The President holds ultimate accountability for ALSA's direction, culture, and external reputation. You set the strategic agenda, maintain the relationships that matter most to the organisation, and ensure every other member of the executive has what they need to do their job. This is the most demanding role on the team.
What You Will Do
- Set the strategic direction for each semester and hold cabinet accountable to it. This means making the direction clear enough that every cabinet member can explain how their work connects to it, and following up when they cannot.
- Represent ALSA externally with partner firms and the wider legal community. You are the face of the organisation in rooms where the relationship matters. Show up prepared and follow through on every commitment you make.
- Chair all executive meetings and ensure decisions are made and followed through. A meeting without clear decisions is a meeting that should not have happened. An unactioned decision is the same as no decision at all.
- Manage the relationship between cabinet and the officer and intern team. If the officer team does not feel connected to cabinet, performance drifts. Make the connection visible and intentional.
- Sign off on major financial commitments alongside the Treasurer. Know where ALSA's money is going and why. Financial decisions made without full information are among the hardest to walk back.
- Act as the primary contact for incorporated society obligations under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022. Work with the Secretary to ensure ALSA meets every legal obligation on time. Governance is not optional.
- Identify and develop future cabinet members from within the executive team. The strongest signal that your tenure was successful is that the organisation is in better hands than when you found it.
- Serve as a senior adviser to the incoming President and cabinet in the year following your tenure. Your institutional knowledge does not expire when you hand over. Be available, share context, and help the next leadership team avoid the mistakes you already made.
- Maintain comprehensive handover documentation throughout your tenure. Record decisions, relationships, and institutional knowledge so the incoming President can hit the ground running rather than starting blind.
What We Expect
- Time commitment: Roughly 12–18 hours per week. The highest time commitment on the executive team; expect more in event weeks and at semester transitions.
- Availability: Reachable within four hours during the working week. Cabinet matters cannot wait 24 hours.
- Meetings: Attend the weekly cabinet meeting and chair the monthly all-team session. Once a month, the cabinet meeting is replaced by a full-team session where every portfolio and cabinet come together.
- Decisions: Own them. Even the ones that were hard to make.
- Accountability: If something is not working on the team, it is your problem to resolve.
- Continuity: Maintain documentation and handover materials so the organisation survives beyond your tenure.
What Success Looks Like
By end of semester, ALSA has delivered its full programme calendar, every executive member knows what they are doing and why it matters, and the organisation is in a stronger position than when the semester began. You have identified at least one person ready to step into a cabinet role in the next intake.
Current
Jayden Lin