic work environment, where no two weeks are ever the same.
Why you might love working with us
A small team with big ambitions, we are passionate about creating places that prosper, and we do it differently.
We know that ‘placemaking’ is much more than public art, and ‘engagement’ is much more than community meetings. We always strive to deliver work which is impactful and locally nuanced. We work across place strategy, research, engagement (both community and stakeholders) and implementation, and we bring these lenses to every project.
We are not motivated by vanity metrics such as revenue growth or billable efficiencies. We build incredible relationships with our clients, and love seeing real change in the organisations and communities that we work with. We work side by side with our clients to help them scope, deliver and sustain real world impact, and we are always looking at how we can ‘raise the bar’.
How we work
We have an awesome office in Teneriffe, and are fortunate enough to share with one of our collaborators. While we all love to come into the office, our project team are regularly on the road, working with clients and communities across Australia.
We care deeply about the work that we do and the problems that we solve for our clients, and we are always looking at what we’ve learnt, and how we can bring that into the next project.
Although we are dedicated to great project outcomes, we are also kickass project managers, always balancing project outcomes with available hours and resources. Whether it’s a site visit with a client, facilitating a large stakeholder meeting, or writing a summary report, there is always a lot to get done and no week is ever the same.
Working with the community may mean we need to flex our schedules to be available when they are (including some evening and weekend work). But we also care about our families and personal lives, so we flex for that stuff too by providing hybrid work options so you can get the balance right.
As Operations Lead, this role will require your steady hand in the office to support the team, but you can also work from home if that suits you.
We’re not your average consultancy, we’re purpose driven and our team are immensely proud of our unique work methods and strong client relationships. If you’re driven to work with a team that cares, on problems that matter, we’d love to hear from you.
Who you are
You are energised by a great strategy session with your peers, and also love rolling up your sleeves to get it done
You are driven by projects that put people and place first and love thinking about new ways to get the best outcomes.
You are comfortable scoping and leading a complex project, but also guiding and supporting others in their projects.
You have a passion for all things ‘operations’ - from work processes, to team meetings, to wellbeing check ins.
You’re a natural mentor, who loves to help out others and check in on their wellbeing.
You love to work closely with a client to understand their needs and shape your approach.
You’re not intimidated by a busy work week, and are able to ruthlessly prioritise to get the most important work done.
You are comfortable diving into the unknown and trust yourself to work out the route along the way.
You love brainstorming ways to help the team to do their best work, and getting feedback from them to guide you.
You’re always learning, and love geeking out on personal and professional development theories and tactics.
You know how to build out a process, but also know when it’s not needed (because no one wants death-by-policy!)
You love being part of a team and are happiest collaborating with others, especially cross-functionally.
You’re always open to both receiving and giving feedback and value perspectives that might not agree with yours.
You possess a self-starter attitude and strong work ethic, with the ability to adapt to rapidly changing and ambiguous environments.
Picture yourself in the role
You’ll be part of a team of 5 -10 staff members based in Brisbane.
You’ll be one of our experienced Placemaking consultants, and Operations Lead. As a member of the leadership team, you will work alongside Brooke (IP lead) and Harriet (Market lead) to drive the company direction.
You also lead the delivery of some projects, as well as support on others as a strategic advisory, or even a general resource. You’ll lead the implementation of a number of new operations tactics, helping us ‘get our best work done’ as we grow.
If you were here this week you would have:
Led an inception meeting with a client and collaborators for a new project down on the Gold Coast. You visited the site while there.
Set up the project program and briefed the team on their roles and responsibilities.
Briefed a team member on booking in a bunch of 1:1 stakeholder interviews and coordinating the logistics for the 3-day intensive engagement program next month.
Phoned a client to make sure they were happy with the engagement that was delivered on the weekend. It didn’t go as well as you had hoped.
Reviewed the draft agendas for an upcoming workshop series with community and business stakeholders.
Workshopped a reverse brief proposal for an existing client.
Showed one of the more junior staff how to build a project costing they’re putting together for a proposal.
Met with the rest of the leadership team - Brooke and Harriet - to check progress on your 90 Day Plan, and prioritise work for the fortnight ahead.
Facilitated the team’s regular ‘retro’ to help the team improve how we work together.
Attended an evening community event to provide support for another team member in their first event facilitation. (You then took the morning off to catch up on some things after the evening of work)
Started documenting some work procedures around taking leave, to provide the team with a quick reference for what to do when they need time off.
Ran a 3 hour workshop with a group of client stakeholders to build consensus on the project timeline and deliverables.
Collaborated with a colleague to help them distill the findings of several streams of place research and engagement into a strategy report.
Led the weekly team check-in to understand workload and guide the team on prioritisation
Met with a People and Culture consultant to get some support for the upcoming performance review process.
Perks and Benefits:
Purpose driven work: You will feel like you are positively contributing to the creation of places people love and feel connected to.
Community connections: You will build meaningful connections with community members across Australia.
Client relationships: Our team members pride themselves on working for and collaborating with great people!
Supportive environment: You will work within a team of likeminded people who are hardworkers but enjoy a fun working environment.
Hybrid work flexibility: Our team loves in-person collaboration but also works from the location that helps them do their best work. Our systems are set up so we are always connected remotely.
Travel: Our work takes us into communities all around Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and beyond.
Access to a learning budget: Your team has a shared learning budget so you can discuss the possible learning opportunities and decide together how best to spend it.
Keen to apply?
If you’re keen to get to know us more, then please let us know by completing the link below. You’ll be asked to send us a link to your Linkedin profile, and answer the following questions:
Tell us briefly about a placemaking or community project that inspires you and why (it doesn't have to be one of yours).
What is one of your favourite placemaking references? Where do you go for inspiration and why?
Tell us about a time that you’ve seen operations practices fail, what went wrong?
We’ll email you to confirm once we receive your application. We are interviewing as we receive applications, and will remove this listing when the role has been filled.
If you have any questions, or would like to check the status of your application, then please email us at recruitment@fourfoldstudio.com.au