Chief Financial 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

Finance, Procurement and Levy leads the portfolio functions of finance and budget management, procurement and contract management, and QFES Levy management throughout the state to meet the expected demands of the organisation and whole-of-government initiatives.

Reporting to a Deputy Commissioner, Strategy and Corporate Services, you will be a key member of the Executive Leadership Team, contributing to the strategic direction of the department. You will lead, manage and provide direction to deliver robust financial management and procurement frameworks through strong governance and risk management, accurate and comprehensive budgeting and forecasting, and statutory and corporate compliance to meet departmental needs into the future and to build capability at the divisional level. You will have full responsibility and delegated accountability for all operational, financial and procurement aspects of the directorate, and manage all staffing, resources, systems and processes in order to achieve effective and efficient service delivery which is in line with both QFES' legislative and corporate governance requirements.

Key requirements

Mandatory requirements
- Must hold at least one of the following qualifications: a certified practising accountant conferred by CPA Australia
- a chartered accountant conferred by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
- a member of the Institute of Public Accountants who is entitled to use the letters MIPA or FIPA.
- Or, another qualification from an overseas accounting body that is recognise by at least 2 of the above organisations.

Highly desirable requirements
- Proven experience in the areas of financial management and procurement in a large, complex organisation.

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:
Financial and Procurement
- Lead the development of the financial management capability and establish consistent systems and processes across the portfolio, including business improvement activities.
- Lead and provide corporate governance oversight for procurement services and strengthening the focus on sound business practice and governance, including business improvement activities.
- Lead development strategies, maintenance and implementation of policy and guidelines for the administration of the Emergency Management Levy program, including business improvement activities.
- Undertake research and prepare reports on emerging issues and their impact, and consolidate submissions on emerging financial and procurement challenges and opportunities for improvement.
- Provide strategic advice and policy recommendations to executive and senior management on budget, financial accounting and revenue, and procurement and contract matters.
- Lead strategic resource planning processes and manage the effective delivery of services through best use of the human, financial and capital resources, ensuring government and corporate objectives are met.
- Lead a large workforce to deliver finance and procurement outcomes and enhance the development of forward budget strategies to realise maximise benefit for investment ensuring strong financial management, procurement management, performance management and staff development and foster a culture of service excellence.

Stakeholder and outcome
- Manage the partnership arrangements within the department to ensure cooperative management and service delivery to meet the business needs of QFES through negotiation of Service Level Agreements, Service Catalogues, Memorandum of Partnerships, development and review of processes, monitoring performance and resolution of problems.
- Represent QFES and the Deputy Commissioner as required on departmental steering committees and working parties and provide recommendations to the executive on the outcomes of these meetings.
- Engage with stakeholders and collaborate with team members to deliver renewed services and better outcomes for customers and stakeholders.
- Implement innovative service delivery models through cross agency and cross sector collaboration and customer feedback.
- Provide leadership and drive performance and accountability throughout the directorate to achieve business outcomes and se