Application Project Manager

Summary:

Client - Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

Rate & term - $155 per hour including Super | 12-month initial contract | 2x12 month extension options

Location & work arrangements - office locations in each capital city | ~2-3 days in office

Security Clearance - Must be an Australian Citizen | Baseline Clearance preferred (refer to https://www.agsva.gov.au/about/security-clearance-definitions)

Overview:

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) is seeking an experienced Application Project Manager to lead a diverse team of developers and oversee the modernisation of the Full Carbon Accounting Model (FullCAM) software suite. FullCAM is a sophisticated ecosystem model used to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from Australia's land sector, with outputs contributing to the National Inventory Report. This role is central to ensuring the continued accuracy, reliability, and evolution of this critical national system.

The successful candidate will work within a cross-disciplinary team comprising scientists, business representatives, geospatial professionals, and IT specialists. They will manage both internally and externally facing applications, often in high-pressure environments, and must demonstrate flexibility and a proven ability to meet tight deadlines.

Key responsibilities include leading the development team to maintain and enhance the FullCAM application suite, working closely with business users to translate and document requirements into timely software improvements, and preparing detailed work and sprint plans. The Project Manager will manage delivery schedules, DevOps workflows, and resolve technical issues to ensure tasks are completed on time, including providing regular updates to senior management. They will conduct planning and performance reviews for development staff and oversee product quality.

The role also involves leading technical discussions within the team and across divisions to resolve development workflow issues and ensure optimal outcomes. The Project Manager will be responsible for procuring project resources, managing budgets, identifying risks and issues, and developing mitigation strategies. They will represent FullCAM's requirements within the Department's IT architectural and governance frameworks and collaborate with the ICT group to maintain and develop FullCAM's cloud-based platform in alignment with departmental standards and policies.

Additionally, the Project Manager will implement new applications within government environments and contribute to strategic planning activities, including horizon scanning and the development of funding proposals.

Key duties and responsibilities:

The successful candidate will be responsible for managing multi-disciplinary IT project teams, including coordinating remote and in-office staff to ensure effective collaboration and delivery. They will oversee the timely development of code and maintain high standards of quality assurance throughout the project lifecycle. Strong technical, analytical, and communication skills are essential for identifying and mitigating risks, achieving key milestones, and securing stakeholder support.

The role requires experience working across both Agile and conventional project management environments. Responsibilities include developing detailed work plans and sprints, identifying task interdependencies, assigning tasks effectively, maintaining project documentation, and using tools such as Azure DevOps. The candidate will lead cross-functional discussions with internal and external stakeholders to resolve technical issues efficiently and will escalate matters to senior management when necessary, providing clear resolution options.

Additional duties include managing project budgets and overseeing procurement processes. Desirable experience (not required) includes cloud deployment in a project management context, solution architect, or developer capacity; modernisation of legacy systems (particularly those built in C++/C#); and familiarity with big data analysis and scientific computing.

Technical skills:

The ideal candidate will hold a degree or diploma in information and communication technology, data science, or a scientific discipline with a focus on statistics, spatial sciences, remote sensing, GIS, geography, or a related field. Alternatively, they may demonstrate an equivalent level of skills, knowledge, and professional experience gained through a spatial or data-focused role.

About the team:

The Modelling and Geospatial team plays a critical role in supporting Australia's land sector carbon accounting efforts. The team is responsible for the development and management of the Full Carbon Accounting Model (FullCAM), a custom-built system that estimates carbon stock changes and greenhouse gas emissions at fine spatial and temporal scales. Their work includes preparing and analysing a wide range of spatial datasets, such as time series climate data, land use and land cover change data, bushfire data, and other relevant inputs, for integration into FullCAM. The team also provides geospatial support for the development and maintenance of land-based carbon accounting and reporting activities, and coordinates satellite-based data processing contracts and spatial data acquisition processes to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the system.

Essential criteria:

1. Experience in managing multi-disciplinary IT project teams, including coordinating remote and in-office staff to ensure effective collaboration and delivery
2. Demonstrated ability to work flexibly in high-pressure environments where the applications being maintained/developed must operate within a framework of strict deadlines
3. Ability to work within corporate, enterprise-wide systems and architectures while optimising outcomes for business areas.
4. Ability to work and communicate with internal and external stakeholders to deliver agreed outcomes
5. Ability to translate technical challenges and opportunities into relevant implications for executives.

Desirable criteria:

1. Experience with utilising geospatial data (e.g., data arrays, complex 3D arrays) in applications
2. Experience in modernising legacy applications to cloud environments

About Arctic Fox:

We are a panel supplier into the Federal Government's Digital Marketplace. We leverage our practical experience and expertise in business and technology transformation to source and place exceptional people across all Federal Government Departments. We provide end-to-end contract management including payroll and insurance.

We provide holistic support for candidates throughout the unique application process for Federal Government opportunities. This includes:

• Completing a collaborative review of the client brief with each candidate to ensure that the candidate is suitable for the opportunity.
• Undertaking a thorough review of selection criteria responses to provide feedback, insight, guidance, and editing services.
• Being open and transparent with information regarding margins and on costs - we provide an open costbook for all candidates to give you assurance that excessive margins are not being placed on top of your contracted rate.