Skills Development Strategy Consultant

**Skills Development Strategy Consultant - (PLMSP - Palladium)**

**This is a Short Term Advisor position (60 day input until end of 2025)**

**Project Overview**:
The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme is a signature initiative for the Australian Government that enables workers from 9 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and Timor-Leste to work in priority sectors in Australia. The Pacific Labour Mobility Support Program (PLMSP) builds on the successes of the Pacific Labour Facility (PLF) program, with a renewed focus on the provision of tailored support to worker sending countries to address their specific needs and priorities. Palladium is contracted to deliver PLMSP on behalf of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

**Role Overview**:
PLMSP will play a key role in supporting the Australian Government’s efforts to ensure participation in the PALM scheme actively contributes to the skills development objectives of Pacific and Timorese workers and partner governments. In 2025 DFAT will commence work on the development of a new PALM Skills Strategy (the strategy). The strategy will provide a framework for Australian Government support to skill development related to the PALM scheme.

The Skills Development Strategy Consultant will work closely with DFAT, the PLMSP and other key stakeholders (including other DFAT investments, DEWR and Pacific and Timor-Leste governments) to plan, consult on and draft the new PALM scheme Skills Development Strategy.

**Primary Duties and Responsibilities**:
The primary responsibilities of the Consultant can be broadly described as follows:
1. Planning and Consultation:

- Drafting of a strategy development plan. The plan will provide an overview of the strategy development process, including stakeholders to be consulted, expected travel, design/consultation workshops, timelines for key activities (including input days), potential risks and mitigations, and an interview guide for strategy discussions.
- Undertake initial consultations with a strategy working group comprised of DFAT, DEWR and PLMSP representatives to finalise the plan.
- Working in collaboration with PLMSP, DEWR and DFAT, undertake desk-based review of existing data and research to develop a contextual understanding of skills development in the PALM scheme. This will include a stocktake of the existing training initiatives currently supporting PALM workers at pre-departure, in Australia and upon return.
- Participate in consultations with relevant stakeholders in Australia, the Pacific and Timor Leste to inform the Strategy; including relevant Australian, Pacific and Timorese training providers, government agencies, industry and civil society stakeholders.
- Regularly meet with the working group to discuss progress, emerging strategy features and key issues related to the strategy development process.

2. Strategy development: The consultant will lead the development of a strategy document that meets DFAT’s specifications, the document will be expected to include the following components:

- Articulated vision and guiding principles for the strategy.
- Overview of the context in which the proposed strategy will be implemented in, including an outline of data/evidence that demonstrates the need for the strategy, lessons learned and relevant policies and regulations.
- Strategic priorities, including identification of future initiatives and potential partnerships that will be central to the delivery of the strategy. The strategy should be explicit on the scale and scope of partnerships and activities that would be required to deliver the intended outcomes and should explicitly leverage existing or planned initiatives as much as possible, including the PALM Learning Platform.
- Proposed approach to delivering the strategy including underlying assumptions of how the strategy will contribute to the overarching objectives of the PALM scheme and compatibility of the outcomes with the objectives of sending countries involved in the PALM scheme.
- Resources needed to implement the proposed approach, including resources within DFAT, DEWR, PLMSP and the Pacific Australia Skills Platform (PASP), estimated human and financial resources needed within partner organisations in both Australia and in the Pacific.
- Governance mechanisms that will oversee implementation of the strategy and any required Monitoring & Evaluation and key indicators that could be incorporated within broader PALM scheme monitoring amongst DFAT/PLMSP and DEWR.Relevant annexes, including people consulted, any additional data/evidence etc.

**Required Qualifications**:

- Experience in the design, consultation and writing of strategy documents for DFAT or similar Australian and international Government agencies that cover international development, economic and diplomatic priorities.
- Tertiary qualifications in a relevant discipline, such as education and/or training, as well as experience in international development and project manag