First Assistant Secretary

Senior Executive Service Band 2
- Drought and Farm Resilience Division
- Canberra, ACT

**Who we are**
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry work to enhance our agricultural, fisheries and forestry industries. We create new and maintain existing agricultural export opportunities, to provide gains for Australian agriculture. We manage biosecurity risks to Australia to protect our multi-billion dollar agricultural industries and our way of life.

The Drought and Farm Resilience Division is responsible for the department’s policy response to drought, including drought resilience and the Future Drought Fund, farm support policy and programs, including the Farm Household Allowance, and the Regional Investment Corporation, and natural resource management including the Natural Heritage Trust.

The division works closely with the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, which is responsible for delivering drought recovery and resilience outreach and community engagement through its on-the-ground network. It also works closely with other delivery agencies, including Services Australia, the Regional Investment Corporation, the Australian Taxation Office, and the Australian Prudential and Regulation Authority.

**The job**
As a First Assistant Secretary, you will play a key role in ensuring that the workforce has the capability and capacity to support the department by being strategic, influential and providing high-quality advice and direction. You will work closely with the senior leadership team to deliver government and departmental priorities. Your duties will include:

- effectively delivering responsive, best practice services that are fit for purpose and support the agency to achieve organisational objectives
- strengthening and reinforcing positive relationships with key executives in other Commonwealth and State government agencies, key stakeholders and employee representative bodies
- working in a complex and fast-paced environment, delivering on complex advice and setting direction
- enabling and motivating staff to achieve high performance by creating a shared vision and sense of the agency’s purpose
- providing leadership within the agency and the broader APS, characterised by a high level of accountability for outcomes and a commitment to working in a professional manner across all levels of government
- ensuring appropriate controls are in place to support compliance with legislation
- delivering innovative and transformative change within a business, including in relation to strategic policy
- providing high level advice to Ministers and their offices and departmental executive
- working closely with other Commonwealth and State Governments, with industry and community stakeholders in the development and implementation of policy.
- modelling professional integrity and ethics through the active promotion of workplace practices and behaviours consistent with the Public Service Act 1999 and the Australian Public Service (APS) Values and Code of Conduct.

**What we are looking for**:
To be successful for this role you will need to meet the Senior Executive Service capability for the SES band 2 level, and you will have the following (examples included):
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- ability to demonstrate your collaboration and agility with a proven record of delivering high quality and innovative financial management outcomes in a complex, politically sensitive, and operationally diverse environment.
- ability to drive broad transformational change, both internal and external to the department.
- outstanding leadership skills, a substantial record of achievement and a reputation for innovation and delivery of results.