Community Engagement Specialist

• Don't just work for the City - co-create it!
• Permanent, full-time opportunity, 35-hour week
• Flexible working arrangements available

We have an exciting and unique opportunity for an experienced and motivated Community Engagement Specialist to join our team. In this role, you will make a meaningful contribution to Newcastle's evolution to a liveable, sustainable, and inclusive global city.

As a Community Engagement Specialist, you will be responsible for building trust with the community and creating genuine, meaningful opportunities for the community to have input into the decision-making process. This includes encouraging inclusive participation across all demographics, ensuring decisions are informed by a broad range of community voices and lead to positive change for the Newcastle local government area.

Your excellent interpersonal and analytical skills will be key to building trust and fostering clear communication between the community and City of Newcastle. You will provide strategic advice to internal stakeholders enabling genuine, well-informed engagement opportunities. You will draw on stakeholder analysis and awareness to tailor engagement approaches and select appropriate methods for different project contexts. Your ability to prepare high quality reports that communicate insights clearly and effectively will support transparency and continuous improvement.

Working across the organisation, you will influence and support teams to embed engagement best practice, championing a collaborative approach that strengthens community relationships and enhances project outcomes. You’ll work alongside CN professionals and the community, on projects that shape how we connect, listen and respond.

Experience in local government and a strong understanding of diverse social research approaches, methods, and techniques, along with the ability to apply them, will be valuable.

Find out more about your new career by viewing the position description here.

Life at City of Newcastle

You’ll get to work alongside the brilliant minds of your colleagues who care for one another and the region. You’ll chip away at ambitious plans with a talented, passionate crew alongside you, shaping the very fabric of our community.

Every single day offers the chance to think big and act local. Planning and prioritising to achieve the most important outcomes with the community.

You’ll add value in the moments that matter. From librarians to lifeguards, in a range of iconic places, we achieve a better Newcastle together.

And we’ll be there for you in important times in your life. We embrace flexible work arrangements to find a balance that allows us to enjoy the city we shape.

Our focus on inclusion and respecting culture, will help you feel a deeper connection with others. You'll connect with internal communities that will help you to feel a sense of belonging and reflect the diversity of the growing region.

You’ll do meaningful work and do it sustainably as you take ideas from plan to play, in your own backyard.

With hundreds of different roles, each person adds their uniqueness to our culture and plays their part as we head towards our 2040 vision.

With natural assets and a focus on the environment, co-create a sustainable region with us.

Why join us? 

At City of Newcastle we value our employees, and their wellbeing takes priority. We encourage employees to make time for what's important and provide the benefits to enable a work life balance that allow us to enjoy the city we shape. To read more, visit here. 

• 35-hour working week with flexible work arrangements available
• 17.5% annual leave loading yearly payment
• Paid parental leave for primary carers
• Industry leading employment conditions
• Corporate Fitness program from as little as $12.90 per fortnight
• Access to a range of exclusive CN employee benefits programs including Novated Lease options as well as access to reward and recognition vouchers
• Annual performance development plans and ongoing training and development opportunities
• Leading the CN Way leadership program
• Inclusion, Diversity & Equity (IDE) employee networks and initiatives
• Access to Health & Wellbeing programs including an Onsite Physiotherapist, Yoga and Mental Health Ambassador Groups

We champion inclusion so that everyone is valued, and we encourage innovation and creativity. We are committed to creating a safe and inclusive workplace where different styles, backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued, encouraged, and respected.

People with diverse lived experiences (including but not limited to, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, people with diverse gender identities and sexualities, people from different cultural, racial, ethnic, religious and linguistic backgrounds, people with disability, carers, and veterans) are encouraged to apply.

Don’t just work for the city, co-create it. Join and expand your career at City of Newcastle.

Application Closing Date: Thursday 19 June 2025

Remuneration: $104,536.76 + 17.5% annual leave loading yearly payment + 11.5% Superannuation per annum for a 35-hour week

Contact: Rose Brown-Mason - Community Engagement Lead - 02 4974 2280 or rbrown-mason@ncc.nsw.gov.au

If you need any adjustments to be made to the recruitment process or if you would like to discuss any accessibility requirements, please contact recruit@ncc.nsw.gov.au for a confidential discussion.

You must have the right to live and work in Australia to apply for this job.

CN do not accept unsolicited resumes, and we respectfully ask that recruitment agencies do not contact us at this stage.