Director, International Engagement

Agency Purpose
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is an independent statutory authority established by the Australian Government to maintain an impartial and independent electoral system for eligible voters through active electoral roll management, efficient delivery of polling services, and targeted education and public awareness programs.
The AEC’s values and commitments
The AEC values and commitments are an essential component of our operating environment and frame how AEC staff work. The AEC's focus is on electoral integrity through the values of quality, agility and professionalism.
The Team
The International Engagement section provides a broad range of services to support the AEC’s international partnerships and programs.
The section works with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to deliver international programs and outreach activities to countries in the Indo-Pacific region. These programs focus on improving electoral processes and knowledge within these countries, as well as facilitating knowledge exchange and study programs.
The Opportunity
The Director, International Engagement oversees the day to day matters of the section, including election and referendum assistance to foreign countries or organisations, support for democratic reform agendas in developing democracies, program management, and managing international deployments.
The role is responsible for undertaking very complex and/or sensitive work, under broad direction, utilising expertise in the above areas, including engagement with both internal and external stakeholders. Participating in section planning and aligning longer term plans with agency goals and objectives also forms part of this role.
To excel you’ll have:
Demonstrated ability to engage and communicate with influence, negotiate program outcomes and manage stakeholder relationships across a diverse international network to achieve outcomes and facilitate cooperation.
Ability to engage, build and maintain strategic partnerships with other Australian Government Departments, national and international organisations and partner international election bodies regarding electoral matters.
Ability to provide advice and support to authorities of foreign countries in regard to referendums, elections and democratic reform.
Experience in complex program management, including the ability to manage governance arrangements such as accountability, risk, compliance and reporting.
Proven ability to provide analysis and judgement on complex issues and make significant input to policy formulation and/or project management.
Experience in leading a team to ensure high quality team output, and to support career development of your team members.
Proven ability to give high quality advice, guidance and reporting to senior leadership on complex issues.
Desirable
Relevant tertiary qualifications in international services, public administration or similar.
Knowledge of, or ability to, quickly gain knowledge of Australian electoral law and practice, and the Commonwealth Resource Framework.
Knowledge of or previous experience working in the Asia-Pacific region.
Eligibility
AEC employees must be Australian citizens.
Any person who is, and seen to be active in political affairs, and intends to publicly carry on this activity, may compromise the strict neutrality of the AEC and cannot be considered.
Applicants are required to consent to, undergo, obtain and maintain a character clearance.
Applicants are required to consent to, undergo, obtain and maintain the security clearance required for this role.
Applicants may be required to undertake psychometric testing as part of this recruitment process.