Senior Policy and Research Officer

About the organisation

The Australian Government has recently appointed, as one of 10 Jobs and Skills Councils, the Public Safety Industry Committee (PSIC) to establish a new entity to provide services that support skilled and robust public safety, public order, public resilience, and government workforces. This entity is known as Public Skills Australia (PSA) and will provide the following services:

• development and consultation of workforce planning and training products that meets industry and policy needs
• implementation, promotion and monitoring of strategies that drive improvement to training delivery and monitor the impact of that delivery
• stewardship of intelligence relating to workforce challenges and skill needs.

Stakeholders that PSA will work with include employer and employee members (career and volunteer) from the public safety and government industry sectors.

About the position

This position will support the Manager Workforce Planning and provide expertise to a team of researchers and policy officers. The Senior Policy and Research Officer will guide workforce planning and policy development activities for Public Skills Australia industry sectors, including Corrections, Defence, Fire and Emergency Services, Police and Federal, State/Territory and Local Governments. This position is pivotal in consulting with industry-sectors any products related to workforce planning and policy development. The Senior Policy and Research Officer will undertake and promote research, provide an evidence-based approach and be able to succinctly draft and deliver complex documents to a variety of audiences in innovative ways. Although this role reports to the Manager Workforce Planning, they may be required to report to other managers on occasion and will likely work on several products simultaneously at any given time.

Public Skills Australia behaviours and expectations

As a team member within Public Skills Australia, you will be expected to:

Actively contribute: You will proactively provide strategic advice and focus on key deliverables.

Promote good governance: You will actively promote good governance and adhere to policies and procedures.

Collaborate with stakeholders: You will promote stakeholder engagement and pursue opportunities to connect Public Skills Australia across industry sectors under its remit.

Drive engagement: You will communicate, consult and collaborate widely, effectively representing and promoting Public Skills Australia at all times.

Key responsibilities

This role will:

• Support the Manager Workforce Planning in all aspects of workforce planning, research and policy development.
• Brief the Public Skills Australia executive on workforce planning, research and policy products.
• Oversee a dynamic team of researchers and policy officers to draft high quality workforce, research and policy products.
• Validate and verify accuracy of data and Research.
• Ensure drafting of key products meets quality standards and expectations and are of value.
• Plan for consultation and governance process to finalise approvals of products developed; this will include the drafting of associated papers and reports.
• Build consensus through negotiation with different stakeholders, in the development of workforce planning, research and policy products.
• Demonstrate originality of thought and promote new and innovative approaches when developing workforce planning, research and policy products.

Key selection criteria

Essential

• A Higher Education qualification such as a relevant Bachelors or Masters degree.
• Demonstrate excellent research and policy skills and experience.
• Display excellent written and verbal communications skills.
• Demonstrate an understanding of complex research methodologies.
• Work within a project-based delivery environment and deliver policy products on-time.
• Be motivated to promote a curious and innovative culture across the company.
• Be able to work on multiple products in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrate independent problem-solving skills and initiative.

Desirable

• Experience working within either a public safety, government or corrections environment.
• Experience in workforce planning, policy development AND/OR strategic foresight AND/OR environmental scanning.
• Experience in a supervisory or team leader role.

Other:

• Willing to obtain a police check and Working with Children Check.
• There may be times when it is required to work outside normal business hours i.e. evenings and weekends to meet stakeholder requirements.

Type of employment

This is a full-time position for a fixed term until 30 June 2026 to reflect Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) grant funding until 2025–26. It is anticipated that there may be the option to extend the contract should DEWR funding be extended beyond the current 2025–26 timeline.

Location

Public Skills Australia supports flexible working arrangements, however as Public Skills Australia is in its establishment phase, it is anticipated that in the first instance work will be primarily conducted from its offices in Melbourne It should be noted that staff can expect, dependant on work deliverables, that they may be required to work from the office location exclusively for a period of time. Flexible work arrangements will be negotiated between staff and relevant Managers and be focused on balancing work requirements with staff needs.

Periodical Review

In line with current practice, this position is subject to regular review and amendment as appropriate following consultation with the Chief Executive Officer.

This Position Description serves to illustrate the scope and responsibilities of the post and is not intended to be an exhaustive list of duties. You will be expected to perform other job-related tasks requested by management and as necessitated by the development of the organisation.

Please apply via Seek and provide a tailored cover letter addressing the Key Selection Criteria and resume.

Applications via email will not be considered.

For further information about the job please contact *******@publicskillsaustralia.org.au