Your new organisation
The Manufacturing Industry Skills Alliance (Manufacturing Alliance) is an industry-owned, industry-led not-for-profit organisation addressing skills and workforce issues for the manufacturing sector.
A growing organisation, we are at the forefront of supporting the development of skilled workforces that enable modern manufacturing and associated industries to succeed. We work with manufacturing stakeholders across Australia, including employers, unions, trainers, learners and governments to build a skilled workforce for now and for the future.
The Opportunity
Reporting to the Manager, Workforce Planning, this role will help identify current and future global trends that impact Australia’s workforce future.
As a Senior Researcher, you will lead and deliver sophisticated research and analysis that informs workforce planning, skills development and strategic decision-making for the manufacturing sector. You’ll lead the identification and development of quantitative research priorities, work across multiple concurrent projects, drawing together complex datasets and research inputs to identify patterns, trends and interrelationships — translating and communicating these into clear, credible insights for senior executives, committees and external stakeholders.
This is a role for someone who can move confidently between deep technical analysis and high-level narrative, and who is comfortable talking through assumptions, methodology and findings. More specifically, you will:
● Conduct horizon scanning/intelligence gathering to identify and determine the implications of industry/social/economic/labour market developments and challenges.
● Undertake extraction, analysis, interpretation and presentation of labour market and training data (ABS, JSA, NCVER and other relevant sources) to inform decision making.
● Apply nuanced/sophisticated analysis to interpret and visually represent patterns and trends in occupation, workforce and training data (e.g. to inform mapping of education and career pathways and support the development of training packages).
● Lead research that identifies new opportunities for the tertiary education sector including but not limited to apprenticeships, traineeships, careers information, policy guidance and advice. •
● Design and implement programs of quantitative research to inform understanding of the manufacturing industry’s current and future workforce requirements.
What we’re looking for
You’re analytical, curious and disciplined in your thinking. You enjoy using your initiative and judgement, working with complexity, asking better questions, and uncovering insights others might miss. You’re collaborative, personable and motivated by work that contributes to better outcomes for industry, employers, workers and the broader economy. You’ll also possess:
● 4–5+ years’ experience in research, data analysis, economics and/or workforce planning within VET, training, government, industry body, advisory or NGO environments.
● The ability to apply logic and careful analysis of industry performance, labour market and training data to understand issues and causal relationships, and to guide the development of solutions and responses
● Strong expertise in analysing, interpreting and synthesising complex datasets and a demonstrated understanding of data limitations
● Strong project delivery capability with the ability to manage multiple priorities
● Excellent communication skills including the ability to clearly explain complex concepts and technical information
● The ability to build relationships and collaborate in the development of joint projects with external partners
● The ability to prioritise, consider alternatives and respond effectively when circumstances or needs change.
Why join us
If you are someone who has the ability to add value beyond the brief — connecting data in ways that shape thinking, is able to withstand scrutiny, and can clearly articulate what the data means, what the limitations are, and how it should be used to inform action, then we’d love to hear from you.
You’ll be part of a growing organisation where evidence, insight and thoughtful analysis genuinely influence outcomes — and where your expertise will be valued.
