Case Study: Appointing a General Manager in a Regional, Purpose-Led Organisation
Illawarra Women’s Health Centre
Client: Illawarra Women’s Health Centre
Role: General Manager
Search Type: Retained Search
Sector: Women’s Health | Community Services | Prevention & Early Intervention
Location: Illawarra, NSW
The Challenge
Illawarra Women’s Health Centre is a long-established, community-based organisation delivering specialist women’s health, wellbeing and prevention services across the Illawarra region.
The Centre sought to appoint a General Manager to strengthen organisational leadership, operational capability and strategic execution. This was a bespoke role, designed to meet the Centre’s specific needs rather than replicate a standard leadership position.
The brief presented several challenges:
- A regional location with a limited senior leadership talent pool
- A highly specific skill set, combining operational leadership, funding and compliance knowledge, people leadership and sector credibility
- The need for a leader who could operate confidently across strategy and day-to-day delivery
- Strong understanding of women’s health, trauma-informed practice and community-based service models
- The ability to work closely with the Board, funders and community stakeholders while remaining grounded in service delivery
This was a role requiring careful definition, targeted search and considered assessment.
Our Approach
Be Recruitment partnered with Illawarra Women’s Health Centre through a retained search, working closely with the Board to clarify and refine the role prior to commencing the search.
Our approach included:
- In-depth consultation to understand the Centre’s purpose, operating environment and future priorities
- Translating these requirements into a clear, realistic and compelling leadership brief
- A targeted search strategy across women’s health, community services and prevention-focused organisations
- Proactive engagement with candidates who were not actively seeking new roles
- Assessment of candidates’ leadership capability, cultural alignment and ability to operate effectively in a regional, community-connected context
Particular emphasis was placed on leadership judgement, values alignment and the ability to navigate complexity within a purpose-led organisation.
The Outcome
The retained search resulted in the successful appointment of a General Manager with:
- Relevant experience across women’s health and community services
- Strong operational leadership capability
- Proven people leadership and team development skills
- Confidence working with Boards, funders and external stakeholders
- A values-led, trauma-informed leadership approach aligned to the Centre’s mission
The appointment strengthened the Centre’s leadership structure and supported the continued delivery of high-quality services across the Illawarra.
Why Retained Search Was Critical
This appointment required a thoughtful and targeted approach.
A retained search enabled:
- Time to design and define the role properly
- Access to a limited and specialised talent pool
- Rigorous assessment beyond technical capability, including leadership style and cultural fit
- Ongoing advisory support to the Board throughout the process
- A high-confidence appointment aligned with organisational values and long-term sustainability
The Result
✔ A successful General Manager appointment in a hard-to-fill regional market
✔ Leadership capability aligned to organisational needs and community context
✔ Strong cultural and values alignment
✔ A trusted recruitment partnership grounded in sector and regional expertise
