Chief Operating Officer

Job ID: 493689

Applications close Monday 13 October 2025

For enquiries: Kristie Husk, Talent Acquisition Manager

Work area: Office of the Chief Operating Officer

Location: UniSC Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs 

Classification: Senior staff

Supervisor: Professor Helen Bartlett, Vice-Chancellor and President

Employment: Fixed-term, full-time appointment for five-years

Position description: 

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About the role

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) is a key member of UniSC’s Executive team, reporting directly to the Vice-Chancellor and President. This is a pivotal leadership role, responsible for driving transformation, sustainability, and excellence across the University’s corporate and enabling services.

The COO provides visionary leadership for a broad portfolio that includes:

  • Campus Development and Services – master planning, capital works, facilities management, and sustainability initiatives.
  • Information Technology – digital infrastructure, platforms, and services.
  • Insights and Analytics – data-driven decision-making and evidence-based planning.
  • People and Culture – capability uplift, cultural leadership, and workforce transformation.
  • University Planning – aligning resources and operations with UniSC’s Strategic Plan and 2035 Strategic Directions.

The COO ensures that UniSC remains agile and future-focused, balancing strategic ambition with operational excellence. The role is central to enabling the University’s mission of transformative student experience, research excellence, and regional and global engagement.

About

Primary objectives of the position

  1. Shape and deliver UniSC’s change agenda by leading a strategic, integrated approach to corporate and enabling services that strengthens the University’s regional, national, and global positioning.
  2. Ensure excellence and value in service delivery by leading the COO portfolio to provide contemporary, efficient, and responsive services that enable academic achievement and student success across all campuses.
  3. Drive transformation and sustainability through the development of simple, scalable, and future-ready systems, processes, and infrastructure that support the University’s long-term growth and community impact.

Key Accountabilities

Specific accountabilities for this role include:

  1. Provide visionary leadership for the COO portfolio, ensuring all functions actively enable UniSC’s vision of creating a better tomorrow and its purpose of transforming lives through learning and knowledge. Ground decision-making in the pillars of Transformative Student Experience, People-First culture, Local and Global Impact, and a Sustainable & Resilient Organisation.
  2. Champion transformation across corporate services, ensuring services are efficient, innovative, and responsive, delivering measurable outcomes and fostering satisfaction among students, staff, partners and the wider community. 
  3. Lead the development of streamlined and robust policies, processes, and systems that support UniSC’s strategic enablers, delivering accessibility, equity, operational resilience, and embedding long-term sustainability.
  4. Oversee the delivery of world-class physical, digital, organisational, and workforce infrastructure, guided by the Strategic Investment Plan, Campus Optimisation Model, and Strategic Workforce Plan. Ensure these assets support student success, research excellence, and sustainability ambitions, including progress toward net-zero goals.
  5. Foster a service-oriented and people-first culture across the COO portfolio, embedding integrity, inclusivity, community, and sustainability in every interaction so that services are empowering, outcomes-focused, and values-aligned.
  6. Build the capability, agility, and wellbeing of the workforce. Promote a high-performance, people-first environment that energises staff to deliver on UniSC’s transformational goals.
  7. Provide leadership in University Planning, ensuring robust frameworks for strategic and operational planning that align resources with UniSC’s Strategic Plan and 2035 Strategic Directions. Support long-term sustainability, evidence-based decision-making, and the ability to respond proactively to sector shifts and regional opportunities.
  8. Actively contribute to the development and delivery of the University Strategic Plan, ensuring that enabling services are recognised as key drivers of UniSC’s mission and aspirations.
  9. Provide authoritative, strategic advice to the Vice-Chancellor and President, University Council, and Executive team on operational sustainability, workforce capability, planning priorities, risk management, and opportunities for innovation and commercial engagement. Ensure transparent reporting on performance and impact, including outcomes related to students, equity, and carbon management.
  10. Contribute to a positive and safe work environment for you and others by modelling and promoting conduct that is culturally capable, inclusive, respectful, and ethical.
  11. Drive sustainability at every level, ensuring UniSC’s operations support both current success and the wellbeing of future generations. Engage with communities, industry, and government to amplify UniSC’s regional and global impact.

Selection Criteria

Applicants need to demonstrate they meet the following knowledge, skills and experience:

  1. Possess a postgraduate qualification in a relevant field, along with a proven record of executive-level achievement in a large, complex, or multi-campus organisation, demonstrating the capacity to shape and deliver strategic priorities aligned with the institution’s vision, mission, and values.
  2. Demonstrated ability to balance long-term strategic foresight with operational pragmatism, including the capacity to drive organisational transformation, deliver service excellence, and embed sustainable practices.
  3. A strong understanding of the higher education sector (or similarly complex, regulated environments), including contemporary challenges, regulatory frameworks, funding models, and the ability to anticipate and respond to sector-wide trends and disruptions.
  4. Demonstrated experience leading major portfolios such as campus development, capital works, digital transformation, ICT services, and data and analytics, with the capacity to align physical and digital infrastructure to organisational growth and sustainability goals.
  5. Sophisticated understanding of financial management, resource allocation, and risk management, with experience in leveraging partnerships, commercial opportunities, and innovative resourcing models to maximise impact.
  6. Proven ability to foster an agile, capable, and values-driven workforce culture, promoting staff wellbeing, inclusivity, cultural capability, and alignment with organisational values and reconciliation commitments.
  7. Highly developed interpersonal and influencing skills, with a record of building and sustaining constructive partnerships across government, industry, community, and peak bodies. Demonstrated ability to represent the organisation with credibility, integrity, and authority.
  8. Evidence of leading innovative solutions to complex, organisation-wide challenges, including embedding digital, data, and sustainability capability, and driving continuous improvement in service delivery.
  9. A strong commitment to ethical leadership, cultural safety, equity, diversity, and sustainability, with the ability to model behaviours consistent with UniSC’s values of Integrity, Community, and Sustainability.

Recruitment process

How to apply

Your application should include:

  • Resume
  • A cover letter not to exceed one page. This statement should outline your skills, knowledge and qualities that will make you a success at UniSC.
  • A response to key selection criteria, answered within the digital application process.

Closing date 

Applications close: Monday 13 October 2025.

Contact 

If you have any questions about the position or for a confidential discussion, please contact:

Kristie Husk, Talent Acquisition Manager

Candidates may be requested to undergo psychometric testing and give permission for verification of their tertiary qualifications.

Prospective candidates interested in applying for this position must demonstrate eligibility to work full-time in Australia. Employment sponsorship opportunities may be available for qualified candidates.

Further information

You are a proven executive leader with the vision, energy, and experience to help shape UniSC’s future. You bring deep expertise in leading complex organisations, ideally within higher education or an adjacent industry, and you are comfortable balancing strategic foresight with the realities of operational delivery. You understand the challenges and opportunities facing universities today, from digital transformation and sustainability to workforce capability and financial resilience, and you know how to turn these into opportunities for growth and innovation. You have the credibility and interpersonal influence to engage constructively with government, industry, and community partners, and you are respected for your ability to inspire confidence, build high-performing teams, and deliver meaningful outcomes. Above all, you are a values-driven leader who thrives on collaboration and is committed to creating environments where people succeed and communities benefit.

At UniSC, you will join a collaborative and ambitious leadership team dedicated to creating positive impact through education and research. Our culture is grounded in respect, inclusivity, and sustainability, with a clear commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement and reconciliation.

We are proud of our people-first culture, where leadership is values-driven, diverse perspectives are welcomed, and wellbeing and professional development are prioritised. Our staff and students are inspired by the natural beauty of our campuses. and the opportunity to contribute to a university with a bold vision for the future.

The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) is one of Australia’s fastest-growing universities, recognised for its commitment to teaching excellence, impactful research, and deep community connections. Operating across multiple campuses, UniSC is a dynamic institution that delivers accessible education and drives innovation, social impact, and sustainability. With our 2035 Strategic Directions guiding our path, UniSC is ambitious in its goals to expand regional and global impact while remaining deeply connected to the communities we serve.

Our vision is to create a better tomorrow. Our purpose is to transform lives through learning and knowledge in every place we operate and with every community we serve. At UniSC, our values – Integrity, Community, and Sustainability – are at the heart of everything we do.

Find out more about us at usc.edu.au/about.

Joining UniSC means being part of a university that is ambitious, values-driven, and deeply connected to its community. As COO, you will play a central role in shaping the future of one of Australia’s most dynamic universities, influencing strategy and transformation across all corporate services and enabling functions. You will be working in an organisation where integrity, sustainability, and community are more than values, they guide decisions and actions every day.

UniSC is also a place of growth, where you will have the opportunity to lead significant projects in digital transformation, campus development, and workforce capability. And, with campuses based in some of Queensland’s most desirable lifestyle regions, you’ll enjoy the unique combination of professional challenge and personal wellbeing.

Sustainable UniSC

Welcome to the University of the Sunshine Coast, UniSC for short. A young, fresh university driven by an unwavering belief that community and culture is just as important as a world-class education, delivered by world-class educators. 

We may not be the biggest university, but we’re growing fast, and doing big things. Like ground-breaking research, championing sustainability, producing gold-winning athletes and award-winning alumni. 

Our first campus, on the Sunshine Coast, opened its doors in 1996. Today, our award-winning facilities span five campuses across South East Queensland, an area of unique geographical importance. In fact, UniSC is the world’s only university with campuses on three connecting UNESCO biosphere reserves and the World Heritage Listed K’gari.  

While we acknowledge and learn from the past, as a young university, we aren’t confined by the red tape found inside sandstone institutions. So you’re never going to be bombarded by stale traditions or hear phrases like “That’s the way we’ve always done it”. 

Our job is to empower fresh thinkers and ambitious minds to create positive change and ways of thinking that moves everyone forward. And our students, staff and researchers work hard every day to do just that. 

Together with our people, community and partners, we’re building a safe, sustainable, supportive, future-focused and fun learning environment, where lifelong friends are made, and opportunities are earned. 

We invite you to learn, experience and gain the tools you need to not just create a better tomorrow for yourself, but for the communities and planet you live on.  

We can’t wait to meet you.

The Organisation

UniSC’s organisational structure supports its ambitious agenda. Strong portfolios and flat, clear reporting lines facilitate accountability, flexibility and responsiveness.

Key statistics

A young university at the epicentre of progress. We’re a growing, comprehensive university focused on excellent teaching, ground-breaking research, championing sustainability, and producing award-winning alumni.

Our rankings

We’re a growing, comprehensive university focused on excellent teaching, ground-breaking research, championing sustainability, and producing award-winning alumni. 

Annual Report

View our achievements, challenges and performance against key indicators in our Annual Report.

Strategic Plan 

Our vision is to be Australia’s premier regional university. Our strategic plan outlines how we will achieve this vision. UniSC’s journey has been exceptional in achievement as a community-focused higher education institution. 

Locations

UniSC stands as the world's sole university with campuses situated within three interconnected UNESCO biosphere reserves and the UNESCO World Heritage Listed K’gari.

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