Head of Organisational Capability

Are you an experienced organisational capability leader who can shape the future of a highly regulated, mission-driven sector? Do you thrive in environments undergoing significant transformation, where your work directly impacts the capability, performance and culture of thousands of educators and leaders? If so, this is a rare and career-defining opportunity.

Reporting to the Chief People Officer, this role leads the design, governance, and delivery of our organisational capability, leadership, and workforce development strategy—ensuring our people are qualified, compliant, and future ready. You will oversee the Organisational Capability team, integrating workforce capability, regulatory learning, and teaching quality to deliver exceptional outcomes for our educators, leaders, and the children they inspire.

The role:

• Lead the design and implementation and governance of Affinity’s company-wide capability framework aligned to regulatory requirements and organisational strategy.
• Partner with Operations and Education to strengthen capability in areas critical to compliance, child safety, quality practice and centre performance.
• Shape leadership development programs that build succession, elevate performance, and prepare our next generation of leaders.
• Oversee our regulatory and compliance learning—ensuring alignment with the National Quality Framework (NQF), Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), and sector standards.
• Lead capability components of organisational transformation programs, including role redesign, new operating models, change readiness and adoption.
• Oversee the development of high-impact onboarding pathways for Centre Managers, Early Childhood Teachers, emerging leaders and corporate teams.
• Govern and manage grants, workforce funding, and national education partnerships, including the Affinity Learning Academy.
• Shape a culture of continuous learning, accountability.
• Use data, insights and workforce analytics to inform strategic decisions, measure capability uplift, and monitor organisational health.
• Partner with senior stakeholders, accrediting bodies, and training providers to strengthen education pathways and sector compliance.

About you

You are a strategic, forward thinking capability leader with deep experience in regulated sectors, ideally Early Childhood Education & Care, allied health, aged care or another compliance focused environment.

You bring:

• 10+ years in Early Years Sector, organisational capability, learning & development, workforce or talent strategy.
• Degree in HR, Education, Adult Learning or related discipline.
• Expertise in organisational development, leadership programs, talent and capability frameworks and transformation enablement.
• Strong background in managing grants, government programs or workforce funding initiatives.
• Proven leadership experience within the early childhood education sector or a similarly regulated environment, with a clear understanding of NQF, NQS, EYLF.
• Demonstrated success in designing and implementing contemporary learning, leadership, and capability frameworks.
• Commercial acumen and confidence in using data insights to inform strategic decisions.
• Exceptional stakeholder management, communication, and collaboration skills.

Why work for Affinity?

Join a values-led organisation that puts people first. At Affinity, our mission is to inspire and nurture individuals to reach their full potential—creating opportunities not just for children, but for our people too. As a respected leader within our People & Culture team, you’ll shape learning excellence, drive capability uplift, and leave a lasting impact across a national community of educators.

Enjoy flexible working arrangements, including one day per week from home, and the opportunity to contribute to meaningful sector transformation.

Our Safety Commitment

At Affinity, we are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace where everyone is treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the safety, rights, and wellbeing of all children and uphold a culture of zero tolerance for harm. This same commitment extends to the wellbeing of our employees and their families.

Permanent full-time role, Monday to Friday, 38 hours per week.

Join us and lead the growth, capability, and excellence that define the future of early education at Affinity.