Head of Policy

About Project Planet and Build a Ballot

Project Planet exists to turn moments of urgency — like elections and unnatural disasters — into sustained engagement. Through our strategic partnerships, digital toolkit and climate media platform, we make it easier for Australians to turn their climate concern into climate action.

In 2025, we launched Build a Ballot, a first-of-its-kind tool that helped nearly 600,000 Australians research candidates and plan their vote for the federal election. Looking forward, we're expanding Build a Ballot's reach and impact, ensuring that voters have credible, transparent and accessible information at their fingertips.

The Role

We're looking for a policy generalist to design and lead the policy processes that underpin Build a Ballot. Working alongside our small but mighty team, you'll help shape how our policy agenda is set, trial innovative approaches to civic engagement, and translate complex policy into plain language insights and copy that can be used within the tool and internally — all while ensuring our work remains transparent, evidence-based, and accessible.

Your work will directly impact how millions of Australians engage with democracy. We're seeking a strategic, collaborative thinker with strong policy knowledge, political analysis skills, and experience in stakeholder engagement, who is excited to pioneer new approaches to increasing democratic participation.

This is a full-time, 12-month role, with the potential to renew subject to funding and performance. Applicants must be Australian citizens or permanent residents with full working rights.

Key Responsibilities

• Apply broad policy knowledge and political analysis to guide strategic decisions.
• Assess and review state and federal policy landscapes to inform the Build a Ballot agenda for elections.
• Lead the development and refinement of Build a Ballot's policy agenda-setting processes – not by writing policy yourself, but by trialling innovative methods to decide which issues matter most and how they're presented
• Bring together background research and translate it into clear, accessible copy for use both internally and for the Build a Ballot tool during elections.
• Engage with stakeholders, maintain relationships, and continue developing the credibility of the Build a Ballot brand.
• Ensure transparency and integrity in policy agenda-setting and decision-making processes.

Skills and Experience

• Strong policy expertise with broad, generalist knowledge.
• Experience in political analysis, stakeholder engagement, and communications.
• Established networks or relationships in policy and political spheres preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex issues into plain-language insights.
• Strong understanding of the Australian political system.
• Self-motivated, collaborative, and strategic thinker keen to pioneer new approaches to civic engagement.

Why Join Us?

• Shape democracy at scale: Your work will directly impact how hundreds of thousands — and soon millions — of Australians access credible information to make their vote count.
• Innovate with impact: Pioneer new approaches to agenda-setting and civic engagement, from deliberative democracy trials to translating complex policy into accessible tools.
• Career-defining experience: Work at the intersection of policy, politics, and civic tech, building skills and networks that few roles in Australia can offer.
• Flexibility and autonomy: Join a small, dynamic team where your ideas won't just be heard — they'll shape the direction of our flagship tool. While we may consider applicants from across Australia, we have a preference for Melbourne-based candidates who can work with us at our Brunswick office.
• Mission-driven culture: Be part of a collaborative, optimistic organisation turning climate concern into sustained action.
• Competitive package: Salary to be negotiated based on experience, based on the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award (MA % superannuation.