Add expected salary to your profile for insights We’re Goodstart – a not-for-profit with a vision for Australia’s children to have the best possible start in life. We’re Australia’s largest provider of early learning and care and Australia’s largest non-government provider of preschool and kindergarten programs. Our more than 15,000 ‘Goodstarter’ team members nurture over 60,000 children across nearly 700 centres. Goodstart was founded with a clear social purpose: to ensure all children, especially those in vulnerable circumstances, have access to high-quality early learning. All profits are reinvested into our centres, programs, and people, reinforcing our commitment to social impact and educational excellence. Here at Goodstart, we’re never satisfied with the status quo. We see that the world is changing for children, families and our people, and we want to be at the absolute forefront of designing and realising innovative teaching and inclusion practices that truly change lives. The Opportunity As COO, you will report directly to our CEO and be a key member of our Senior Leadership Team. You will lead our distributed team of operational leaders, early learning centre teams, supporting and challenging them in our ambition of both sector leading operational performance, and continued achievement of our purpose and mission. Goodstart’s COO is responsible for delivering sector-leading operational performance across a broad set of measures: safety, quality, inclusion, family and team engagement, risk, compliance, and financial outcomes. Beyond the realisation of operational performance goals, this role is responsible for the development and implementation of future performance improvement strategies, anticipating and responding to future changes; and to support the development and operational realisation of Goodstart’s 2025-2030 strategy. Goodstart has been transforming the way we work to being a truly Centre-led organisation. Each Early Learning Centre and Centre Leadership Team has the responsibility and accountability for its performance and performance improvement, recognising that each Centre, community and child are different and it’s only in our Centres that the best decisions for each child and family can be made and managed. As COO, you will carry the enterprise responsibility for the continued assessment and evolution of our Centre-led model and ways of working, not just within Centres, but also across the supporting central services teams who themselves are changing their ways of working to being Centre-led and Centre-ready in their support and change approaches. The professional development of all our Goodstarters is important to us, particularly our Centre Directors, ensuring we develop our leaders of the future, supporting and expecting each leader to realise their full potential and therefore their contribution to Goodstart and our Children’s outcomes. You will: Champion ourCentre-led model, and support its continued evolution, not just within Centres, but also across the supporting central services teams. Drive commercial performance through data and scorecards, and by building capability, driving accountability, and inspiring high performance, creating an environment where decisions are effectively delegated and oversighted. Lead performance improvement and strategic transformation initiatives. Represent Goodstart with regulators, government, and community stakeholders, and be a strong and compelling advocate for Goodstart, our sector and, our mission. Foster a culture of excellence, innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement across the organisation. What We’re Looking For We’re seeking a values-aligned leader with: Executive experience in a large, distributed, and regulated service organisation. Proven ability to lead multi-site operations and large teams (5,000 employees). Strong commercial acumen and operational performance expertise. A coach-style leadership approach that builds capability and drives results with effective decision-making and delegation. A deep commitment to inclusion, child safety, and social impact. Why Join Us? At Goodstart, you’ll be part of a passionate, kind-hearted, and purpose-driven team. You’ll have the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of children and families across Australia, while shaping the future of early learning. The first five years shape everything that follows. Yet too many children miss out on the early learning they need to thrive. At Goodstart, we exist to change that.Join us! Location: Brisbane-based is ideal; extensive travel throughout Australia required. Applications close: 5th August 2025 Apply now to be part of something bigger. Qualified and interested candidates should forward a brief cover letter and CV to [emailprotected] prior to the closing date of 5.00pm Tuesday 5 August. Leadership COO Operations EarlyLearning NotForProfit ExecutiveJobs Goodstart Unlock job insights Salary match Number of applicants Skills match Your application will include the following questions: Which of the following statements best describes your right to work in Australia? How many years' experience do you have as a chief operation officer? Do you have experience working in the not-for-profit sector? To help fast track investigation, please include here any other relevant details that prompted you to report this job ad as fraudulent / misleading / discriminatory. What can I earn as a Chief Operating Officer J-18808-Ljbffr
