• Hands-on strategic and operational leadership role
• Stakeholder, membership and community engagement focus
• Based at VU Whitten Oval, West Footscray

About the WFNL

The Western Football Netball League (WFNL) has developed a position of considerable standing in the delivery of community sport. The League is proud to deliver Australian Rules Football and Netball competitions for all ages across Melbourne’s West. The competitions range from senior women’s and men’s football, senior women’s netball and junior boy’s and girl’s football. Each season the League conducts more than 2,500 matches involving 300+ teams, over 350 umpires and more than 9,000 registered players from 34 clubs.

The WFNL is well established and, despite the pandemic, has emerged as a strong and viable organisation. The League is led by an independent Board which works with the CEO to outline strategic objectives for long term sustainability and supports the CEO as needed to ensure delivery of the League’s purpose. Moving forward the League must continue to focus on customer service and building and maintaining its wide range of stakeholder relationships, grow its commercial partnerships, and grow the competition footprint. The League has a comprehensive strategic plan to clearly guide its way forward. The plan will be refreshed this year.

Chief Executive Officer role

The WFNL Board is seeking a Chief Executive Officer who leads with integrity, has empathy for community football and netball and has the ability to continue the growth and sound administration of the League through delivery of strategic objectives.  As CEO you will be responsible for building the WFNL business, ensuring its future development and success through a range of commercial, sport and participatory objectives. Above all, you will bring a strong focus on upholding the purpose and ethos of the League while managing both the business and social objectives in the common interest of member clubs.

In addition to overseeing the day-to-day business operations, governance and reporting, the CEO will work to identify commercial opportunities and acquire alternative sustainable and diverse sources of revenue for the League. The ability to build credibility and strong working relationships with a diverse stakeholder group is key; from large corporate organisations through to local government, community groups, member clubs, volunteers and individuals.

To be considered for this role you will need to be a contemporary and professional business manager with leadership, energy, vision and integrity. You will have the skills to navigate through complex issues in prioritising, managing and delivering outcomes to achieve the strategic objectives of the League. You will be an inspirational leader with the ability to lead the strategic development of the WRFL’s professional staff, officials, member clubs and the wider community. The WRFL HQ staff are a high performing team and the  CEO must be able to lead with purpose and foster an inclusive work environment for all. The CEO is the key public representative and media spokesperson for the League and is expected to be a champion of culture, embodying the values of the League and demonstrating a deep understanding of the diverse nature of the Western suburbs.

Experience as a senior sports administrator and a solid understanding of sports governance is essential. Knowledge of both football and netball, whether through involvement as a player or through sports administration of either/both games is desirable, but not critical. The successful candidate will demonstrate a passion for community involvement and sports participation.

If you are looking for a job offering plenty of variety and a role that can make a positive and lasting impact on the core stakeholder groups, this may well be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

This advertisement and position description documents can be downloaded from this site.