• Employment Type: Full Time (35 hours per week)
• Duration: Continuing
• Remuneration: Level 9 from $148k + 17% superannuation & leave loading  
• Location:  Kensington NSW (Hybrid Working Arrangements)
  
  

Why your role matters

The Lead, Digital Engagement & Enablement is a key leadership role within the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Student Success portfolio. The position is responsible for driving portfolio wide communications, engagement strategies, and digital enablement initiatives that strengthen student belonging, wellbeing, engagement, retention, and success.

This role provides strategic leadership in the development and delivery of innovative student engagement initiatives, with a particular focus on leveraging digital technologies and emerging artificial intelligence opportunities to enhance the student experience. Working across the portfolio, the Lead, Digital Engagement & Enablement will design, implement, and evaluate initiatives that support student success outcomes while fostering a cohesive and coordinated approach to student communications, engagement, and digital innovation.

The successful candidate will play a key role in identifying and responding to sector trends, and emerging digital AI driven opportunities to both improve efficiencies across the portfolio and improve service delivery to students at scale.e Through strong leadership and collaboration, the role will ensure that student-focused strategies are aligned, effective, and responsive to the evolving needs of the university community.

Working closely with faculties, divisions, and student representative groups, the Lead will build strong partnerships and coordinate activities across the portfolio to maximise impact and support a consistent student experience. Reporting to the Director, Engagement & Student Success, this role leads a team comprising two direct reports and two indirect reports and is responsible for fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Specific accountabilities include:

• Lead the design and development of engagement and communication initiatives to drive awareness and understanding of emerging factors impacting student health and resilience, developing communication and digital enablement strategies that enhance the student sense of community and campus life.
• Drive high quality, research informed, and accessible student health promotion and awareness campaigns aligned to relevant legislation and key strategies and policies, including the Student Mental Health Strategy, the Student Safety and Wellbeing Policy and the Support for Students Policy, establishing a systematic approach to capture impact for reporting.
• Develop a consistent, brand-aligned, approach to portfolio communication and engagement strategies, showcasing student impact stories and partner engagement with industry, community and government to harness advocacy and promotion of the student voice in portfolio initiatives.
• Establish key success metrics and a definitive approach to data collection and reporting, setting a baseline for comparative trend data to monitor the effectiveness of communication and engagement initiatives to inform continuous improvement in the activities, and integrity of programs.

About You:  

• Relevant tertiary qualification with subsequent relevant experience or equivalent competence gained through any combination of education, training and experience.
• Relevant tertiary qualification with subsequent relevant experience, or equivalent competence gained through any combination of education, training and experience.
• Significant experience in a tertiary education environment developing and implementing strategic communication and engagement plans, with demonstrated success in reaching and influencing diverse student populations — domestic and international.
• Demonstrated ability to identify opportunities for AI-enabled innovation in service delivery or student engagement contexts, with an AI-informed lens and capacity to translate complex operational challenges into well-defined solution briefs for technical partners. Direct technical or development skills are not required.
• Proven ability to anticipate and respond to a rapidly evolving technology and policy landscape, demonstrating experience in designing strategic and operational approaches to raise awareness, upskill and drive adoption across teams.
• Significant leadership and team management skills and experience, with demonstrated success in motivating, managing, coaching and developing staff, fostering teamwork and effectively managing areas of potential dispute or conflict.
• Demonstrated experience in developing persuasive presentations and reports, effectively communicating to a variety of audiences including formal governing bodies, executive stakeholders and student communities.
• Demonstrated success in establishing a systematic approach to evaluation and review of communication and engagement initiatives, using data-informed insights to influence and drive continuous improvement.
• Proven ability and record of successfully:
  • applying judgement, creativity, and flexibility to solve complex problems, including by generating new and innovative ideas and approaches; and
  • gaining consensus and commitment from others and identifying and effectively diffuse potential areas of dispute and/or conflict.
• Proven effective interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with a customer service focus and the demonstrated ability to build effective internal and external working relationships with diverse groups.
• A demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of student experience.

The successful candidate will be required to obtain a valid paid Working with Children’s Check.

For further details on role responsibilities and skills & experience required, refer to the position description found under the position listing on Jobs@UNSW.

Benefits and Culture:

People are at the core of everything we do. We recognise it is the contributions of our staff who make UNSW one of the best universities in Australia and the world.

Our benefits include:

• Flexible working options.
• Career development opportunities.
• 17% Superannuation contributions and additional leave loading payments.
• Additional 3 days of leave over Christmas period.
• Discounts and entitlements (retail, education, fitness).

For further details on the benefits, please visit https://www.jobs.unsw.edu.au/lifestyle-benefits

Pre-Employment Checks
Aligned with UNSW’s focus on cultivating a workplace defined by safety, ethical conduct, and strong integrity, preferred candidates will be required to participate in a combination of pre-employment checks relevant to the role they have applied for.

These pre-employment checks may include a combination of some of the following checks:- 

• National and International Criminal history checks
• Entitlement to work and ID checks
• Working With Children Checks
• Completion of a Gender-Based Violence Prevention Declaration
• Verification of relevant qualifications
• Verification of relevant professional membership
• Employment history and reference checks
• Financial responsibility assessments/checks.
• Medical Checks and Assessments

Compliance with the necessary combination of these checks is a condition of employment at UNSW.

How to Apply: Submit your CV & cover letter addressing the key selection criteria (no more than 2 pages) before 11.55pm Sunday 28^th June 2026. Please note: Sponsorship is not available for this role, valid Australian working rights are required on application.

Job queries contact: Chloe Gane, Talent Acquisition Consultant E: chloe.gane@unsw.edu.au  (applications to the address cannot be accepted, please apply online)

UNSW is committed to equity diversity and inclusion. Applications from women, people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, those living with disabilities, members of the LGBTIQ+ community; and people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, are encouraged. UNSW provides workplace adjustments for people with disability, and access to flexible work options for eligible staff.