Full-time, Ongoing Position
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU)
📍Melbourne, VIC

Are you ready to lead high-impact campaigns that advance the rights of working people? The ACTU is seeking a Campaigns Director to shape and deliver strategies that strengthen the union movement and drive real change across Australia.

The ACTU is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce that reflects the rich cultural and social diversity of our community. We strongly encourage applications from women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people of colour, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and individuals from diverse socio-economic backgrounds.

About Us
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) represents almost 2 million workers and their families. Since 1927, we have led some of the most significant workplace struggles in Australia’s history. The ACTU’s role as a peak body is to encourage workers to join their union, be a national voice for our movement, and advance and defend workers’ rights through coordinated campaigns, representation, and support for our affiliates.

The Role
As Campaigns Director, you will be a key member of the ACTU Leadership Team, providing strategic and operational oversight of ACTU’s major campaigns. You will lead the design, execution, and evaluation of movement-wide campaigns, manage the Campaigns team—including Digital Communications—and drive the development of campaign messaging and materials. You will work closely with ACTU leaders, affiliated unions, Trades and Labour Councils (TLCs), and external partners to deliver impactful campaigns that advance the union movement’s objectives, particularly union growth, and ensure the movement is prepared for major events such as Federal Elections.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for ACTU campaigns, driving end-to-end planning, execution, and evaluation to deliver measurable outcomes.
• Forge strong relationships with ACTU leaders, unions, TLCs, and external partners to achieve movement-wide campaign objectives.
• Lead the work of the Campaigns team, including Digital Communications.
• Develop campaign messaging, materials, and shape communications strategies ensuring alignment with priorities and responsiveness to current events.
• Prepare and lead campaign strategy for major events, including Federal Elections.
• Maintain a deep understanding of target growth audiences, using research, segmentation, and insights to inform strategies.
• Drive digital campaigns and owned-channel strategies to increase awareness and positive sentiment towards unions among targeted growth audiences.
• Lead movement-wide initiatives and build digital marketing capability to strengthen union visibility and support membership growth.
• Provide high-level strategic advice and support to ACTU leadership and priority projects.
• Engage directly with unions and TLCs to support and enhance their industrial campaigns, building solidarity and amplifying impact in key disputes.
• Coordinate campaign planning across ACTU teams, establishing clear responsibilities, milestones, and measurable outcomes to ensure campaign delivery.
• Manage campaign budgets, reporting, and resource allocation.
• Collaborate with research partners and media agencies to shape and execute campaign and growth strategies, apply research findings, and share actionable insights across the movement.
• Represent ACTU in external meetings, workshops, and consultations with stakeholders.

Key Selection Criteria

• Demonstrable experience in a senior role within a union.
• Strong background in organising and campaigning.
• Capacity to exercise judgement, discretion, and initiative while providing high-level advice within a politically sensitive environment.
• Ability to collaborate with union leaders.
• Ability to work to deadlines and under pressure.
• High-level oral and written communication skills.
• A deep understanding of the union movement.
• Demonstrated people management experience.
• Capacity to work well with others in a team environment, and to use initiative and operate autonomously.
• Commitment to the values of the ACTU and union movement.
• An ability to work with other organisations as appropriate.

Benefits

The ACTU offers a competitive salary range of $164,791 – $196,783 depending on skills and experience, along with:

• Additional 15% superannuation
• Annual leave loading
• Working from home opportunities
• Generous leave arrangements, including up to 5 additional days of annual leave
• The opportunity to work a rostered day off arrangement

How to Apply

Please provide a cover letter addressing the selection criteria and your suitability for the role, along with your CV, to the ACTU Executive Officer at jobs@actu.org.au

Please Note: Applications submitted without a cover letter addressing the selection criteria will not be considered.

Closing Date: Applications close on Monday, 26 January 2026