Role: State Performance Lead

Location: Port Melbourne, VIC

Employment Type: Permanent, Full Time

As the State Performance Lead, you'll partner closely with the State Manager to ensure we have the best Centre Directors in every centre, every day. Working across centres throughout the state, you'll develop a holistic understanding of performance, leadership capability, and operational outcomes, identifying opportunities to drive improvement and sustainable success.

This role is focused on supporting centres to achieve exceeding performance by proactively identifying risks, coordinating expert support, and empowering Centre Directors to lead high-performing teams. You'll play a critical role in strengthening leadership capability, uplifting centre performance, and ensuring centres are positioned to deliver exceptional outcomes for children, families, and teams.

Your Impact:

• Monitor and analyse centre performance across key operational, quality, financial, people, and compliance metrics.
• Develop a deep understanding of each centre’s unique context, challenges, opportunities, and leadership capability.
• Identify centres requiring additional support and coordinate appropriate state and national resources to drive performance improvement.
• Coach and support Centre Directors to access expert services, build capability, and achieve agreed targets and plans.
• Partner with State Support Teams to develop a holistic and current view of centre performance and leadership effectiveness.
• Lead and support performance improvement initiatives for centres requiring additional intervention and guidance.
• Collaborate with specialist teams to ensure Goodstart standards, operational expectations, and strategic priorities are consistently upheld.
• Support succession planning and talent mapping activities to build strong leadership pipelines across the state.
• Conduct meaningful performance and development conversations that promote professional growth and capability building.
• Verify that Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs) are purposeful, impactful, and aligned to continuous improvement and exceeding outcomes.
• Champion a culture of safety, compliance, accountability, and continuous improvement across the state network.
• Use reflective practices and adaptive leadership approaches to support and grow both individual and team capability

What Goodstart can offer you:

• Flexible work arrangements giving you choice about when and how work will be done in order to better manage your work and non-work needs
• Salary packaging benefits available through AccessPay (eligibility applies)
• Access to discounted childcare (up to 15%)
•  Fitness Passport - access to gyms and pools for you and your family at a heavily discounted price
• Discounted health care and access to employee wellbeing program with BUPA
• Exclusive discounts on travel, gym memberships, Apple and Dell products, and more.
• Free annual flu shot (optional)
• Option to purchase extra leave for even greater work life balance  
• First Nations Support and Cultural Leave
• Work for a company that has an aspiration to be globally recognised for early years practice and learning outcomes
• Gain significant investment in your growth and development with support, tools, training and experiences that will truly enhance the progress and outcomes for children in their earliest years.

You’ll bring to the table:

• Strong business acumen with demonstrated experience interpreting performance data and driving operational improvement across multiple locations.
• Proven experience developing and implementing strategic plans that deliver measurable performance uplift.
• Exceptional ability to analyse complex information, identify trends, and develop practical solutions to improve outcomes.
• Demonstrated success coaching, influencing, and developing leaders across varying levels of capability.
• Experience leading high-performing teams and fostering cultures of accountability, growth, and continuous improvement.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to build trusted relationships across all levels of an organisation.
• The ability to navigate complexity, competing priorities, and changing business needs while maintaining focus on outcomes.
• Experience influencing and collaborating across multiple functions to achieve shared goals.
• A sound understanding of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and National Quality Framework (NQF).
• Qualifications in Business, Teaching, Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), or a related discipline will be highly regarded but are not essential.
• Current VIC Working with Children Check
• Willing to obtain a Certificate of Completion for the National Child Safety Foundation Training, completed via Geccko platform

How to apply

Click ‘Apply Now’ and submit your application.

We review applications as they are submitted. We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible for your best chance to progress to the next stage of the process. 

Have a question? Contact our Talent Acquisition Team via email spaul3@goodstart.org.au

If you are a placement agency or external recruiter, please refrain from submitting resumes to Goodstart unless you have a signed staffing agency agreement with us. Goodstart will not be responsible for or pay any placement fees for candidates submitted by agencies that are not approved suppliers. Any resumes received from agencies or external recruiters without an agreement will be reviewed by Goodstart and may be shared with our internal recruiting team for their reference.

Supporting our people and protecting our children

We’re an equal opportunity employer that is proud of our inclusive and diverse work environment. We know that Goodstarters from diverse cultures, backgrounds and experiences strengthen our teams and help us grow. We’re also deeply committed to Reconciliation and creating an environment where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People feel a strong sense of belonging and connection.

Safety is our priority and we will take any action necessary to ensure that all children can feel safe and be safe, and are safeguarded from abuse, neglect and harm. As a Child Safe Organisation, all of our candidates must have or obtain a valid working with children check along with Certificate of Completion for the National Child Safety Foundation Training, completed via Geccko platform