Swimming is Australia’s most successful Olympic and Paralympic sport and there has never been a more exciting time to join our sport. Following a successful Paris campaign and with the green and gold runway to Brisbane 2032, we have created this new role to lead the design and delivery of Swimming Australia’s High Performance Endurance and Open Water strategy.

Our High-Performance vision is to Win when it Matters to Inspire a Nation. To achieve this vision, our aim is to cultivate a high-performance culture across our business and engage a team who are excited by our audacious ambitions and aligned to our Values of Courage, Unity and Excellence.

We are seeking a passionate and highly motivated Open Water Program Lead to join our team with the aspiration of leading the world in Open Water Swimming by Brisbane 2032. This exciting opportunity is a Full Time position working in a hybrid model between the office, home and our programs across the country to support flexibility, ideally based from South East QLD or Perth WA .

About the role:

Reporting to the Executive General Manager High Performance, the principal duties of this role will be:

• Design, manage and deliver Swimming Australia’s Open Water and Endurance strategy for LA 2028 into Brisbane 2032
• Manage the implementation of Swimming Australia’s Open Water selection strategy for yearly bench mark events
• Lead and manage the yearly BME Open Water Teams, identifying and working with coaching and performance support personnel for the team pre, during and post-competition
• Design, develop and execute campaign activities with the support of the Operations Co-ordinator (Olympic and Open Water) following the Performance by Design philosophy
• Work with key OWS partners such as State Swimming Associations, the National Institute Network (NIN), and external organisations like Surf Life Australia to enhance and maximize the opportunity to achieve Swimming Australia's vision for Open Water Swimming
• Work collaboratively across the Swimming Australia ecosystem to drive world leading endurance training methodology and support coaches across the country in developing future endurance swimming talent

About you:

What you will bring to the role:

• 10 or more years of High-Performance Coaching or Program leadership experience
• Demonstrated experience in coaching international calibre athletes that have delivered on a World Stage is Highly desirable
• An understanding of the high-performance coaching drivers
• Pathway experience from youth national success phase to international benchmark event performance
• Experience and skilled in developing strong relationships; influencing and motivating staff and key stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment, observe confidentiality and use discretion and initiative
• A willingness to work irregular hours (including weekends) and to travel extensively within Australia and overseas (within the employees ‘right to disconnect’ arrangements)
• Able to create a safe, supportive environment that fosters ongoing mutual respect and trust