12-Month Implementation Plan Delivering the 2026–2030 Strategic Plan & achieving the 2026 targets
- Open warm: thank the panel; one line on why this role matters to me.
- Frame the next 15 minutes: "Not re-pitching the strategy — it's approved. I'll show you how I deliver it and hit the 2026 numbers."
- Land the formula in CYP's own words (Responsibility first) — signals I understand the agenda, not just the program.
Who I Am · Why School to Jobs
A people-first leader, deeply committed to this region
♥A people-first leader
I'm a passionate, dedicated and creative leader. Where others see roadblocks, I see solutions. My team are my people — I bring everyone along on the journey to ensure collective growth and pride.
★Stocking the toolkit
My goal is for every student to leave school with a toolkit well-stocked with pride — and a clear, sustainable pathway from education to training to employment, with the foundation to grow even further.
◆Deep regional commitment
My commitment to the FNQ & Cairns region and First Nations people runs deep. I'm driven by real opportunities that change the narrative for our youth.
- This is your authentic opener — say it warmly, in your own voice. It sets up everything that follows.
- "My team are my people" and "change the narrative for our youth" are your lines — own them.
- Touch the credentials strip lightly — don't read it. One line: "I bring 30 years across psychology and employment services, and I already meet your Blue Card and licence requirements."
- Bridge into the plan: "That commitment is why I've built a concrete plan to deliver — here's how."
The Mandate
Deliver the approved plan. Earn the outcomes.
★The Program
A proven youth pathway inside Cape York Employment. Djarragun College saw a 38% lift in students earning or learning within 3 months of graduation, and youth employment outcomes moved 0% → 7%.
◎The Targets
2026 is Year 1 of delivery: 128 young people supported, 27 employer partners, 48 into employment, 50 in work experience, 150 stakeholder engagements.
⚑The Environment
A tight, tightly-networked Cairns labour market dominated by small business. Reputation is the critical asset — employer confidence must be carefully managed and continuously earned.
- Three things shape everything I do: a proven program, hard numbers, and a fragile reputation environment.
- Use the Djarragun 38% and 0→7% as proof I've read and understood the plan.
- Flag the reputation point early — it's why my whole approach is risk-managed, not volume-at-all-costs.
Year 1 Targets
What 2026 has to deliver
↗Where the growth comes from
The two stretch targets — +7 employer partners and +20 work-experience placements — drive everything else. My plan front-loads employer pipeline and placement capacity so the people and employment numbers follow.
◷Read as a quarterly run-rate
27 partners ≈ ~2 new partners a month. 50 placements ≈ ~12–13 a quarter. Breaking targets into a monthly rhythm makes them manageable and makes slippage visible early.
- Don't read every number — point to the two STRETCH badges and say "these are where I focus".
- Translating annual targets into a monthly run-rate is a leadership signal: I manage to a cadence, not a year-end panic.
- Confirm on commencement: exact live baseline (the strategic plan table vs the S2J fact-sheet differ slightly — 20 vs 23 partners). Use official plan figures here.
Executive Summary
My strategy — addressing your four challenges
Hit 27 partners & 50 placements by activating my "Grow & Retain" anchor network — not cold-calling. Track record: 20,000+ apprenticeship sign-ups a year.
Operational rigour ($8M budgets) with a psychology-led mentor style — a high-functioning, accountable team underpinned by strong governance, risk & compliance.
Funder confidence through transparency, audit readiness & commercial acumen — integrating schools, RTOs, agencies and the broader CYP Group.
Young people progressing past entry-level into sustained careers — breaking the cycle of welfare reliance and earning S2J's place as the premium pathway in Cairns.
- This is your roadmap slide — deliver it briskly (~45 sec): "Here's my strategy against your four challenges; I'll detail each next."
- It maps directly to the brief's four "Your Challenge" areas — signals you've answered exactly what was asked.
- If you're running short on time, this slide lets you summarise and skip lightly through the detail slides.
Priority 1
My first 90 days
- Meet team, students, Djarragun & key employers
- Audit pipeline: live placements, at-risk students, data quality
- Map current employer relationships & reputation health
- Lock placement & conduct protocols before new placements
- Re-engage warm/lapsed employers for fast placements
- Stand up a simple weekly delivery dashboard
- Activate new employer pipeline toward 27 partners
- Skills Academy readiness intake aligned to placements
- First quarterly funder report — set the narrative
- Story: I always start a new region by listening before changing things — reference how I did this taking on North QLD / State Manager roles.
- Quick wins are deliberately low-risk to protect reputation — tie back to the environment slide.
- By day 90 the "engine" (pipeline + readiness + reporting cadence) is running.
Priority 2 · Growth
Employer engagement → 27 partners
| Employer | Sector | My relationship | Opportunity for S2J |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hutchinson Builders | Construction | Direct partnership (Andrew Goller) | "Try a Trade" & trade pathways / apprenticeships |
| QBuild | Trades / civil | Established relationship (Charlotte Penna) | Supported trade pathways & placements |
| Cairns Regional Council | Civil / local govt | Deep ties (Bree Knox) | High-volume entry-level & civil roles |
| KFC | Retail | Established relationship (Jushua Klatt) | Entry-level roles — build routine & work behaviours |
| Childs World | Health & community (ECEC) | Nicole Hanlon | Traineeships easing ECEC workforce shortages |
◎How I activate & grow
- Reputation-led growth — delivering quality, every time
- Formalise each relationship with a clear placement agreement
- Grow the network through referrals; add CYP Group (Bama, IT, HR, Comms)
!When an employer isn't supporting a student
- Direct, commercial conversation — set it right fast
- Reset expectations via the placement agreement
- If needed, decisively pull & re-place within my network — protect the young person and the relationship
- This is the slide that wins it — these are YOUR real relationships, which almost no other candidate can offer. Speak to each with a specific example.
- Confirm you're comfortable naming individuals (Andrew Goller, Nicole Hanlon) on a slide uploaded to a shared folder — switch to organisation-only if you'd prefer.
- Land the "Grow & Retain" framing: you're not cold-calling, you're activating trusted partners — that's how 27 is realistic and low-risk.
Priority 2 · Pipeline
School → work experience → employment
School engagement
Year 9/10+ at Djarragun & partner schools — attendance, motivation, aspiration.
Job readiness
Skills Academy: work ethic, conduct, communication, workplace expectations.
Work experience / trials
Supported, screened placements — the 50-placement engine for 2026.
Employment / study
Casual → ongoing roles, apprenticeships, traineeships, further study.
Mentored retention
Workplace support mentors & transport keep young people in work.
⌂Schools & "Day in the Life" showcases
Embedded rhythm with Djarragun: shared student lists and feedback loops — plus bringing employer contacts (e.g. Kat Schneider, Major Training) into schools to demystify trades and broaden aspirations.
⚙De-risk with CYP Group pathways
Use in-house enterprises — Bama Services, IT, HR, Comms — as trusted first placements that build a track record before placing with cautious external employers.
- The pipeline is my mental model for the whole role — every young person sits at a known stage.
- Readiness (Skills Academy) sits BEFORE placement on purpose — it's how I reduce risk to employers.
- Bama Services + CYP Group enterprises are a real, in-house way to give kids a first track record. Reference my placement-pipeline experience at TAFE (team of 12, multi-sector).
Priority 3 · Readiness
Student readiness & accountability
Opportunity — how I support
- Skills Academy readiness before every placement
- Workplace support mentor on the ground
- Transport assistance so attendance is possible
- Wraparound, culturally safe, trauma-aware support
Responsibility — how I hold the line
- Clear expectations agreed up front with the student
- Attendance & conduct standards understood before day one
- Honest, early conversations when standards slip
- Consequences that teach, not just punish
- This slide literally is "Responsibility + Opportunity = Capability" applied to one young person — say that.
- My psychology background (PhD, 15 yrs early-intervention) is genuine credibility on readiness, trauma-awareness and behaviour change — but keep it humble and practical.
- Be ready for the panel Q: "a student is not meeting workplace expectations — what do you do?" — answer = support → plan → escalate, protect both student and employer.
Priority 3 · Reputation
Protecting employer confidence
①Before placement
- Pre-placement screening & readiness sign-off
- Clear placement agreement & expectations
- Match student strengths to the right employer
②During placement
- Workplace support mentor model
- Regular employer check-ins & feedback loops
- Issues surfaced early, not after they escalate
③When things go wrong
- Rapid-response protocol — same-day employer contact
- Defined escalation path & ownership
- Honest communication keeps the relationship intact
- The brief gives this its own page — treat it as a priority, not an afterthought.
- Frame reputation as currency: every good placement funds the next employer relationship.
- Connect to compliance/quality experience from government-funded delivery (audits, frameworks) — I run things to standard.
Priority 4 · Leadership
Leading a high-functioning delivery unit
◎Clarity
- Every role mapped to a target & pipeline stage
- Individual goals roll up to the 2026 numbers
- Decisions and ownership made explicit
↻Cadence
- Weekly delivery huddle — placements & at-risk students
- Monthly performance & pipeline review
- Quarterly outcomes & funder readiness
↗Capability
- Psychology-led coaching — my team are trained mentors
- Culturally safe, purpose-driven team culture
- Recognise wins — momentum matters
▦How I track & report performance — a "No Surprises" culture
A simple live dashboard against the five targets, plus leading indicators — readiness completions, placements in train, at-risk flags. Weekly localised data catches gaps before they become missed targets — we manage the run-rate, not the year-end.
- Draw on real scale: State Manager (team 25+, $8M budget, 41% performance growth); Regional Manager North QLD (team 15); TAFE placements (team 12).
- Tailor the cadence once you know the actual current team size & structure — confirm on commencement.
- Leading indicators (not just lagging targets) is the leadership differentiator here.
Priority 4 · Stakeholders
Funder & stakeholder management
▤Quarterly reporting
- Progress vs the 2026–2030 targets, plainly
- Quant outcomes + qualitative student stories
- One clear narrative: numbers + human impact
$Demonstrating impact
- Value for money: cost per sustained outcome
- Progression evidence, not just placement
- Employer & community testimony
⚠If we fall behind
- Early-warning from leading indicators
- Proactive, honest funder communication
- Costed recovery plan with timeframes
- "No surprises" is the line funders remember — say it.
- Reference real experience: government-funded service delivery models, audits, contractual compliance across BUSY / MEGT / TAFE.
- Mention you'd tell the S2J story with the plan's own success stories (Vivianne, Jaylen, Leurline, Solace) — shows you read it.
Outcomes Focus
What success looks like at 12 months
◎The headline targets, met
Delivered to a steady quarterly run-rate, with the two stretch targets (partners, placements) actively managed all year.
★Beyond the numbers
- Young people progressing past entry-level, not just placed
- Employer relationships deepening year-on-year
- Students staying engaged at school because of S2J
- The community speaks well of the program
♦For young people
A real first job, confidence and psychological resilience — a pathway, not welfare as the default.
♦For employers
S2J shifts from "philanthropy" to a commercial asset — a trusted, risk-free talent pipeline.
♦For the program
Recognised as the premium pathway in Cairns — a repeatable engine ready to scale toward 2030.
- Targets are the floor, not the ceiling — "beyond the numbers" is what I actually care about.
- Progression (not just placement) is the KPI that signals a healthy program — links to the plan's goal of sustained careers.
- Close this slide on the three audiences: young people, employers, program.
In Summary
Ready to deliver from day one
- Personalise the close — your strongest single story, and one sincere line on why this matters to you.
- End on the vision (in CYP's words) then hand to the panel for Q&A.
- Have ready: the "unsupportive employer", "student not meeting expectations", and "targets falling behind" answers — all already built into the plan.