Training Operations Manager

You already know what it takes to run training operations: the course calendar, the trainer roster, the compliance file, the audits, the invoicing, the thousand small things that have to go right every week. What you may not have had is the authority to make the calls yourself.

Paradise First Aid (RTO 32268) delivers nationally recognised first aid, CPR and related training to workplaces, schools, sporting clubs and the public across South East Queensland. We're part of The First Aid Group, a small family of businesses on the Gold Coast that also includes The First Aid Shop and NIFAT, the National Institute of First Aid Trainers.

We're looking for a Training Operations Manager to take full accountability for the RTO. You'll sit on a leadership team of three business-unit managers reporting to the Head of Operations, and the training business will be yours to run.

WHAT YOU'LL OWN

• The training business budget, revenue and margin targets, and the annual delivery plan that meets them
• The public and onsite course calendar across all our delivery locations
• Leadership of our casual Trainer/Assessor team: recruitment, allocation, performance and culture
• RTO compliance as our operational compliance lead, including the compliance calendar, internal audits, AVETMISS and USI reporting, and audit preparation with ASQA
• The student lifecycle from enquiry to certificate, with routine processing handled by reception and automated systems under your direction
• Quoting, invoicing and receivables for workplace, school and group training, and the client relationships behind them
• The training centre and its equipment, consumables, WHS and presentation
• Our training operations technology roadmap, including aXcelerate, automation and AI-assisted tools, so that manual tasks keep disappearing
• Weekly operational and quarterly management reporting to the Head of Operations

WHY THIS ROLE IS DIFFERENT

We've spent the past year rebuilding how this business works. Online enrolment and payment, trainers marking attendance and assessments through an app, automated certificate issuance, and an AI assistant integrated across aXcelerate, Front and our other systems that handles bookings, confirmations, certificate copies and routine enquiries. The data entry is gone. What's left is the work that needs judgement, leadership and a commercial head, and that's what we're hiring for.

ABOUT YOU

• Three or more years in an RTO or training organisation, including at least two in a management or leadership role with accountability for operational and financial performance
• Strong working knowledge of the Standards for RTOs, ASQA requirements, USI, AVETMISS, certificate issuance and student records, and experience leading or coordinating compliance activity and audits
• Hands‑on experience with a student management system (aXcelerate strongly preferred)
• Proven experience leading a casual or contingent workforce, including recruitment, rostering and performance management
• Experience managing a budget or P&L, setting and achieving revenue and margin targets, and managing pricing, quoting and receivables
• Practical experience managing equipment or a facility, with a sound understanding of WHS
• A track record of implementing and improving business systems, and confidence with technology including AI‑assisted tools
• Excellent organisation, attention to detail, and the communication skills to handle clients, trainers and difficult conversations with warmth and authority
• Current open driver's licence and willingness to travel to onsite venues across South East Queensland

It would be a bonus if you hold a TAE40122 (or TAE40116 with upgrade units) and can deliver HLTAID units in a pinch, have led ASQA audit preparation, hold a diploma in VET, business or management, have responded to tenders or managed corporate training contracts, or are already using Claude or similar AI platforms in your work.

WHAT WE OFFER

• $100,000 per annum plus superannuation, paid as an annualised salary
• Permanent full‑time role based at our Coomera training centre, with the Gold Coast at the door
• Genuine autonomy and delegated authority: scheduling, rostering, quoting, purchasing and credit decisions are yours within agreed limits
• A seat at the leadership table in a business small enough that your decisions take effect the same week
• Modern systems and a boss who would rather you built the process than worked around it

THE PRACTICAL DETAILS

Six‑month probationary period. Appointment is subject to a National Police Check, a Queensland Blue Card (or evidence of application), a current open driver's licence and the right to work in Australia. The role involves occasional early starts, evenings or weekends to support courses and events, and some lifting of training equipment and course kits.

Paradise First Aid is part of The First Aid Group Pty Ltd. RTO 32268.