Quality & Safeguarding Operations Manager

Orana Australia is seeking an experienced, dynamic and forward-thinking Quality & Safeguarding Operations Manager to lead our Quality and Safeguarding function and play a pivotal role in strengthening quality, clinical governance, risk management, compliance and safeguarding across the organisation.

We are looking for a confident, influential and values-driven leader who combines strong technical expertise with a practical, hands‑on approach. Someone who is as comfortable rolling up their sleeves and working alongside frontline teams as they are providing advice, strengthening governance and driving organisational improvement.

With a diverse portfolio spanning disability support services, supported employment and commercial business operations, this role offers an opportunity to lead quality and compliance across a broad and interesting operating environment.

As Orana continues an exciting period of organisational transformation, we want someone who brings fresh thinking, emotional intelligence, sound judgement and a genuine commitment to people.

We believe quality and safeguarding are about much more than policies, procedures and regulatory compliance. They are about creating a culture where people feel secure, respected, empowered and supported to live a life of their choice.

About Orana

For more than 75 years, Orana has been supporting South Australians with disability to live a life of their choice.

Today, we support more than 650 people across South Australia through three core business streams:

Supported Independent Living (SIL): Providing accommodation and individualised support that enables people with disability to live as independently as possible.

Business Services and Supported Employment: Creating meaningful employment opportunities through commercial operations, including manufacturing, packaging, production and external services.

Community Options: Delivering community participation, skill development and individualised programs that support people to connect, grow and achieve their goals.

Our diverse operations bring together disability service delivery, supported employment and commercial activities, requiring a broad approach to quality assurance, risk management, safeguarding and regulatory compliance.

We are proud of our history, but equally excited about our future.

With a renewed focus on service excellence, innovation, accountability and sustainability, Orana is building an organisation that is contemporary, connected and ready for the future.

Our values — Be Kind, Be Brave, Be Me, Be Inclusive, Be Positive and Be-long — underpin everything we do.

About the opportunity

Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, you will provide hands‑on strategic and operational leadership across Orana's Quality and Safeguarding function, leading a small but dedicated team responsible for strengthening quality, clinical governance, risk management, compliance and safeguarding across the organisation.





This is a significant leadership role requiring someone who can balance strong governance expertise with a practical approach to getting things done.

We are not looking for someone who simply develops policies, writes reports or identifies problems. We want a leader who rolls up their sleeves, works alongside our operational teams, finds practical solutions and drives meaningful improvements.

Importantly, your responsibilities will extend across Orana's diverse business operations, ensuring we meet our obligations under the NDIS as well as relevant quality assurance, food safety, manufacturing, packaging and industry accreditation requirements.

You will oversee the organisation's quality management and accreditation activities, including NDIS audits, relevant ISO standards, HACCP-based food safety systems and other applicable certification and compliance requirements.

You will be visible and engaged across our services, building relationships with managers, employees and the people we support. You will understand the realities of frontline service delivery and commercial operations, ensuring our quality and safeguarding systems are not only compliant but practical, effective and genuinely improve outcomes.

Working closely with the CEO, Executive Management Team and operational leaders, you will strengthen accountability, build capability and embed a culture where quality, safety and continuous improvement are everyone's responsibility.

You will be empowered to challenge existing practices, identify opportunities for improvement and lead meaningful change, ensuring our frameworks, systems and processes translate into better outcomes for the people we support and the customers we serve.

We are looking for someone who understands that good governance should make it easier to deliver great services, not harder.

Your key responsibilities will include:

- Quality Management and Safeguarding: Lead Orana's Quality Management System, ensuring strong quality assurance, safeguarding practices and regulatory compliance across Supported Independent Living, Business Services and Community Options.
- Accreditation, Certification and Compliance: Oversee and coordinate organisational audits, accreditation and certification requirements, including NDIS registration and Practice Standards, relevant ISO standards, HACCP-based food safety systems and other applicable industry and commercial quality requirements.
- Clinical Governance: Lead the development and implementation of Orana's Clinical Governance Framework, strengthening clinical practice,



participant safety and person-centred service delivery.
- Business Services Quality Assurance: Work closely with commercial and production teams to strengthen quality control, food safety, packaging standards, traceability, documentation and customer-specific quality requirements.
- Risk Management: Lead Orana's Risk Management Program, ensuring risks are proactively identified, assessed, managed and monitored across all areas of the organisation.
- Continuous Improvement: Champion a culture of continuous improvement, strengthening policies, procedures, systems and practices while ensuring improvements are practical, sustainable and embedded in everyday operations.
- Operational Engagement and Practical Improvement: Maintain a visible, hands‑on presence across Orana's services and business operations, working alongside operational leaders and frontline teams to identify risks, resolve issues, strengthen practices and implementing meaningful improvements.
- Leadership and Culture: Lead, develop and inspire the Quality and Safeguarding Team, building capability, accountability and a collaborative approach to quality and service excellence.
- Strategic Advice and Reporting: Provide trusted advice to the CEO and Executive Management Team, delivering meaningful insights, reporting and recommendations to support organisational decision‑making.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Build strong and productive relationships with operational leaders, employees, supported employees, participants, families, customers, auditors, regulatory bodies and external stakeholders.

About you

You are an accomplished quality, safeguarding, compliance or governance leader who combines strong technical expertise, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence and a genuine commitment to people.

You are a doer, not just an adviser.

You enjoy being involved in the day‑to‑day realities of service delivery and business operations, working with teams, solving problems and seeing improvements through from identification to implementation.

You are equally comfortable discussing governance and risk with the CEO as you are visiting a Supported Independent Living home, engaging with frontline employees or walking through a production facility to understand a quality or compliance issue.

You appreciate the different demands of disability services and commercial operations and understand the importance of applying consistent quality principles while recognising the unique requirements of each environment.

You are confident, approachable and influential, with the ability to build credibility and trust at every level of an organisation. You lead with integrity and professionalism, but are also prepared to challenge existing practices, have difficult conversations and hold people accountable.

You understand that quality and compliance cannot simply sit within a policy or framework. They need to be understood, embraced and consistently applied across an organisation.

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📌 Quality & Safeguarding Operations Manager (Adelaide)
🏢 Orana Australia
📍 Adelaide