Job Description

About Brisbane City Council

Brisbane City Council is Australia's largest local government, managing assets of more than $44 billion and delivering services to one of the nation's fastest growing cities. As Brisbane continues to evolve, Council is transforming the way it delivers services to customers, creating more efficient, transparent and digitally enabled experiences for residents, businesses and visitors.

A key part of this transformation is the establishment of a new City Licences and Permits Branch, bringing together a broad range of licence, permit and approval functions into a single customer-focused operating model. This is a unique opportunity to lead a significant organisational transformation while improving the experience of thousands of customers who interact with Council every year.

About the Role

Reporting to the Group Executive, City Planning and Economic Development Services, the Executive Manager, City Licences and Permits will lead the establishment and operation of a newly created branch responsible for licence, permit and application functions across Council.

Leading a team of approximately 70-80 employees, you will bring together previously dispersed functions into a centralised service that delivers greater consistency, improved customer outcomes and stronger regulatory governance.

This role combines operational leadership, service transformation, digital innovation and change management. You will be responsible for simplifying processes, improving customer experiences and embedding modern systems and technologies that enable efficient, transparent and high-quality service delivery.

Key responsibilities include:

• Establishing and leading Council's new City Licences and Permits Branch.
• Driving the transition to a centralised operating model and one-stop customer experience.
• Leading process redesign, service improvement and workflow optimisation initiatives.
• Partnering with technical specialists across Council to ensure sound and consistent decision-making.
• Driving digital transformation, including customer portals, case management systems and self-service capabilities.
• Strengthening governance, quality assurance and regulatory compliance frameworks.
• Leveraging data, analytics and emerging technologies to improve service delivery and operational performance.
• Leading organisational change and building a high-performing, customer-focused culture.
• Contributing to Council's broader transformation agenda as a member of the executive leadership team.

This is an opportunity to build something new, modernise legacy processes and create a service model that sets the benchmark for local government.

About You

You are an accomplished executive leader with experience operating within complex regulatory, operational or customer service environments.

You have successfully led large-scale transformation programs and understand how to balance customer experience, operational efficiency, governance and regulatory integrity.

You will bring:

• Experience leading regulatory, assessment, licensing, permitting or approval-based functions.
• Demonstrated success delivering organisational transformation and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Experience implementing centralised operating models, shared services or customer service reforms.
• Strong understanding of digital service delivery, workflow automation and technology-enabled customer experiences.
• A track record of leading large teams through change and building high-performing cultures.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing capability across complex environments.
• Experience operating in highly regulated, high-accountability settings.
• Strong governance, risk management and decision-making capability.
• Experience within local government, state government, utilities, transport, infrastructure, planning, compliance, regulatory services or large customer-facing organisations will be highly regarded.

This is a rare opportunity to lead one of Council's most significant service transformation initiatives and create lasting impact for Brisbane's residents, businesses and communities.

For further information and to apply: www.luminarypartners.com.au/bcc

General inquiries to: luminary@luminarypartners.com.au

Confidential inquiries to:

Jane Ellis, Managing Partner, Luminary, on 0411 600 129

Kerry Larkin, Senior Associate, Luminary, on 0404 095 421

Applications close: Midnight, Sunday 12th July 2026

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