We currently have a volunteer opportunity for the following:
Strategic Planning Advisor
Make an Impact and difference that people feel.
Join Australian Business Volunteers on our mission to positively change communities. Whether you are an individual or a business, you can create vibrant and viable communities.
What we do
ABV delivers economic change to communities across the globe through donated business expertise. We create self-reliance and resilience and leave a lasting economic impact – one that endures generations.
How we do it?
We offer meaning opportunities for skilled business professionals to volunteer their expertise across communities in Australia and the Pacific. We work with communities to understand their needs and work with our Skilled Business Volunteers to match them to projects, that bring the right skills at the right time to help deliver outcomes.
About the opportunity
Primary Purpose of the Position
Heyfield Community Resource Centre is a long-standing community hub in Heyfield, a small Wellington Shire town in Central Gippsland currently navigating significant economic change linked to the end of native timber harvesting and the Victorian Government’s Timber Transition program. The Centre provides programs, services, information and a place for local connection, and is governed by a volunteer committee with a small staff base.
The Centre’s current strategic plan needs refreshing, so it better reflects its operating reality, community role and priorities for the next 3–5 years. The committee is seeking a practical, plain-language plan it can use to guide decisions, funding applications and conversations with partners.
The Strategic Planning Advisor will review the current plan, facilitate an in-person strategic planning workshop with the committee, help surface priorities and trade-offs, and produce a focused, committee-ready strategic plan. The assignment will help position the Centre as a steady community anchor through the Timber Transition period and strengthen its role in local resilience across Wellington Shire and Central Gippsland.
Selection Criteria:
Essential:
- Demonstrated experience developing or refreshing strategic plans for not-for-profit or community-based organisations.
- Strong facilitation skills, with proven ability to run productive in-person workshops with volunteer committees.
- Ability to translate strategic concepts into clear, plain-language documents that committees will use.
- Sensitivity to small-town, volunteer-led contexts and the time and capacity realities of community committees.
- Excellent written and verbal communication.
Desirable:
- Experience working with Neighbourhood Houses, community resource centres or similar regional community organisations.
- Understanding of community resilience and the role of local community hubs in social cohesion and recovery.
- Experience supporting committees through transitions linked to broader regional economic change.
Role information:
- Start August/September 2026
- Approximately 3 months
- Online/Remote + site visit
- Victoria
Interested to Apply?
**Click APPLY. **
Please note, if you are interested in applying for the role, we will require you to meet the following criteria:
- 5 years professional experience in the relevant field
- Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident residing in Australia.
- Willingness to complete a National Police Check
- Willingness to complete a Working with Children Check
What will happen next?
Our volunteer recruitment team will be in touch with you to advise you of the next steps.
Find out what our volunteers love most about working with our communities:
Throughout our 40-year history, ABV has relied on our passionate and committed volunteers who use their impressive business skills to build marketplaces, mentor entrepreneurs, strengthen institutions and transform communities.
Visit our website to see more about what our volunteers have be involved in and view their stories.
ABV is an equal opportunity employer and Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples, people from culturally & linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds are encouraged to apply for this position.