Assistant Director

EL 1 - $120,290 - $129,379 per annum plus superannuation
- Sustainability, Climate & Strategy Division
- Adelaide-SA, Brisbane-QLD, Canberra-ACT, Darwin-NT, Melbourne-VIC, Perth-WA, Sydney-NSW
- A new role awaits Looking for a challenging and rewarding career opportunity in the Australian Public Service?
- Seeking to leverage your experience in complex policy development, strategy and stakeholder engagement?
- The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is delivering assistance to sheep producers to enable them to be well positioned and ready for the end of live sheep exports by sea on 1 May 2028.
- We are seeking experienced professionals from a range of backgrounds who are able to provide thought leadership, content expertise and rigorous policy analysis in the management of key strategic issues to deliver this policy.

**Who we are**
The Sustainability, Climate & Strategy Division helps build the strategic policy capability of the agriculture, fisheries and forestry portfolio by facilitating creative problem solving, new ways of working, policy development on cross-cutting uses and data capability to drive the achievement of the department’s purpose, objectives, and priorities. We develop strategic products with a portfolio-wide lens considering whole-of-government priorities for the Executive Board, Leadership Team, and our Minister.

The division is delivering the government’s transition plan to phase out live sheep exports by sea. Our role is to:

- deliver programs with the $139.7million assistance package to enable sheep producers and supply chain businesses to be ready for and well positioned when the trade ends in May 2028
- engage with impacted stakeholders and monitor transition progress
- engage across the department and with federal government agencies and Western Australian Government to coordinate the delivery and reporting of all elements of the government’s transition plan
- provide policy advice to the Minister and support the government to implement the phase out.

This is a high-profile, fast-paced, multi-dimensional public policy and program space. We are a small collaborative branch that values critical thinking and individual expertise/experience when solving complex challenges. We embrace flexible work arrangements and have team members working from Canberra and remotely.

**The Job**
The EL1 Assistant Director Policy role involves significant independence in tackling complex issues within the delivery of the policy. It requires sound decision-making to provide high-level policy advice and executive support, while managing sensitive projects that impact the strategic objective to grow Australia’s sheep sector to be increasingly prosperous and internationally competitive in an ever-changing world. Responsibilities of the role include but are not limited to:

- ability to work under pressure on complex policy issues in unpredictable environments, demonstrating agility with consideration for sensitive political factors
- analysing data and creating policy documents for review and publication
- preparing and reviewing reports, briefing papers, and Ministerial responses for senior staff and Ministerial appointments
- engaging stakeholders through co-design and consultation to ensure evidence-informed policy development
- ability to develop policy capability in themselves and others, providing advice, guidance and constructive feedback to team members on career and professional development.

**Please note **that the merit pool established through this selection process, which is valid for a period of eighteen months from the date the vacancy was advertised in the Public Service Gazette, may also be used to fill future ongoing vacancies in the branch where the duties are of a similar nature.

**What are we looking for**
**Knowledge and experience