---
title: "Case Study: Appointment of General Manager, Womens Services – Regional, Purpose Led Organisation"
description: "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 […]"
featured_image: "https://beexecutive.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/BR-Blog-Image-Size.jpg"
url: "https://beexecutive.com.au/case-study-appointment-of-general-manager-womens-services-regional-purpose-led-organisation/"
date_modified: "2026-02-02T15:04:51+11:00"
---

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**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