Work with us

CPD is seeking an outstanding Communications Director, based in Sydney or Canberra. This is a unique opportunity to help shape a fair and sustainable society and economy across Australia and Southeast Asia. 

CPD develops practical solutions to complex problems. We are looking for a brilliant story-teller who  can persuasively explain CPD’s practical solutions to a broader audience and amplify our messages and vision. Across some of Australia’s most pressing challenges you will develop and deliver an innovative program of communications and external engagement. In a crowded media market, you will ensure CPD’s policy reform ideas are well covered in a way that reflects CPD’s values.

You’ll be joining a close-knit team that delivers real impact. We believe our people are our key asset and we are committed to recruiting and retaining talented and dedicated team-players. Currently CPD has a presence in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Jakarta. We support flexible work and will consider either full-time or part-time work for the right candidate. We have a collaborative culture that invites curiosity and initiative, and values constructive, respectful working relationships. 

Diversity and Inclusion

We especially encourage the following people to apply for this role: women and people who are gender diverse, First Peoples, people of colour, people with lived experience of discrimination, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQI+ community, and people without a family history of tertiary education.

Salary

Starting at $130,000 + 12% superannuation, with higher salary available depending on experience, skills, and fairness and equity across the team.

Location 

The role will be based in Sydney or Canberra.

Some Additional Benefits

(These benefits are part of CPD’s Salary and Benefits Policy, which is reviewed every two years.)

• Hybrid work and flexible hours, part-time possible.
• A 3.5% annual increase to base salary, applied each year on 1 January
• Additional week of annual leave entitlement after 3 years employment, and a paid 3-month sabbatical leave after 5 years employment
• Additional end of year leave (between Christmas and New Year), study leave, birthday leave and wellbeing leave for all staff
• Parental leave: 14 weeks’ paid parental leave (after one year of service at the expected due date) + 12 months of unpaid parental leave
• Floating Public Holidays
• Collaborative culture that will foster your skills, build your career and broaden your horizons

Here’s a taste of what you’ll do

The organisation is looking for a story-teller to lead CPD’s internal and external communications. As Communications Director, you will help lead CPD as part of the Executive Team, reporting to the CEO. 

Your responsibilities will include:

• Developing and executing a high-impact communications strategy that strengthens the organisation’s influence with policymakers in Australia and Southeast Asia, enhancing CPD’s reputation as an insightful, credible voice on a wide range of policy reforms.
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with journalists, producers, editors, writers across print, broadcast, and digital media.
• Securing high profile media appearances, managing media inquiries and identifying key opportunities to provide public commentary on issues relevant to the organisation’s policy advocacy.
• Craft compelling campaign messaging, press releases, op-eds, and talking points that translate complex policy research into engaging, accessible narratives that resonate with diverse audiences.
• Lead the organisation’s digital and social media strategy, increasing the prominence and reach of CPD’s policy work across a wide range of channels. 
• Managing the Communications Adviser.
• Building the capacity of others at CPD to engage in impactful communications.
• With the help from the Communications Adviser and Focus Area teams, oversee the end-to-end report production process, including reviewing, editing, and design.

About you

You’ll be the right person for the job if you have the following skills:

• Extensive experience working in media, strategic communications, public relations or government relations
• Outstanding writing and communications skills, with a proven ability to translate complex ideas into messaging that shares our vision and resonates with different audiences.
• Demonstrated experience building communications strategies to advocate for policy change and influence key decision makers.
• Collaborating with a leadership group to train and develop a small team to produce content, and to build strategic communications capability.
• A deep understanding of politics and political messaging and how to pitch and secure high-impact media coverage.
• An inclusive way of working and experience supporting a high-performance team with content development, writing, editing and proofreading, to bring out the best in people and bring diverse voices to the fore.
• Knowledge of and experience in curating social media presence, audience engagement, tracking influence, and building a following.

Whoever you are, whatever your background, if you are a skilled story teller and support our mission, you would be welcome at CPD. Even if you don’t check every box above, we want to encourage you to apply.

About CPD

The Centre for Policy Development (CPD) is an independent, not-for-profit policy institute with staff in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, and Jakarta. Our vision is a fair, sustainable society and wellbeing economy that serves current and future generations in Australia and Southeast Asia.

Our mission is to help create transformative systems change through practical solutions to complex policy challenges. We tackle the hard questions, working towards change that is systemic and long-term.

Through our work, we aim to contribute to governments that are coordinated, collaborative, and effective, with an eye to both the near and longer term. We strive to build a social services system that helps people and communities to thrive now and in the future, and drive shifts in policy making practice with a focus on wellbeing and sustainability rather than primarily economic growth.

We acknowledge and celebrate Australia’s First Peoples.

To learn more about our work check out our latest Impact Report.

How to Apply

Please provide a cover letter, your CV and three samples of your writing that showcase how your skillset would fit the position as described above (published articles, comms materials, etc). Please email this to jobs@cpd.org.au and include the job title in the subject line: “Communications Director application”.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview and there will also be a timed-written task as part of the process.

We are reviewing applications and shortlisting candidates on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Applications close at 6pm on 15 June 2026. However, if the advertisement is still live after this date, it means the deadline has been extended and applications are still being accepted.

We welcome talented people from all backgrounds to apply and be a part of our mission. Research shows that women are less likely to apply for roles if they don’t think they meet 100% of the selection criteria. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t think you meet all the criteria, so long as this role sounds like a good match for you.

If you have any questions please contact Luana Viana as soon as possible at jobs@cpd.org.au.

Please note:

• To be considered for this role, you must have the right to live and work in Australia.
• The role will be based in Canberra or Sydney.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. 

We look forward to receiving your application!