Principal Program Officer

About us

As a department our purpose is to help the community to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from the impact of fire and emergency events.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) is the primary provider of fire, rescue and emergency management programs and services throughout Queensland. The department encompasses the Fire and Rescue Service, disaster management services, the Rural Fire Service and the State Emergency Service, and also supports other volunteer groups providing emergency response to Queenslanders.

QFES is one department with many services, many capabilities and many partners.

Purpose of the role

SES Project and Capability Development delivers on the QFES organizational priorities and objectives, providing management of SES governance and capability functions, and implementation of new projects and initiatives. This is achieved through the provision of business support to SES Regions and volunteers, delivering on the QFES Commissioner's responsibilities as described in the Fire and Emergency Services Act 1990, Division 2, section 131 (a), (b), (c) (ii).

Reporting to the Executive Manager, you will be a key member of team coordinating and managing the knowledge management project for the SES Uplift program. You will be responsible for the development, implementation and management of a contemporary SES Doctrine Framework. You will work closely with key stakeholders, SES volunteers, and the organisational doctrine team to support product review and quality assurance, and facilitate the approval of SES doctrine, policy and procedures to meet organisational requirements, and support SES capability management and service delivery.

Key requirements

Highly desirable requirements
- Knowledge and/or experience in developing, maintaining and improving organisational doctrine, policy (and process) management systems and frameworks.
- Knowledge and/or experience in developing business improvement strategies within a complex service delivery environment.

Knowledge and understanding of Queensland Disaster Management Arrangements.

Special requirements
- The incumbent will be appointed as a staff member of the State Emergency Service. The hours of duty applicable to this role are pursuant to the Queensland Public Service Officers and Other Employees Award - State 2015: specifically, the spread of ordinary hours for SES staff are 0600 to 2200, Monday to Sunday.
- It is expected the incumbent will possess the necessary expertise or experience to be appointed as an Authorised Rescue Officer in accordance with section 148(2) of the Fire and Emergency Services Act 1990. Therefore, this role is also a designated SES uniformed position.
- Capacity to work on night and weekend to suit an SES volunteer environment.
- It is expected the incumbent will participate in an out-of-hours on-call roster during emergency operations. This may require work outside of normal hours (e.g. night shift), including weekends, working extended hours and may include travel to rural and remote communities, intrastate or interstate travel as necessary and/or deployment activities to other parts of the state.

Your key accountabilities

Your part in the ongoing success of our department, in supporting frontline services will see you responsible for a variety of work, including, but not limited to:

- Manage the development of doctrine within the SES, including to coordinate and implement a doctrine framework, and the review of policies, procedures and other knowledge documents to meet SES operational service delivery.
- Develop, implement and review strategies to enable the SES to enhance service delivery to support changing community and environmental needs, and monitor issues that may impact or influence doctrine.
- Provide strategic advice and support to stakeholders in relation to the SES doctrine framework to ensure that documentation is developed and maintained, and meets quality assurance standards.
- Research, analyse and identify opportunities to improve and further develop SES doctrine products and processes, including online content resources to ensure quality outcomes and meet service delivery.
- Develop and maintain effective relationships with key internal and external stakeholders to support and facilitate the review and implementation of policy, procedures, operational doctrine and processes to support ongoing capability development within SES.
- Prepare and review complex reports, briefs, submissions and correspondence relating to SES doctrine framework and/or issues, in accordance with departmental requirements.
- Represent QFES and manage liaison, and coordination with government and non-government stakeholders in the development of programs, projects and policies, and provide recommendation to solve issues.
- Provide support to ensure planning and operational readiness activities are maintained and undertake operational duties during emergencies and disasters as required.

Capabilities