Case Study: Upwards Living; Appointing a Bilingual Service Manager – Support at Home
The Challenge
Our client, a community-focused aged care provider, engaged us to appoint a bilingual Service Manager to support the delivery of Home Care Package (HCP) and Support at Home services across a culturally diverse client base.
The role required fluency in both Vietnamese and English, as the successful appointment would oversee a significant Vietnamese-speaking client cohort. This required not only language capability, but also a genuine understanding of cultural expectations, communication styles, family dynamics, and community engagement within aged care service delivery.
While bilingual capability was essential, the complexity of the role extended far beyond language alone.
One of the key challenges with this search was identifying a leader who could genuinely navigate the intersection of:
culturally sensitive service delivery
aged care operational leadership
evolving Support at Home reforms
and strong financial and clinical understanding within a highly regulated environment.
The organisation required a candidate who could demonstrate:
3–5+ years of experience within Home Care Packages (HCP) and/or Support at Home services
Strong understanding of aged care reforms and the operational complexities impacting community aged care providers
The ability to build trust and communicate effectively across Vietnamese, Chinese, and broader CALD communities
Cultural sensitivity and an understanding of differing attitudes, expectations, and family dynamics surrounding aged care support
Experience in balancing client outcomes with financial sustainability and package utilisation
A proactive and creative approach to maximising available funding and helping clients achieve more with limited budgets
Strong leadership capability across service delivery, compliance, rostering, client engagement, and operational oversight
The ability to navigate role ambiguity and operational change during a period of major sector reform
Adding further complexity, the broader community aged care sector continues to experience significant workforce challenges.
Service Manager positions within Support at Home and HCP services require an unusually broad and often difficult-to-find combination of skills — spanning:
clinical and health literacy
financial oversight and package management
stakeholder engagement
operational leadership
compliance and regulatory understanding
and increasingly, wellness and reablement-focused practice models.
At the same time, the transition toward the new Support at Home framework has introduced ongoing uncertainty across the sector, with providers and leaders continuing to adapt to changing funding models, compliance expectations, and service delivery approaches.
This constant evolution has created significant pressure on frontline leadership teams and contributed to broader workforce instability, with turnover across the sector often ranging between 20–30%.
The talent pool became even narrower when factoring in the requirement for bilingual communication and genuine cultural alignment.
While many candidates could speak Vietnamese or Mandarin/Cantonese conversationally, far fewer possessed:
strong operational leadership capability within community aged care
confidence navigating reforms and package funding discussions
experience supporting culturally diverse families through complex care conversations
and the ability to lead teams while balancing compliance, empathy, and service sustainability.
This meant the search required not simply a bilingual manager, but a culturally aware operational leader capable of driving trust, engagement, and stability during a period of significant industry change.
Our Approach
Using a targeted and consultative search approach, we focused heavily on identifying candidates with both sector expertise and strong cultural alignment.
We:
Conducted detailed market mapping across community aged care providers, culturally specific services, and bilingual HCP/Support at Home teams
Targeted leaders with experience supporting CALD communities, particularly Vietnamese client cohorts
Assessed candidates not only on technical capability, but also on communication style, cultural sensitivity, and stakeholder engagement approach
Focused on identifying leaders who could think creatively around funding utilisation and service delivery, while maintaining compliance and client-centred outcomes
Prioritised candidates with strong adaptability and resilience during periods of operational ambiguity and sector reform
Provided ongoing market insights around salary expectations, workforce movement, and the increasing demand for bilingual aged care leaders
A key focus throughout the process was identifying candidates who understood that service delivery within culturally diverse communities often requires a different approach to communication, trust-building, family engagement, and care planning.
We looked beyond traditional leadership capability alone and prioritised individuals who could balance operational oversight with empathy, cultural awareness, and practical problem-solving.
The Outcome
Through a targeted and highly consultative approach, we were able to support the client in securing a bilingual Service Manager with the right combination of operational leadership capability, sector expertise, and cultural alignment.
The successful appointment provided the organisation with a leader capable of supporting service continuity, stakeholder engagement, and operational stability during a significant period of industry reform and transition.
The Impact
The appointment positioned the organisation to:
Strengthen engagement and communication across culturally diverse client groups
Improve trust and relationships between families, clients, and support teams
Enhance operational oversight across Support at Home and HCP services
Support more sustainable and creative package utilisation approaches
Strengthen leadership capability during a period of ongoing reform and sector change
Key Takeaway
Recruitment within the community aged care sector increasingly requires more than operational experience alone.
As aged care reforms continue reshaping service delivery models, organisations are seeking leaders who can balance compliance, financial oversight, cultural sensitivity, stakeholder engagement, and client-centred care -often simultaneously.
By taking a targeted, consultative approach and prioritising both technical capability and cultural alignment, we were able to successfully deliver a highly specialised appointment within an increasingly constrained and evolving market.
This assignment was led by Claire-Ann Leo: [email protected]
