Paralegal / Administration Manager

The Position

We are seeking a Paralegal / Administration Manager to be a member of the Legal Services team. This position is individually and jointly responsible for overseeing and managing the day-to-day operations of the Legal Services Section (Section) and contributing to the section’s long term objectives.

In addition, the Paralegal / Administration Manager supports the section’s lawyers in their provision of a broad range of in-house legal services to the Reef Authority. The matters to which those legal services relate can include:

• property and commercial transactions;
• native title advice / implementation;
• procurement advice and contract drafting;
• freedom of information and privacy advice / processing;
• administrative law advice;
• statutory interpretation;
• dispute resolution advice / representation;
• delegations advice / management;
• legislative amendments advice / implementation; and
• legal awareness training (Matter Types).

The section also manages the engagement, briefing and supervision of all external legal services providers, including counsel.

The Paralegal / Administration Manager is responsible for a range of reporting requirements, monitoring of the progress of the work undertaken by the section, providing advice and information to Reef Authority colleagues concerning their legal services needs, assisting with the formulation and implementation of the section’s budget, and instigating and leading innovations to improve systems, processes and reporting to enable the section to deliver a high level of service to its clients and stakeholders.

The Paralegal / Administration Manager is expected to operate independently with minimal direction and supervision and to be a team player who works closely and collaboratively with all section staff.

The current position is ongoing however through this process may create a merit pool to fill similar ongoing and non-ongoing positions that become available within the next 18 months.

Duties

1. Lead and manage the efficient running of the section administration including managing priorities and deadlines across the team, managing and monitoring the allocation of work to legal officers, developing and updating procedure documents, co-ordinate and contribute to section meetings and provide guidance and training to team members on administrative matters.
2. Oversee, monitor and review the section budget, including real time monitoring of budget status and undertake routine, tailored and complex budget reporting.
3. Prepare and coordinate section input into routine and non-routine reporting requirements with minimal direction and in an organised, efficient and timely manner.
4. Implement (and develop and implement innovations for) electronic document management systems, procedures, templates, financial systems (including general legal payment processes), accountability reporting, and other workflow systems including allocation of legal advice requests and contract approvals.
5. Apply technical knowledge and interpersonal skills to manage complex client enquiries via telephone, email and written correspondence, and provide guidance to Reef Authority staff on routine legal matters, particularly procedural matters ensuring that client service standards are met.
6. Prepare, and assist in preparation and quality assurance of correspondence including letters, briefings and board papers for both routine and more complex matters and undertake legal research and information retrieval, sorting and analysis on behalf of Legal Officers in preparation for the development of formal legal advice.
7. Assist, at an appropriate level, the section’s lawyers to deliver high quality legal services in relevant Matter Types.
8. Apply a sound understanding of relevant statutory, regulatory and policy frameworks in order to draw conclusions, interpret and apply guidance material and resolve recurring problems.

As an APS employee you may be reassigned to a different set of duties at the same classification level at the discretion of the agency head (CEO), taking account of operational requirements in the agency.

Eligibility requirements & qualifications

Applicants must:

1. be an Australian citizen at time of applying for position,
2. be able to obtain and maintain a Baseline security clearance, failure to do so will result in termination of employment.

Desirable requirements

• demonstrated high level skills and experience in the use of Microsoft Office suite of products;
• have previous experience as a paralegal or in a legal environment; and
• have legal qualifications or be working towards obtaining legal qualifications.

How to apply for the position

Please ensure you read the instructions below and the Position Description carefully, noting failure to address identified requirements may lead to your application being deemed ineligible.

You will be required to prepare a response document (“pitch”) in MSWord or PDF format using standard margins and size 11 Arial font.

Please prepare a ‘pitch’, as outlined in the Position Description, in relation to the advertised role, outlining:

1.  how your experience, abilities, knowledge and personal qualities would enable you to perform the duties and meet the technical and behavioural capabilities of the role.
2. any specific examples or achievements that demonstrate your ability to perform the role.
3. how you meet the eligibility requirements and qualifications for the position.

 When you include an example, you should explain;

• your personal role in the task.
• the methods you used.
• any barriers you were able to overcome, and
• the outcome.

 When crafting your response, we encourage you to review ‘Cracking the Code’ and the relevant Australian Public Service Work Level Standards which can be found on the Australian Public Service Commission website: www.apsc.gov.au.

 Your application must include:

1. your ‘pitch’ (as described above and in the position description).
2. proof of Australian citizenship (an Australian Passport or Australian Birth Certificate)
3. a current curriculum vitae (resume) that includes: 

• an outline of your career history.
• qualifications and/or formal/informal training relevant to the position.
• contact details for at least two recent referees, one of whom should be your current supervisor.

 Applicants are advised to read further information provided on the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Careers website. 

 To apply for this position, please see the vacancy listing on The Reef Authority’s Career Portal.

 PLEASE NOTE: - The panel may not consider additional information such as a cover letter or content exceeding the page limit.