Chief Executive Officer

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

On behalf of the Board of Meerilinga, Lester Blades is delighted to invite applications from experienced and innovative executive leaders capable of transforming this organisation and delivering high quality outcomes for children and families across Western Australia.

About Meerilinga

Meerilinga is an iconic not-for-profit organisation and registered charity based in Perth, Western Australia that promotes positive childhoods through direct services and programs that work with children, parents, families, communities, childhood professionals and planners, and social investment partners. It is both an Early Childhood Education and Care provider and a Registered Training Organisation.

Aiming to improve the quality of life for the children of Western Australia as well as the promotion of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children, Meerilinga is recognised for excellence in promoting and supporting the education, care and wellbeing of children. It provides a diverse range of professional resources and support to children, families, the education, health and social services sectors.

Core accountabilities will include:

• Operational and strategic leadership
• Financial management
• Stakeholder engagement
• Governance and reporting
• Accreditation & compliance

Meerilings’s Ideal Candidate is

• An engaging, high energy and resilient leader with previous executive leadership experience in early childhood education, or more broadly in children’s services, education, training, community services or public health.
• Unequivocally committed to child safety and protection.
• Holds a Tertiary qualification in a relevant discipline and has a track record of implementing change.
• Someone who cares deeply about Meerilinga’s people and customers, you have high levels of self-awareness and demonstrate an empathetic, engaging leadership style.
• A leader who values both internal and external stakeholders, has worked previously with a Board and able to juggle competing demands.
• Commercially oriented with demonstrated financial, budget management and corporate governance experience, ideally in a turnaround or transformative context where fundamental organisational change was required.

Position Focus

The Board is seeking to appoint a high calibre Chief Executive to lead and transform Meerilinga. With increasing competition in the market, pricing constraints, workforce demands and changing stakeholder expectations, the Board is seeking to both stabilise the operating environment and implement strategies to diversify and grow.

The Board is open to negotiations around tenure but it is initially seeking a transformational leader for around two to three years.

More Information

A Candidate Prospectus is available by emailing Sign in to view email.

Confidential telephone enquiries are also welcome to Geoff Blades on 08 9221 0744.

Confidential applications should be made in Word format to [email protected] quoting Reference LB303432.

We would prefer to receive your application by COB on Monday, 14 September 2026.

Candidates’ rights under the Privacy Act will be observed at all times.

Only candidates with valid work rights in Australia can be considered.

ABOUT LESTER BLADES

Lester Blades is a Western Australian owned executive search and board advisory firm with local specialisation and international reach. We focus on uncompromising excellence in service to clients in the identification of Non-Executive Directors, CEOs and a range of other senior executive and functional leadership roles.