Chief Executive Officer

The Organisation

Youth Projects provides employment and training, health, outreach and education services to young people and adults, across the north, west, east, and inner suburbs of Melbourne, who are experiencing disadvantage including unemployment, homelessness, mental health challenges, and alcohol and other drug dependency. Committed to breaking the cycle of disadvantage, Youth Projects recognises the complex and varying needs of the clients it serves.

With multiple sites and a highly skilled multi-disciplinary team of around 170, Youth Projects provides complete wrap-around, judgement-free services with unwavering focus on respect, client-centred care, and harm minimisation. The impact Youth Projects seeks enables clients to lead longer lives, have improved health, meaningful employment, and a greater sense of belonging, safety, and security through a holistic model of care.

Youth Projects is funded by contracts with federal and state bodies, charitable trusts, corporate supporters, social enterprise initiatives and maintains service partnerships with many stakeholders and peer agencies.


The Role

After a sustained period of measured positive impact and growth, the newly appointed CEO will continue the close working relationship with a highly engaged board to develop the next phase of Youth Projects’ trajectory. With a new strategic plan to be developed and delivered in 2025 and major contract renewals due for key services, your responsibilities will be to: 

• Provide vision, inspiration and leadership to a highly capable and engaged team
• Develop and deliver a highly accountable strategic plan
• Represent organisational needs and priorities to key stakeholders
• Collaborate with peer agencies and provide sector leadership
• Achieve effective operation of programs, meeting agreed outcomes and funding criteria
• Ensure strong financial performance, high quality governance, and income diversification with a focus on fee for service and fundraising

Skills Required

You are already a visionary CEO or senior executive with the passion to lead this celebrated organisation to the next stage of development. With a focus on measuring and clearly articulating impact, you have a track record in leading teams to deliver highly targeted programs in a like-minded organisation ideally within employment and training, primary health, youth services, homelessness or similar. Commercially and politically savvy, and abreast of sector policy changes and reforms, you bring credibility and confidence to engage and deepen stakeholder relationships, and your skill set includes:

• Team leadership to drive capability, evidence-based impact and change
• Facilitation of a positive work culture and self-care for teams working at the coal face
• A strong understanding of government funders, funding and funding models.
• Capacity to assess return on investment and program sustainability
• Good governance ensuring mutually beneficial relationship with the chair and board 
• Familiarity with and embracement of work integrated social enterprise models
• Leverage existing networks within the sector as well as State and Federal Government

If you’re passionate about shaping the future of Youth Projects and supporting Australia’s most vulnerable young people, please submit your cover letter responding to the skills required above and CV quoting #1288264 or call Hayley Martin on 03 8080 8978 to have a candidate pack emailed to you.

Please note there is no formal closing date for this role, if you are interested, we would encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

NGO Recruitment values equitable recruitment practices and is committed to representing candidates reflective of the diverse organisations and communities we work with. We welcome and encourage applications from all backgrounds, ages, and identities, and are happy to adjust our recruitment process to support accessibility needs. If you are interested in this position and have most of the skills or experience we are looking for, please go ahead and apply.