Head of Operations

About National Trust of Australia (Queensland)

Voted one of the Gold Coast’s most popular tourist destinations, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) is the crown jewel of the National Trust of Australia (Queensland) [NTAQ] properties. As one of Queensland’s earliest nature-based tourist destinations, the Sanctuary is a physical embodiment of everything the NTAQ represents: to conserve and advance our natural and cultural heritage for future generations.


About the Role

As Head of Operations, you will be the driving force behind all frontline and behind-the-scenes functions at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. You will lead multidisciplinary teams across maintenance, horticulture, groundskeeping, transportation and facility management. Ensuring the Sanctuary remains safe, efficient, and consistently exceeding guest expectations.

You will also be a key Principle Duty Manager, championing emergency response preparedness, guest experience strategies, sustainability outcomes, and operational system development. This is a hands-on leadership role that requires presence in the park, collaboration across all departments, and a values-led approach to everything you do.

Operational Leadership: Streamline daily operations across Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and Astra Lumina, ensuring alignment with our strategic goals and delivering a seamless, world-class guest experience
Team Excellence: Inspire and develop a high-performing operational workforce, fostering a culture of collaboration, authenticity, and respect
Compliance Focus: A focused lens and commitment to operational and technical compliance across the operational portfolio
Safety Sustainability: Champion workplace safety, emergency readiness, and eco-friendly practices across every area of operation
Innovation Insight: Lead the development of operational manuals, SOPs, and reporting systems. Use data, analytics and feedback to inform continuous improvement
Guest-Centric Decision Making: Maintain a visible leadership presence across the park, respond proactively to issues, and represent NTAQ’s commitment to excellence in guest engagement
Financial Stewardship: Manage budgets, capital projects, contractor relationships and procurement processes with precision and transparency

About You

To be successful in this role, you will have prior experience leading diverse teams within a fast-paced operational environment, preferably within the tourism, events, or hospitality industry. Other skills we are looking for include:

Proven senior-level experience in operations or facilities management, ideally in tourism, attraction, or high-volume environments
A collaborative leadership style that builds trust, engagement and accountability across multidisciplinary teams
A deep commitment to guest experience, compliance, safety, sustainability, and continuous improvement
Strong financial acumen and the ability to interpret data to drive meaningful business outcomes
Operational agility and a proactive mindset — from developing SOPs to leading emergency response.
Excellent communication, interpersonal and stakeholder management skills.
A deep understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities of a public-facing, mission-driven organisation
This role will also require the following: RMLV, First Aid, Security (Class 1) accreditation, and a working knowledge of asset management systems (Forklift/excavator training also desirable).


What we can offer
Just as our charter is to protect, conserve, and celebrate the Environmental, Built and Cultural heritage of our State and we also are committed to ensuring our Team Members are protected, taken care of, and of course celebrated! We offer current and future team members:

Free On-Site Parking
Tertiary Education Partners for access to recognised Qualifications
Flexible Working Arrangements and Study Leave
NTAQ Team Member Card offering unlimited entry to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and other SEQ sites and generous retail food beverage discounts
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary Family Friends Passes
Access to My Fitness Passport

Please note, this role works from Sunday – Thursday and will require availability across public and school holidays. If you’re ready to lead operations with purpose and drive change in a truly iconic organisation, we’d love to hear from you. Read more