Stewardship Lead
Location: Melbourne or Sydney (Hybrid: 3 days office / 2 days WFH)
Employment Type: Full-time, contract up to maximum of 2 years
Focus: Policy Development, Framework Creation, Project Delivery
Reporting to: EPR Assurance and Activation Manager
Salary: $100,000 – $120,000 + Super
Are you an individual who thrives on turning complex policy into tangible reality? Do you find the challenge of designing technical logic and navigating high-stakes conversations exciting?
APCO is looking for a Stewardship Lead to own the policy and implementation agenda for our stewardship assurance framework. This isn’t just about identifying gaps—it’s about being the architect who designs the paths to connect the pieces.
If you are a high-potential leader who isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions and wants to build something ambitious and that lasts, let’s make it happen.
The Role
Australia’s approach to product stewardship is evolving, and we are looking for a Stewardship Lead to help us build the framework that will underpin this transition. As a key partner to the Manager, you will lead the design and delivery of a national Stewardship Assurance Framework. You will be the primary driver of the policy architecture, ensuring the framework is robust and credible, and also drive the adoption of the framework by stewardship initiatives across Australia.
The Lead will drive the design and development phases of the framework and support transition and embedding into APCO’s Compliance team for implementation of the framework. This is for continuity to ensure the framework you built is executed effectively. You will also contribute your skills and expertise to the broader program of work across APCO’s Stewardship program with a key responsibility in the governance and coordination of stakeholder groups.
About APCO
Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) is a not-for-profit organisation and Australia’s co-regulator for packaging. We work with businesses and governments to reduce packaging waste and support a circular economy. We envision a collaborative packaging value chain to keep packaging materials out of landfill and retain the maximum value of the materials, energy and labour within the local economy.
What you’ll be doing day to day:
You will lead the development and implementation of the Stewardship Assurance Framework. You will also contribute your skills and expertise to the broader program of work across APCO’s Stewardship program such as the EPR fee methodology; supporting EPR activation projects including ANZPAC; assist the Collective Action Group (CAG) meetings; and support project management administration. Your work will involve:
-
Policy development: Lead the strategic design and development of the framework and its implementation approach, support activation of stewardship initiatives and governance forums.
-
Critical and systems thinking: Apply your expertise and mindset to resolve systemic or emerging issues where no guidelines or answers exist yet, and develop solutions that is impactful, practical, and delivers benefits for diverse stakeholder groups.
-
Research and analysis: Lead and manage research and analysis to advance development and implementation of the framework and APCO’s stewardship and compliance program.
-
Developing national frameworks: Lead the development of a Stewardship Assurance Framework and support the development of an EPR fee methodology for Australia.
-
Collaboration and stakeholder engagement: Lead strategic internal and external stakeholder engagements, governance of groups, and support national alignment across stewardship initiatives, APCO members, industry and government.
About you
You are a “thinker-doer” with a solution-mindset and you like to make things happen. You are likely 3-5 years into your career with experience in product stewardship, governance, auditing management systems, policy, regulations or environmental management. You have experience navigating complex policy, regulatory or multi-stakeholder environments.
You’ll stand out if you are:
-
Inquisitive & Critical: You enjoy dissecting proposals, research and advice to see if it holds up under scrutiny. You don’t just find problems, you figure out how to solve them.
-
Systems Thinker: You apply a blend of critical and systems thinking to deconstruct technical advice, stress-test assumptions, and craft solutions that account for system-wide ripple effects.
-
A Natural Aligner: You instinctively think about who needs to be involved to make a project succeed and you proactively engage them.
-
A Strong Analyst: You have strong analytical skills with the ability to synthesise complex information into clear outputs.
-
A Clear Communicator: You have great written and verbal communication skills and can take a complex technical concept and make it make sense to diverse audiences.
-
Independence: You operate with high autonomy, are able to ‘figure things out’ and know when to ask for help and guidance to accelerate progress.
