Project and Communications Manager

Position Summary

The Project and Communications Manager plays a key role within UNSW Business School in providing strategic and practical project management and communications support for the Business School’s Academic Calendar Transition (flex-semester) and related curriculum transformation activities.

The role entails designing and implementing the Faculty’s change approach, coordinating stakeholder engagement and readiness activities, developing clear and consistent staff and student communications, and supporting Schools to manage inquiries and adoption in a structured and consistent manner. The role integrates the Business School’s messaging and engagement approach with central program office governance and student communications processes. In addition, the role provides day-to-day project support to the Project Manager to assist with the coordination and delivery of the broader Academic Calendar Project.

The role will support the Education Portfolio and Faculty leadership in enabling consistent implementation across eight Schools. The role works closely with School leaders, Student Communications Coordinators, student Experience Business Partner, Student Inquiries Operations Manager and the Academic Calendar Program Communications Lead in the Provost Office.

This is a full-time, fixed-term opportunity for two years, offering the chance to play a visible and influential role in a major faculty-wide transformation. You will sit at the intersection of change, communications and project delivery, helping academic and professional staff navigate new ways of working with confidence and clarity. Success in this role will see you translating complex requirements into practical guidance, building strong relationships across diverse stakeholder groups, and ensuring messaging and engagement activities are timely, consistent and effective. It is well suited to an experienced change or communications professional who enjoys working in a complex environment, balancing strategic thinking with hands-on delivery, and contributing to outcomes that directly shape the staff and student experience.

The role reports to the Academic Calendar Transition Lead Project Manager and has no direct reports.

Some Key Skills Required

• Relevant tertiary qualification with subsequent relevant experience or equivalent competence gained through any combination of education, training and experience.
• Proven experience in change management or stakeholder engagement, with an understanding of change frameworks, readiness assessment approaches and structured engagement planning.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to translate complex policy, governance and operational information into clear and practical guidance.
• Demonstrated success working effectively and collaboratively on initiatives with a range of people at different levels within an organisation, including academic leaders and professional staff.
• Experience coordinating communications within formal governance or approvals environments.
• Ability to develop and monitor a change approach, including stakeholder analysis, engagement planning and readiness tracking.
• Demonstrated capability to assess and manage change- and project-related risks and issues, and implement practical mitigation strategies.
• Experience designing and delivering workshops, briefing sessions and guidance materials to support stakeholder understanding and adoption.