Principal Briefing and Liaison Officer

Purpose

Reporting to the Senior Departmental Liaison Officer, Policy and System Liaison Team, MESU, Office of the Director-General, the position forms part of the senior level liaison team in the Department of Health which is responsible for:

• Management ,coordination and facilitation of critical policy, service and operational issues within the Department.
• Dealing with emergent and potentially contentious issues concerning health consumers, clinical practice, health service delivery and related issues.
• A critical component of the conduit for departmental officers and staff of the Minister's Office, facilitating the provision of concise and accurate information in situations requiring a rapid response.
• Undertaking time critical special projects as directed by senior officers of the Director­ General's Office.

Your key responsibilities

• Adhere to defined service quality standards, health and safety policies and procedures relating to the work being undertaken to ensure high quality, safe services and workplaces.
• Actively participate in a working environment supporting quality human resource management practices including employment equity, anti-discrimination, occupational health and safety and ethical behaviour.
• Facilitate and coordinate the flow of information between the Office of the Minister for Health and Ambulance Services and Queensland Health, through liaison with relevant staff across the organisation, for the purposes of critical issues management.
• Review complex reports, submissions, briefing notes and other correspondence on a range of issues and provide advice to Senior Executives.
• Actively participate in the provision of whole-of-department responses to issues that require integrated and consistent information to be sourced and collated.
• Contribute to the effectiveness of Queensland Health's response to issues of a highly contentious or politically sensitive nature and facilitate input from a range of sources in relation to issues management.
• Research and analyse critical issues and determine the implications from a Queensland Health perspective.
• Provide high level written and verbal advice to senior executives, the Office of the Director­ General and staff of the Office of the Minister for Health and Ambulance Services on contentious and emergent issues.
• Resolve problems arising from provision of conflicting information and ensure consistency of advice with Government policy and departmental objectives and procedures.
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of effective communication networks within Queensland Health in relation to identifying and developing a proactive response to emergent and contentious issues.
• Fulfil the responsibilities of this role in accordance with Queensland public service core values, as outlined above.

Role fit

The essential requirements for this role are:

• High level understanding of Queensland Health's operations, policies, services and structures to enable the timely identification of areas within the organisation to provide necessary advice, and source information to meet rapid and urgent information needs of staff of the Minister's Office and/or senior executives.
• Highly developed written, analytical and research skills, including issue identification and effective problem-solving skills.
• Strong ability to develop sensitive and practical responses to complex issues.
• Demonstrated experience preparing and/or reviewing complex reports, submissions, briefing notes and other correspondence and providing concise advice for a range of executive-level and ministerial stakeholders.
• Highly developed communication, negotiation and interpersonal skills to enable effective interaction with stakeholders at all levels and an ability to negotiate, build relationships, and manage sensitive matters within a large, decentralised health service organisation.