National Program Manager

Executive Level 2 (Lower), Ongoing
- $125,428 - $140,871 + 15.4% super
- Melbourne or Hobart

We are looking for an experienced people leader with a passion for processes and strong relationship management capability, ideally from an engineering or technical background.

This is a newly created role of 'National Program Manager, Observing Operations', which is the national coordination point and support for the Bureau's field maintenance and observations program. The position will be located in either Melbourne or Hobart and will report directly to Manager of National Observing Operations.

National Observing Operations is undergoing a series of organisational transformation and uplifts as we position ourselves to be a resilient, scalable and nationally consistent service. This role will provide critical input and support to the change program. We are also in the process of pursuing ISO9001 certification.

This position is key in maintaining the Bureau relationship with external partners such as the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), Geoscience Australia (GA), Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), Parks Australia.

Equally, National Observing Operations work closely with and are supported by other sections internal in the Bureau for training services, asset management and service management, central inventory and procurement, property and facility management, aviation services, forecasting operations, data quality, major projects and infrastructure upgrades. This role has a key function in maintaining strong internal relationships and processes for operational excellence.

Within National Observing Operations, a key responsibility for this role is coordinating remote operations, which have complex logistics and people mobilisation efforts. This includes Antarctic stations, staffed airport and field stations, offshore stations and deep-sea operations.

This position requires highly developed skills in leading under pressure and the ability to work in environments which are highly dynamic and where priorities are critical and where change is frequent, often in short and/ or shifting time frames.

**Who are we?**
We are the Bureau of Meteorology's premier technical operations centre with maintenance and observations workforce distributed nationally across eight Operations Hubs, several staffed field offices, 3 offshore islands and Antarctica. The hubs are located in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, and Cairns. Nationally, the operational workforce comprises more than 200 technical officers.

Our staff travel far and wide utilising 4WD's, plane's, boats, and helicopters to maintain service delivery within the various instrumentation networks. This includes:

- Doppler Rain Radars
- Automatic Weather Stations (AWS)
- Sea Level Monitoring Stations
- Wave Buoys
- Satellite ground reception and space weather instruments
- Wave height buoys
- Flood warning / rainfall monitoring systems
- Cooperative observers, volunteer rainfall stations
- Communications, telemetry and instrumentation systems

To be successful you will have:

- High level leadership, and management experience leading a diverse range of staff across a wide geographic area, remote and hostile areas.
- Strong history leading a safety focused culture and the ability to develop and support quality working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders to respond to needs, manage expectations, and solve problems.
- Extensive experience and a strong understanding of the coordination and delivery of operational activities to defined service levels across a range of networks and functions.
- Outstanding communication, influencing, resilience skills and ability to communicate key and critical information to senior executives on issues and risk
- A proven ability to work in a team environment, to lead and develop people, and encourage flexibility and innovation
- Enthusiasm and drive
- An understanding of managing remote stations with an interest in Antarctica
- A strong understanding of WHS&E legislation and policies and the ability to ensure these are applied in practice.

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