This position is no longer open for applications

Palladium is contracted by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to manage the NCP Managed Administrative and Support Services (MASS) program which underpins the effective operation of the scholarship, mobility and alumni streams, and provides the cross-cutting functions of finance, communications, business engagement, risk management, and monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL).

This Opportunity

The Senior Coordinator, Events and Engagement in NCP MASS will lead on providing support to the NCS for its events and stakeholder engagement activities, supporting all three NCP program areas: Scholarships, Semester and Mobility, as well as alumni engagement and events. Key stakeholder groups include Australian universities and the international education sector, businesses and other organisations that provide study, work experience and professional development opportunities for NCP participants.

The role will lead on supporting DFAT in delivering a program of events and engagement activities, which includes both online and in-person events, and activities targeting NCP stakeholders, in line with NCP policy and operational procedures, and the annual workplan.

The role is expected also to:

• Liaise with the relevant counterparts in DFAT including having the lead relationship with counterparts leading on stakeholder and business engagement.
• Work collaboratively with the Alumni and Communications team in delivering events and engagement activities, and will support the Scholarships, Semester and Mobility program areas as required on key events and stakeholder engagement matters. The role will collaborate with the contracts, finance and operations functions on the delivery of key events in line with procurement, contracting and finance SOPs. The role will also coordinate with MEL, risk and data management roles.
• Engage with relevant NCP stakeholders, from business, university and other sectors – and will directly liaise with stakeholders such as guest speakers and presenters, and service providers for events delivery.

• Attendance at client and team meetings.
• Regular (minimum of monthly) one to one meetings with your line manager on the status of personal performance, career development discussions and any other matters.
• Palladium encourages flexible work practices to enhance wellbeing, productivity and team culture. For this role, we require that employees maintain an in-office presence for the majority of their working week. For example, if an employee works five days a week, they must spend at least three days physically in the office

1. Demonstrate commitment to the contract requirements and service delivery standards for the NCP MASS program.

• Coordinate planning and budgeting for events included in the NCP MASS annual workplan.
• Lead market research and market scans into events related suppliers such as venues, AV and videography/photography, events management companies, catering and accommodation suppliers, and work with the contract management team to consider contracting arrangements, including panels of preferred suppliers.
• Work with Scholarship, Semester, Mobility and alumni program leads, as well as the contract management team to ensure NCP events are planned and delivered in line with all relevant NCP operational policies and SOPs, as well as the annual workplan. This includes ensuring communications, risk management and MEL requirements are integrated into all events and engagement plans.
• Contribute to the development of Tasking Notes for individual events and ensure appropriate project management structures and processes are set up for each event, involving MASS team members, NCS staff and relevant suppliers or stakeholders.
• Coordinate diverse project teams consisting of MASS and DFAT staff, as well as consultants and third-party supplier, ensuring clear roles and responsibilities for all tasks and liaise with responsible officers to monitor progress and troubleshoot issues.
• Work closely with the operations team, ensuring all procurement, supplier contract management, travel and logistics are effectively facilitated to meet the specific needs and objectives of each event and in line with standard operating procedures.
• Lead project management of all events projects, facilitating client and project team meetings, tracking budget expenditure and producing reports for the client on results and lessons.
• Ensure high quality post events lessons learning sessions are feeding into MEL, communications and business improvement activities.

• Contribute to the planning and implementation of stakeholder engagement strategies, plans and activities for the program and priority projects as required.
• Coordinate activities supporting implementation of NCP business engagement priorities, including supporting meetings with business stakeholders, and contributing to initiatives aimed at promoting further business engagement
• Working with the Scholarships, Semester and Mobility and Alumni teams as required, support activities aimed at promoting quality internships for NCP participants, including coordinating the development of guidance and promotional material, supporting engagement with host organisations and promoting opportunities to the scholar community.
• Support engagement activities involving other stakeholders as required, including university sector, government, diplomatic community and civil society.
• Support activities to develop engagement and promotion campaigns targeting NCP stakeholders.
• Manage the NCP stakeholder contacts databases and ensure up to date.
• Lead on reporting on stakeholder engagement activities.

• Coordinate the production of high-quality reports, risk assessments, planning documents and presentations for clients where required
• Contribute to learning and business improvement based on practical experience, including if required, making suggestions for improvements on project management systems, processes, tools and techniques.
• Project manage initiatives involving alumni engagement where required.
• Ensure role specific procedures and all relevant documentation are kept current and available as per Program and Palladium requirements.
• Maintain events schedules, calendars, engagement materials such as briefing packs as required.

• Experience delivering end-to-end virtual and in-person events, including for medium to large scale events.
• Exceptional project management skills with experience managing programs or projects, that include delivery of events, workshops, and conferences as key project activities.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple events/projects simultaneously with competing deadlines and multiple stakeholders.
• Strong process skills and an ability to develop systems, tools and processes to improve project efficiency and effectiveness.
• Experience developing and implementing stakeholder engagement strategies and plans, including demonstrating experience of working with stakeholders from business, government and higher education sectors.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to effectively communicate both written and verbally and build a rapport with a diverse range of stakeholders both internally and externally to deliver successful events/programs/services.
• Strong analytical thinking and pro-active problem solving.
• Excellent organisational and computer skills especially with MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion, particularly in a cross-cultural context.
• Experience of delivering projects and/or events for scholarships and awards programs, or international development programs.
• Experience of delivering projects in the higher education, international education or international development sectors.
• Relevant degree or qualification, such as project management, events management, communications and marketing, international development.