Principal 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

The Legislation branch manages primary and subordinate legislation projects to support the development of legislative amendments arising from government recommendations, and ongoing departmental regulations and legislative review programs, and provides authoritative written and oral policy advice on legislative policy issues affecting the department to ensure we can meet the expectation of government, the workforce and the community.

Reporting to the Director and working closely with the Strategic Policy team, you will be responsible for developing, implementing and evaluating legislation policy matters, undertaking reviews and progressing new and amendment legislation through primary and subordinate projects that support organisational objective and Government commitments. You will provide professional advice on relevant legislative policy issues affecting the portfolio to inform relevant stakeholders and support affective decision-making and policy direction.

Key requirements

Highly desirable
- Demonstrated experience in leading and reviewing legislative policy projects and experience providing policy advice.
- A relevant qualification in Law would be well regarded.

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:

- Lead the development and coordination of legislative proposals on matters relating to the portfolio, identify emerging issues and develop evidence-based options and strategies to meet government commitments and initiatives.
- Provide high quality strategic and independent advice on issues of government legislation, budget and cross-agency and interjurisdictional engagement to influence the design and implementation of complex policy instruments in line with legislative requirements.
- Lead the identification of potential risks and issues, and develop innovative strategies and solutions to ensure problems are resolved and risks are mitigated to support quality business outcomes.
- Prepare and review complex reports, briefing notes, submissions, departmental and other correspondence, relating to cabinet submissions or issues papers in accordance with departmental requirements and governance.
- Deliver presentations and reports to senior executives in relation to legislation initiatives across government to inform and progress policy and legislative work and achieve quality outcomes,
- Build and sustain partnerships and networks with key internal and external stakeholders to consult and negotiate on policy issues, identifying risks and developing solutions to support effective decision-making to meeting organisational objectives.
- Represent the department and manage liaison and coordination with government and non-government stakeholders in the development of programs, projects and policies.
- Undertake high level research and critical analysis of policy issues and legislative proposals and provide advice and recommendation for continuous improvement strategies.

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
- Leads change in complex environments
- Makes insightful decisions

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
- LoyaltyThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License.