About Palladium
Palladium is a global development and consulting firm, part of the GISI Consulting Group, working alongside some of the world’s leading project management and engineering organisations. We partner with governments, businesses, investors and communities to design and deliver complex programs that create lasting impact. With a presence across more than 90 countries, Palladium offers the opportunity to work on meaningful challenges, alongside talented colleagues, in environments where your work can truly make a difference.

About Australia Awards Global Support Mechanism (AAGSM) Program Support Unit (PSU) 
The New Colombo Plan (NCP) plays a key role in supporting the Australian Government’s objectives in building Asia capability. It aims to lift the Indo-Pacific capability and Asia literacy in Australia by supporting Australian undergraduates to undertake study, language learning and internships in the Indo-Pacific.  
NCP alumni contribute their Indo-Pacific capability and Asia literacy to Australia’s enduring engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. This is achieved through three complementary grants programs: the Scholarship Program, Mobility Program and Semester Program.  
The NCP is administered by Palladium on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) via the Program Support Unit (PSU) under the Australia Awards Global Support Mechanism (AAGSM). The AAGSM provides operational and technical support services to DFAT’s International Education and Scholarships Branch, with two End of Investment Outcomes (EOIOs):

• EOIO 1 - Operational Support: High quality and efficient administrative and standard business support services provided to DFAT.  

• EOIO 2: Technical Support: High quality, coherent, consistent and fit for purpose technical support services that also promote gender equality, disability and social inclusion outcomes throughout DFAT’s international scholarship programs network.  

The NCP PSU supports DFAT’s New Colombo Plan Secretariat (NCS) with high-quality grant administration and management consistent with the Commonwealth Grant Rules and Principles. Support service delivery includes end-to-end grants cycle and funds management, as well as technical support in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), alumni engagement, communications, events management, business sector engagement and risk management.  

 Purpose of position

The DTL (Program Delivery) drives innovative and effective delivery of the Program Delivery team including the Scholarship Program, Semester Program and Mobility Program. Leading a team of up to 20 staff, the role focuses on ensuring DFAT’s strategic direction is clearly understood and consistently operationalised across all NCP grant programs, providing change management oversight to uplift program delivery and realise ambitions of the next phase and the objectives for each grant program.

 Key Responsibilities

The Deputy Team Leader (Program Delivery) will be responsible for:
Strategic Leadership

• As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, support the Team Leader to lead and manage the NCP PSU in accordance with DFAT’s policy settings, ensuring delivery is adaptive and responsive to emerging issues, risks and priorities.

• Work with the Senior Leadership team and DFAT to co-create a Ways of Working Framework to determine shared expectations; clarify roles, responsibilities, and decision-making; and embed more efficient, transparent, and accountable operating parameters.

 Program Delivery and Performance

• Lead the Program Delivery team through its annual grant rounds with a focus on ongoing review, efficiency and enhancement and in accordance with Commonwealth Grant Rules and Principles (CGRP) and NCP Guidelines.

• Oversee the ongoing development and refinement of Standard Operating Procedures to guide Program Delivery and assure adherence in daily operations across the Program Delivery team.

Team Leadership and Management

• Drive innovation and thought leadership, particularly through annual evaluation and planning activities, collaborating with DFAT and stakeholders as required.

• Provide advisory support to the team on complex issues to ensure grants are managed efficiently, effectively and recipient contractual obligations are met.

Risk and Safeguarding

• Integrate a risk management approach into program delivery to ensure risks are minimised through safety and safeguarding measures.

Monitoring, Continuous Improvement and Reporting

• Oversee data-quality assurance practices across the Program Delivery team, incorporating regular data audits, quality checks and remedial actions.

• Implement and report against the MEL Results Framework to demonstrate delivery of outcomes against the NCP Program Logic and the AAGSM EOIOs.

• Lead continuous review of the Program Delivery function, reflect on inputs and processes, providing recommendations on service delivery improvements, innovation and operational efficiencies.

Other Responsibilities

• Comply with and promote DFAT and Palladium policies, including GEDSI, safeguarding, fraud and anti‑corruption, PSEAH, child protection, and environmental and social safeguards.

For all information on roles and responsibilities, see Terms of Reference (TOR): Click here

About You

We are seeking an individual who will bring:

• Significant experience leading government funded grants or program delivery functions

• Strong understanding of grants administration, compliance and probity requirements

• Demonstrated ability to operationalise policy and strategy into effective delivery models

• Proven leadership and change management capability

• High level stakeholder engagement skills, including experience working with senior government clients

• Relevant tertiary qualifications or equivalent professional experience

• Experience in international education, scholarships, or the Australian university sector is highly regarded.

How to Apply
Please submit your application online, including your CV and brief cover letter, outlining your suitability in line with the requirements of the position.

Closing date: Applications close on Midnight 31st May, 2026.

This position is open to residents with authority to live and work in Australia.  Rates of pay are based on local labour standards.

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 4,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities. 

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status. 

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse.  All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.