Technical Supervisor

APS 5 - $81,690 - $89,615 per annum plus superannuation
- Biosecurity Operations Division
- Brisbane, QLD,Sydney, NSW
- Do you have experience working with or training dogs?
- Interested in protecting Australia?

**Who we are**
Biosecurity Operations Division delivers nationally integrated biosecurity and imported food regulatory activities to ensure goods, conveyances and travellers meet Australia's import requirements. Division operations include policy and regulatory control setting across imported food and biosecurity risk pathways, as well as the delivery of assessment, inspection, community engagement and contact centre services. The division also partners with industry to improve the delivery of regulatory functions. The division spans a range of regulatory activities that plays a critical role in reducing risk and shaping our nation to become one of the few countries in the world to remain free from the world’s most severe pests and diseases.

The department’s detector dogs make an invaluable contribution to Australia’s biosecurity system, helping to protect Australia from exotic pests and diseases. Detector dogs are used in conjunction with several other biosecurity strategies and detection tools to help protect Australia’s agricultural industries, environment, economy, and human health. The department’s detector dog teams are deployed across a variety of locations including international passenger terminals, seaports, and mail facilities.

**The Job**
The role of a Technical Supervisor is to supervise a team of Detector Dog handlers to support the achievement of operational outcomes in line with the department’s business objectives. The successful applicants will need to influence and contribute to change, while contributing to business planning and decision-making processes. They will also be required to demonstrate innovative leadership while providing support to and managing handlers in a regulatory environment. The duties of these roles may include some or all the following:

- Leading and managing the day-to-day operations in a regulatory environment, including managing workload and quality assurance activities.
- Managing the performance and attendance of an operational team including actively fostering employee engagement and development.
- Maintaining a well-developed and up to date knowledge of canine training principles.
- Developing and maintaining the technical capabilities of Detector Dog teams.
- Collaborating closely with the national detector dog program and operational areas to deliver on priorities, initiatives, and projects.
- Effectively communicating, liaising, negotiating with and responding to internal and external clients, including government agencies and industry parties.
- Providing timely and accurate advice on highly complex matters to employees, stakeholders/clients, and senior managers.
- Prioritising tasks, adapting to changing priorities and making effective use of resources to ensure service delivery standards are met.
- Promoting the APS Values, the APS Employment Principles and compliance with the Code of Conduct.
- Fostering a culture of safety, diversity, inclusiveness, positive attendance, and high performance.

We are looking for people who are:

- Understanding of the critical role biosecurity plays in protecting Australia’s agriculture and environment.
- Committed to providing a high-quality experience for all users of Australia’s biosecurity system.
- Supportive of, and engage with, the future direction of the department as a regulator.
- Flexible and adaptable to meet immediate needs and future challenge.
- Open, accountable and of high integrity.
- Motivated, self-driven and outcome focussed.
- Team-oriented and have the energy and determination to succeed in everything they do.
- Able to exercise sound judgment and make evidence-based decisions.

**What we are looking for**
**Knowledge and experience**
The successful applicants will have:

- Experience in or demonstrable knowledge of leading, managing, training, and supporting detector dog handlers in an operational environment.
- Experience in handling and training of detector dogs.
- Knowledge or an understanding of the department’s role in delivering national biosecurity operations.
- High level writing skills with demonstrated experience delivering a range of written products.
- Demonstrated computer literacy and experience in using electronic databases.
- Experience in the effective coaching and mentoring of staff.
- Knowledge of the principles of administrative law and objectives of regulatory practice.