Principal Social Policy 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

Workforce Development engages with our people, to provide support for individual and collective capability development in the areas of leadership and professional development, fairness, equity and inclusion. This encompasses the development and review of related policies, strategies and programs, that support our people to manage, embrace and enhance workforce performance as part of the QFES Leadership Framework; Fairness, Equity and Inclusion Framework; and Positive Performance Management principles as outlined in section 25A of the Public Service Act 2008.

Reporting to the Executive Manager, key member of the team contributing to the development of policies, strategies and programs that support individual and collective capabilities in the areas of social policy ensuring they meet government and QFES strategic objectives.

Key requirements

Highly desirable requirements
- Knowledge of the social determinants and key issues affecting social policy in the workplace would be beneficial.
- Whilst not mandatory, a relevant qualification would be well regarded. These would include, but not restricted to social work, social impacts, psychology, and public policy.

Your key accountabilities

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

- Develop social policy initiatives including supporting business cases incorporating program objectives, intended outcomes, measures, delivery strategy, and funding and resource model.
- Undertake research, environmental scanning, and critical analysis to identify and advise on social policy challenges, opportunities, priorities, and issues including intradepartmental policy priorities.
- Provide high-quality strategic advice, consultancy and support to senior executive and regional management to identify and implement improvement initiatives regarding inclusion and diversity.
- Develop and maintain strong and effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders to assist in meeting organisational and whole-of-government objectives.
- Analyse people metrics, evaluate data and information from multiple sources to inform, establish needs and measure effectiveness of QFES social policy initiatives and solutions.
- Contribute to the development and implementation of the QFES social policy framework and strategies.
- Research and prepare written documentation including submissions and reports, briefing papers, letters, fact sheets, and presentations relating to social policy.
- Represent QFES on internal and external committees, working groups, and other bodies in relation to a range of social policy initiatives.

Capabilities

To determine your suitability for the role, you will be assessed on the following Leadership Competencies for Queensland behavioural profiles that link to the "key accountabilities" for this role:
Leadership Competency Stream - Program Leader (leading teams and/or projects)
Vision
- Stimulates ideas and innovation
- Leads change in complex environments

Results
- Builds enduring relationships
- Drives accountability and outcomes

Accountability
- Fosters healthy and inclusive workplaces
- Demonstrates sound governance

Once you join us we will want you to exemplify the QFES shared values:

- Respect
- Integrity
- Trust
- Courage
- Loyalty
- Applications from recruitment agencies will not be accepted.