Assistant Directors, 2026 Census of Population and

Executive Level 1: $105,758 - $122,254 (plus 15.4% superannuation and allowances)
- Location: Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney preferred. Other capital cities will be considered
- Permanent, full-time position; flexible working arrangements

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is looking to fill Assistant Director (Executive Level 1) roles across the 2026 Census Branch.

While Canberra (our office is located in Belconnen), Melbourne and Sydney are the preferred locations for this role, other capital city locations will be considered.

**About the area**

The 2026 Census Branch is responsible for designing and delivering the 2026 Census of Population and Housing. Each Census cycle takes 7 years in planning and delivery and covers all aspects of the collection, processing, and dissemination of the data.

The Census Program consists of 110 people working across Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Hobart, and Darwin. The Program grows over the 7-year Census cycle to over 1,000 office-based staff and 20,000 field staff across all states and territories during peak operations.

**About the role**

As an Assistant Director (Executive Level 1) you will be responsible for helping deliver a project by leading a high-performing section, often across several geographical locations. You will provide meaningful and challenging work to staff in your team and achieve work outcomes using resources responsibly, effectively, and efficiently. You will build capability within the team while engaging with internal and external stakeholders to deliver a work program that is critical to the success of the 2026 Census. You will demonstrate initiative, drive and resilience using sound professional judgement that evaluates risk within a complex and changing environment.

We are looking for highly motivated, adaptable, resilient, and collaborative leaders who can fulfill the following roles in the 2026 Census Branch:

- **Assistant Director, Remote Areas Collection**: Responsibility for leading a team to develop, test and implement the strategy to enable a count of all people and dwellings in remote areas of Australia for the 2026 Census. The Remote Areas Collection strategy will consider Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Communities including outstations, town camps and reserves, mining camps, pastoral stations, roadhouses, national parks, and towns in remote geographical locations.

The role will be responsible for leading a small team during the development cycle, growing to a large operational team of up to 20 office-based staff and up to 200 field staff during peak collection operations. Experience in roles delivering services to remote communities is highly desirable.
- **Special Dwellings Collections**: Responsibility for leading a team to develop, test and implement the strategy to enable a count of all people in special dwellings across Australia for the 2026 Census. The Special Dwellings Collection strategy will consider communal types of accommodation or care such as hotels, hospitals, and hostels for the homeless, retirement villages, manufactured home estates, caravan parks and camping grounds, marinas, and secure apartment buildings.

The role will be responsible for leading a small team during the development cycle, growing to a large operational team of up to 20 office-based staff and up to 200 field staff during peak collection operations
- **Assistant Director, Coverage and Data Quality**: Responsibility for leading and managing a small team to design geographical areas to manage the collection of Census data across Australia, including in rural and remote communities. This work enables dwellings to be counted and classified correctly for the 2026 Census. Experience in the use of geographic information systems (GIS) would be an advantage..

**What we are looking for**

To be suitable you should have most or all of the following skills, qualities, and experience:

- Strong people management and leadership skills, with a demonstrated ability to achieve outcomes through a high-performing team
- Project management and delivery skills, including an ability to engage effectively with risk in a fast-paced environment to deliver project outcomes
- Strong communication skills, including an ability to collaborate, negotiate and influence internal/external stakeholders to achieve outcomes
- Ability to resolve complex problems.

Relevant experience in your selected job role(s) would be desirable.

**How to apply**

You will need to upload your current resume, provide referee details and respond to the following:

- In no more than 750 words, provide an outline of your skills and examples of how you have demonstrated the skills, qualities and experience against the criteria for the role (s) you are interested. Your response should highlight the skills in Section 2 of the_