Rationale:

The AI & Process Automation Specialist is part of the Applications Team, reporting to the Applications Manager. The purpose of the role is to analyse and re-engineer business processes to deliver measurable improvements in ROI, staff and student experience, and reduction of administrative workload, especially for teaching and professional staff. The role combines business analysis with hands-on delivery across process automation and AI, leveraging tools such as Microsoft Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate) and Azure AI services, while remaining platform-agnostic where beneficial. This position will play a key role in the organisation’s digital transformation, AI roadmap, and future growth plans.

This position is open both highly experienced candidates and more junior candidates with passion for AI & Process automation and a willingness to jump in iterate and learn quickly. Salary will be negotiated in line with candidates experience.

The AI & Process Automation Specialist will assist the Central Office in the following ways:

Personal Christian Life:

• Promotes the vision and ethos of the organisation and its schools
• Maintains an active involvement in a local Christian evangelical fellowship
• Attends and participates in staff devotions and prayer meetings
• Participates in professional development relating to the philosophy and practice of Christian Education

Key Responsibility Areas:

While we hope to find a candidate who brings skills and experience in all of the below responsibility areas, we are also open to candidates that have a strong passion for AI & Process Autonmation and a desire to grow your skills in the areas that you might not be fully established in.

• Business Process Analysis & Design
  • Lead discovery workshops with teaching, admin, and leadership teams to map current state (AS-IS), and define future state (TO-BE) that removes pain points and non-value-add work.
  • Quantify benefits (hours saved, error rate, satisfaction) and construct cost/benefit models and ROI forecasts.
  • Prioritise a transparent automation/AI backlog aligned to strategic goals (student outcomes, teacher time, compliance).
• Automation & AI Solution Architecture
  • Design pragmatic, secure solutions using Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate including RPA, Power BI) and Microsoft 365 (SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, Forms) or alternative fit for purpose solutions.
  • Architect AI-enabled experiences with Azure AI & Copilot services or alternative fit for purpose solutions: E.g Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Search, Cognitive Services, Copilot Studio (bots/agents), Graph integrations, and where suitable Logic Apps/Dataverse.
  • Integrate with line-of-business systems (student information systems, finance, HR, enrolments), using APIs/Graph/Connectors and data modelling best practice.
  • Apply secure-by-design, ethical AI, privacy-by-default, and DLP/environment strategies (Dev/Test/Prod) from day one.
• Delivery, Quality & Lifecycle (ALM)
  • Build proofs-of-concept, iterate to MVP, then scale with proper ALM (managed solutions, source control, pipelines).
  • Implement telemetry/monitoring, support models, and documentation (user guides, runbooks).
  • Establish performance baselines and manage regression and drift for AI prompts/models.
• Change Management, Adoption & Training
  • Deliver change plans and communications; design role-based training for teachers/admin and create short, reusable training artefacts.
  • Coach “citizen developers” safely (governed sandboxes, templates, guardrails) and run a light Automation & AI Community of Practice.
• Governance, Risk & Compliance
  • Partner with Cyber/Privacy teams to enforce data classification, DLP and conditional access.
  • Implement AI risk controls (prompt/data safeguards, evaluation, human-in-the-loop where needed).
  • Support Child Safe and privacy obligations (Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), NSW Child Safe Standards), and maintain auditable change histories.
• Stakeholder & Vendor Management
  • Work closely with Applications, Infrastructure & Cyber Security, Project Management, and other departments such as  Finance, HR, Marketing, Teaching and Learning and School leaders.
  • Manage vendors/partners to supplement capability (e.g., specialised AI/automation accelerators) with clear deliverables and knowledge transfer.
• Continuous Improvement & Value Realisation
  • Publish a value dashboard: hours returned to teaching, adoption/usage, error reduction, and ROI realised vs forecast.
  • Maintain a rolling 12–18 month Automation & AI Roadmap aligned to organisational strategy and funding cycles.

Key Relationships:

• Internal: Director of Technology, Applications Manager, Applications Team, Infrastructure & Cyber Team; PMO, Service Delivery Team, Teaching & Learning, School Heads, Enrolments, HR, Finance, Risk & Compliance.
• External: Vendors/partners; platform providers; peer networks across education.

Management Skills:

• Ability to effectively plan, organise and manage own time to achieve targets and meet deadlines.
• Ability to supervise staff
• Demonstrate a strong commitment to change processes.

Interpersonal Skills:

• Ability to show understanding and patience in communicating with staff and third-party vendors.
• Friendly yet professional communication style.
• Excellent written communication skills.
• Open to change and innovation.
• Show leadership qualities and ambitions, with a drive to help and develop others.