Workforce Development Lead – Manufacturing Centres of Excellence

Location:  Newcastle, Ultimo, Wetherill Park, or Wollongong

Temporary Full-time until August 2027

$145,605 - $160,719 salary package - includes base salary ($128,284 - $141,600), plus employer's contribution to superannuation and annual leave loading

At TAFE NSW, we are dedicated to life-changing impact. 

That’s why we offer world-class training and education that delivers the skills needed for the jobs of today and tomorrow. 

The TAFE NSW Manufacturing Centres of Excellence (MCoE), are National Centres of Excellence, a joint initiative between the Australian Government and NSW Government under the National Skills Agreement.

MCoEs are an innovative education model to tackle the manufacturing skills challenge for NSW and Australia. Located in Western Sydney, the Hunter, and the Illawarra, each centre specialises in different areas. These include advanced manufacturing with robotics and 3D printing, supporting clean energy in net zero manufacturing and sustainable manufacturing practices, supporting the heavy manufacturing industry, and supporting new and existing workforce build the skills they need for the future. 

By partnering with other CoEs, TAFEs, universities, and industry, these nationally networked centres ensure training aligns with real-world job requirements. The MCoEs offer short courses, microskills, and will soon deliver higher apprenticeships to help individuals become job-ready or enhance their skills for future opportunities.

Learn more about this initiative by visiting TAFE NSW Manufacturing Centres of Excellence.

About the role

This is a full-time paternal leave cover opportunity through to  August 2027, leading workforce capability initiatives within the MCoE.

The role is responsible for designing and delivering innovative capability uplift programs for MCoE staff including teachers, spanning areas such as cultural capability, digital capability, educational excellence and training on new manufacturing equipment. You will lead the end-to-end development and implementation of workforce development programs, working in a highly dynamic and evolving environment to ensure solutions are practical, future-focused and aligned to business needs.  You will collaborate closely with stream leads and key faculty stakeholders, influencing outcomes and navigating competing priorities to shape tailored programs that go beyond traditional TAFE approaches, while embedding strong change management and continuous improvement practices.

The successful candidate must be willing to travel regionally as required to the three MCoE campuses at Newcastle, Wetherill Park and Wollongong.

About You 

You are a confident and highly capable professional with strong interpersonal skills and the ability to influence and negotiate with a wide range of stakeholders, including managing challenging conversations to achieve outcomes. You bring experience in leading or delivering workforce development or training programs in a high-volume environment, ideally within education or vocational training. A background or understanding of the manufacturing or trades sector will be highly beneficial. You are comfortable working in a fast-changing environment, partnering across functions, and applying practical, innovative solutions to capability development. Your experience in program design, facilitation and stakeholder engagement, combined with your resilience, adaptability and commitment to continuous improvement, will enable you to deliver impactful outcomes in this role.

To be successful in this role you will hold a:

• Degree in a relevant discipline OR equivalent skills, knowledge and experience.
• Demonstrated experience in leading the development and implementation of organisational development programs across a large organisation.
• Demonstrated experience in instructional design and/or adapting and applying diverse learning styles.
• Demonstrated experience using a range of facilitation methods and technologies to engage diverse group

Highly Regarded:

• Experience or knowledge of the manufacturing or trades industry.
• Demonstrated experience in a high-volume training environment.
• Education background.

To find out more about the role, click to view the Role Description.

A career of life-changing impact awaits you. Apply now!

Applications close 11.55pm AEST Sunday 5 July 2026

To apply for this role, click on 'apply now' and provide:

• Your current resume
• Copies of your qualifications, where applicable (upload as one PDF file). Certified copies preferred; these will be required if successful for the role
• Response to one targeted question when prompted in the application form (max 300 words)

TARGETED QUESTION: Describe a time you collaborated with multiple stakeholders to deliver a capability or training program. How did you manage competing priorities and what results did you achieve?

General recruitment and adjustment enquiries: Ravinder Mansfield, Talent Acquisition Advisor via email: ravinder.mansfield1@tafensw.edu.au or tel: (02) 7921 2973.

Role-specific enquiries: contact Rebecca Nakhle, R/Associate Director, Organisational Workforce Development, via email: rebecca.nakhle4@tafensw.edu.au or tel: 0427 581 408.

For helpful insights into preparing your application, TAFE NSW’s recruitment process, and getting interview ready, read through our Application Process and the interactive Capability Application Tool. 

Our commitment to Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion

We are committed to creating a culturally safe and accessible workplace where dignity, trust, respect, and the promotion of diversity and inclusion are valued, so you can safely bring your whole self to work and connect with your community through our many diverse employee networks.

If you require an adjustment in the recruitment process, please contact our Talent Acquisition Advisor listed above.

This is a child-related position. A Working with Children Check is a prerequisite for anyone in child-related work. It involves a national criminal history check and review of findings of workplace misconduct. 

To be eligible for positions at TAFE NSW, you need to be an Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident of Australia or a New Zealand citizen with a current New Zealand passport.

A talent pool, valid for 18 months, may be created for this position, and position(s) of the same classification that subsequently becomes vacant, may be filled via this recruitment.