Team Leader

About the role

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a passionate, committed, and skilled Children, Young People, and Family Services Team Leader to join AAFRO's dedicated leadership team delivering services. As a Team Leader, you will work closely with staff, partners, volunteers, and the community, as well as with children, young people, families, and adults. You will supervise staff assigned to report to you and maintain accurate records. This role involves working with staff and young people, including their families, who are at risk or in contact with police, child protection, and youth justice services, including prisons and the wider justice system. You will work with AAFRO's leadership team and other areas of the organisation, including staff supervision and program implementation, writing project reports and grant applications, designing programs, undertaking data collection, coordinating operations, representing AAFRO to the wider community, and participating in training and evaluations. This role requires active engagement with staff who are in direct contact with the community and monitoring their activities during AAFRO program implementation on the ground. Together with the team, you will ensure that programs are delivered according to the organisation's model of care framework and follow the organisation's policies.

Key responsibilities

• Manage and support staff to deliver programs for individuals and their families
• Represent AAFRO to the wider community
• Promote and work with AAFRO's organisational partners as required
• Prepare and present paperwork to the leadership team when required
• Write reports that are clear, specific, and presentable
• Participate in and facilitate one-on-one workshops and group sessions
• Design programs and link individuals and groups with key organisations and community support services
• Work with staff, volunteers, and student placements to create a safe space for children, young people, and families to connect and support each other
• Assist with the immediate and ongoing support needs of individual AAFRO staff members, volunteers, and student placements to deliver their tasks
• Provide culturally sensitive support

About you

• A tertiary qualification relevant to the delivery of community services (e.g., social work) or a strong background working within the community services sector or equivalent
• Ability to lead and innovate to create a safe and welcoming workplace environment for all
• Ability to work with children, young people, and families of all backgrounds
• Understanding of issues affecting the health and wellbeing of vulnerable people and the ability to advocate for children, young people, and families
• Ability and experience in the provision of intake assessment
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including the ability to interact effectively with children, young people, families, and AAFRO business partners
• Ability to work independently and autonomously within a multidisciplinary team and in partnership with relevant services and individuals
• Experience facilitating group sessions for participants with diverse needs, including working closely with appropriate service providers
• Demonstrated ability to manage and organise multiple staff while contributing to management activities
• Current police check, Working with Children Check, valid driver's licence, and COVID-19 vaccination certificate

About us

The Australian African Foundation for Retention and Opportunity (AAFRO) exists primarily to build a bridge between children, young people, and families of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, especially those of African descent and the wider Australian community. AAFRO's model of care is based on community restorative and healing practices that draw on a variety of traditional justice practices that promote collectivism rather than an individualist approach to everyday life, including Indigenous justice circles, the African philosophy of Ubuntu, and modern developments. AAFRO is a child-safe organisation, and we have zero tolerance for all forms of abuse and neglect towards all children and young people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, culturally and linguistically diverse children, and children with disabilities.