Director, Australian Passport Office

Canberra ACT

Applications close Monday, 24 June 2024 at 11.00 am AEST

The Australian Passport Office (APO) is seeking two Directors to lead its Program Delivery Office (PDO) and Passport Capability Uplift Project. An ability to travel domestically and internationally, including to remote locations with limited facilities, will be required.

The PDO within the Strategy and Modernisation Branch (SRB) is responsible for managing and overseeing the APO's portfolio of projects or initiatives. Its primary objective is to govern, manage, scrutinise, and ensure the strategic alignment of programs, projects, and initiatives across the organisation. The PDO will be the 'centre of excellence' in program and project management, uplifting the Divisions capability to deliver through projects training/coaching, project delivery tools, and assurance.

The Passport Capability Uplift Project will fulfil the government's commitment under the Falepili Union. The Falepili Union is an agreement between sovereign nations to a more advanced, integrated, and comprehensive partnership. Safeguarding Tuvalu's future lies at the heart of our Falepili Union. The Director will lead a complex, multi-year project in collaboration with the government and people of Tuvalu and stakeholders from across the Australian government.

The APO issues passports to Australian citizens, both in Australia and overseas, under the Australian Passports Act 2005, related laws, and the Convention on International Civil Aviation. We also issue other types of travel documents, for example, Convention Travel Documents, to eligible non-citizens living in Australia. Within Australia, APO staff are also authorised to provide services such as the issuing of Certificates of no Impediment to Marriage (CNI) and legalisations of documents (Apostilles and Authentications).

The APO is a service delivery Division and teams include service recovery (complaints and feedback), policy and legislation, data and workload management, complex decision making, biometric technology and support for staff learning and development.

Remote and flexible work arrangements may be considered if the successful candidate resides outside of Canberra.

This recruitment process will be used to fill current vacancies as well as vacancies which may arise over the coming 18 months.

Our ideal candidate

The PDO offers a unique opportunity to work at the strategic level, influence decision-making, and contribute to the successful execution of projects and initiatives that shape the future of the organisation. It requires a blend of project management expertise, stakeholder engagement skills, and a strategic mindset to effectively navigate the complexities of managing a diverse portfolio.

To lead our high performing team, we are looking for a candidate who has:

• A strong program management and implementation background
• demonstrated success in building and maintaining relationships with stakeholders and communicating with influence with a variety of audiences
• the ability to harness information from a variety of sources and possess highly developed analytical skills
• the highest standards of integrity, confidentiality and professionalism, and adherence to APS and Departmental values
• a demonstrated background in leadership and customer focused service delivery, driving performance and building capability, including the skills to coach leaders
• experience in reporting and providing advice on the delivery of projects to support senior executives oversight and decision-making
• the ability to anticipate and minimise risks
• demonstrated ability to lead a geographically dispersed team, preferably in an operational environment, including through periods of change
• initiative, can think strategically and apply excellent judgement
• robust organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities, stakeholders and deliver outcomes within set timeframes
• a strong aptitude to lead, mentor, coach and develop staff and support managers and team leaders to manage and coach their staff promoting a culture of respect, diversity, and accountability
• well-developed capacity for collaboration and decision-making
• experience in building capability in a team environment through coaching others, providing performance feedback, conflict resolution and encouraging career development.

As the Director, your role will be to build upon the newly establish section with your colleagues, including defining the framework and standards, working closely with the leadership cohort on managing expectations, setting up effective governance, and ensuring strategic alignment.

The successful candidate will be required to perform the following duties:

• Lead a high performing team, including the provision of coaching, mentoring and professional development of staff
• Develop a multi-disciplined team to support the implementation of project delivery best practices across APO
• Develop and implement project delivery frameworks, processes, and templates
• Provide oversight of all projects throughout the delivery lifecycle, and provide assurance that projects remain within budget, schedule, and scope tolerance, escalating risks and issues where needed
• Establish and run consolidated project reporting, including exception reporting for projects operating outside agreed tolerances
• Support the Executive to make key project decisions based on documented analyses
• Ensure proposed project benefits are aligned to corporate objectives and provide assurance on the realisation of benefits
• Lead the development of APO corporate planning documents and provide regular progress updates to the SES.
• Engage with key stakeholders, including business change and technical delivery colleagues, to support successful project delivery
• Engage with a diverse range of stakeholders, including international partners and foreign government representatives to delivery mutually beneficial outcomes.

Under section 22(8) of the Public Service Act 1999, employees must be Australian citizens to be employed in the Australian Public Service (APS) unless the Agency Head has agreed otherwise, in writing.
Depending on the role into which you are placed, you may also be required to obtain and maintain a Working with Vulnerable People/Children registration (or equivalent).

Remote and flexible work arrangements may be considered if the successful candidate resides outside of Canberra.

RecruitAbility applies to this vacancy. Under the RecruitAbility scheme you will be invited to participate in further assessment activity for the vacancy if you choose to apply under the scheme; declare you have a disability; and meet the minimum requirements for the job. For more information visit: