Assistant Director, National Coordination Mechanism

Requisition Number: 136320
Position Number/s: Several
Classification: Executive Level 1 
Location: ACT    
Branch: National Coordination Mechanism  
Section: National Coordination Mechanism Operations  
Security Classification: Negative Vetting Level 1 
Salary: $117,335.00 to $133,729.00  
Contact: Jules McMahon on 02 5127 8826 at jules.mcmahon@nema.gov.au 
Period of Vacancy: Ongoing and/or Non ongoing - 12 Months
Number of Vacancies: Several

Applications close: 14/01/2025 at 11:59pm (midnight) - AEDT. Late applications will not be accepted.

Who can apply:

Please note this opportunity is available to current Australian Public Service employees and all eligible members of the community.
 

About the National Emergency Management Agency:
The National Emergency Management Agency's work has a real impact on the lives of Australians, particularly those living in rural and regional areas.

The National Emergency Management Agency's guiding principle is “Locally led, locally understood and locally implemented” and we bring together local communities, government, non-government and key industry representatives to support disaster recovery and resilience across the country.

Your work will help people who are recovering from natural disasters and prepare them for the future.

National Emergency Management Agency:
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was established on 1 September 2022 as a single, accountable Commonwealth authority that delivers a whole-of-nation approach to reducing disaster risk, planning, preparing for, responding to and recovering from all hazards across the emergency management continuum. 

NEMA works closely with States and Territories to deliver the best outcome for communities across Australia. To help communities respond and recover, while preparing Australia for future emergencies, we:

• Fund programs and initiatives, big and small, that help communities in times of emergency, as well as to recover and prepare, including through disaster recovery funding and the Disaster Ready Fund to help reduce the risk and impact of disasters
• Have officers located across Australia, working in partnership with states and territories to support disaster-affected communities to collectively build resilience, reduce risk and harm and effectively respond to and recover from disasters
• Provide national leadership to share knowledge, situational awareness, and trends in disaster efforts to inform, guide and shape the national picture and decision-making at the Commonwealth, State and local Government level – including through policy development and strategy to improve risk reduction, resilience and recovery and
• Provide round-the-clock all-hazards monitoring and operational coordination for domestic and international emergencies, including supply chain disruptions, critical infrastructure outages, biosecurity risks and widespread cyber-attacks, and through supporting preparedness and response activities, including through the operationalisation of the Australian Government Crisis Management Framework. 

For further information on NEMA’s purpose, vision and values, please see the NEMA website.
 
Overview of the Branch and Section:
The National Coordination Mechanism Branch (NCMB) facilitates the National Coordination Mechanism (NCM) in accordance with the Australian Government Crisis Management Framework (AGCMF), prepares and maintains strategic plans, supports preparedness for the higher risk weather season and implements the national crisis exercising program, lessons capability and delivery of capability uplift programs.

Key responsibilities include:

• Delivering the NCM on behalf of the Australian Government and in accordance with the AGCMF
• Conceptualise, design and delivery of national level exercises
• Identify opportunities for improvement through conducting lesson management processes
• Develop strategic plans to support preparedness and response during domestic and international crises and emergencies for all hazards
• Lead development of the Higher Risk Weather Season Preparedness Program
• Uplift the capability of Australian Government and States and Territories to conduct Crisis Appreciation and Strategic Planning (CASP)
• Support the Crisis Coordination Team, upon activation.

 
About the roles:
Executive Level 1 officers, or Assistant Directors, within NCMB are expected to exercise high levels of initiative, judgement and leadership. They provide detailed technical, professional, and/or policy advice in relation to complex problems. The positions provide assistance to the Director of the relevant section, and assist in whole of Government coordination, collaboration and communication, drafting high level documents and producing evidence based reporting.

The work of an Assistant Director within the NCMB involves leadership responsibilities including setting of team priorities, managing workflows, building and maintaining critical stakeholder relationships, and collaborating with colleagues across the division, group, the agency and other agencies to deliver shared outcomes.

The position is required to lead and mentor junior team members and will be responsible for performance management and ensuring capability development opportunities are pursued across the team.

Assistant Directors are expected to be competent in managing complex situations and in working closely with a variety of internal and external stakeholders.

Please note:

• Some of the positions provide the opportunity to form part of a Crisis Coordination Team on a rostered basis to contribute to the operational requirements of the agency during times of crisis
• This recruitment round will be used to fill ongoing and non-ongoing positions for Executive Level 1s across NCMB. The merit pool may also be used to fill future ongoing and non-ongoing vacancies across the National Emergency Management Agency where the duties are of a similar nature
• At times staff within NEMA may be required to work outside of standard business hours, particularly during the high-risk weather season.

 
Our ideal candidate:
NCMB is looking for people who enjoy working in a rapidly evolving and forward thinking environment. Our ideal candidates demonstrate:

• Responsiveness to changing priorities in a dynamic environment
• Attention to detail to ensure consistency and accuracy of documentation
• Learning agility to adapt to new and changing priorities
• Interpersonal effectiveness to build rapport and maintain stakeholder relationships
• Political astuteness and ability to understand and operate within the current environment
• Resilience to meet and maintain performance standards in pressured and unpredictable environments
• Self-awareness and responsibility for own actions.

 
We encourage applications from First Nations people, people with disability, LGBTQIA+ people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, mature age people and people from other diverse backgrounds. We are committed to providing a working environment that values diversity and inclusion and supports staff to reach their full potential.
 
Specific duties/responsibilities:
Assistant Director, NCM Operations

• Support delivery of one of NEMA’s key emergency response functions: the NCM, by leading a team to plan, organise and facilitate NCM meetings
• Engage stakeholders, establish governance structures and maintain relationships across whole-of-government, industry and not-for profit sectors to enable effective participation in NCM’s
• Provide secretariat support for the NCM to ensure the appropriate oversight, tracking, performance monitoring and decision making in a fluctuating and often high-pressure environment
• Prepare accurate, timely and evidence-based reporting on NCM activities for a variety of stakeholders
• Assist in defining project goals for ad hoc, complex tasking, often related to emerging or current crises
• Contribute to the delivery of the team work plan to embed processes, structures and capabilities
• Develop an advanced knowledge of national crisis management arrangements, including the Australian Government Crisis Management Framework (AGCMF) and Crisis Appreciation and Strategic Planning (CASP) methodology
• On a rostered basis, participate in on call duties post-business hours and on weekends as part of crisis response activity.

Assistant Director, National Exercising and Lessons Capability

• Develop an advanced knowledge of exercise management, lessons management and national crisis arrangements
• Support engagement with senior Australian Government officials, jurisdiction and industry stakeholders, subject matter experts
• Directly engage with exercise/lessons counterparts, subject matter experts during the exercise management process
• Lead exercise management and/or lessons management processes, including developing documentation and briefings
• Support team planning through advice on team cost, benefits, risk and opportunities
• Contribute to high-level written material, submissions or briefs as required
• Out of hours work and domestic travel may be required in this role to support the delivery of exercises and lessons processes.

Assistant Director, Strategic Planning and Engagement

• Lead policy development, including the development and maintenance of a number of national crisis response plans
• Influence the design and delivery of the annual Higher Risk Weather Season Preparedness Program
• Undertake high level stakeholder engagement activities
• Support the uplift of strategic planning capability across key Australian Government and jurisdictional stakeholders, including the delivery of strategic planning training, notably the delivery of a national program of Crisis Appreciation and Strategic Planning training
• Support the operationalisation of a range of frameworks in order to asses Australia’s preparedness in the face of severe and catastrophic disasters including the design and delivery of the Australian Government Crisis Capability Register
• Contribute to the broader preparedness work of the Group, with a focus on international engagement to progress a number of strategic bi-lateral memorandums of understanding for sharing response capability during times of crisis. 

Role requirements/qualifications:
The successful applicant for this position will have:

• Strong written and oral communication skills
• excellent organisational and time management skills
• the ability to produce high quality work within tight deadlines
• knowledge of Australian emergency management arrangements
• flexibility to re-prioritise work in response to an unpredictable and dynamic work environment
• a Negative Vetting 1 security clearance, or the willingness to obtain a clearance
• the ability to work independently, be accountable and take responsibility for own work
• high levels of initiative, self-motivation and ability to lead activity
• ability to manage and develop staff
• knowledge of Government and agency decision-making processes
• strong awareness of external factors which may influence agency or whole of government strategic priorities and objectives.

All positions are required to

• Anticipate and establish work priorities, monitor progress, and drive the delivery of objectives with an awareness of potential risks that could occur
• Develop and maintain effective relationships with Australian Government, jurisdictions, non-government stakeholders, and subject matter experts
• Provide expert advice to support mitigation and resolution of complex and sensitive issues to inform decision-making
• Manage, coordinate and compose complex and sensitive communications, which could include briefings, speeches, media responses, research papers and submissions
• Provide high-level advice on political or operational impact of decisions to ensure Senior Executives are well prepared and aware of emerging issues of importance
• Maintain an understanding of broader agency, political, social and economic environments in the development of advice
• Lead a team and deploy resources to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines
• Supervise a small high performing team to achieve objectives and outcomes with limited supervision
• Participate in emergency management forums, exercises, post-event workshops and reviews
• Undertake filing and records management functions and ensure records are accurate, complete and managed in accordance with agency policy
• Act as Director of the section, as required.

 
Applicant response:
As part of your application, you will be required to prepare a one page response document (minimum 11pt font in MSWord or PDF format), which you will upload in the next section.

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

Please prepare a one-page Applicant Response in relation to the advertised role, outlining:

• How your skills, knowledge and experience will be relevant to this role
• why you are interested in the role and what you can offer us
• any specific examples or achievements that demonstrate your ability to perform the role.

How to apply:

Prior to preparing your response it is recommended you review the Work Level Standards relevant to the classification you are applying to. It may also be useful to refer to the Integrated Leadership System information relevant to the classification. You are required to submit your application in the online recruitment system (ourPeople).

As part of your application, you will need to provide:

• Your CV
• Your Applicant Response document
• Details of two referees
• Include your full name and the Requisition Number - 136320 in the footer of any documents being uploaded.

Eligibility and Specific Conditions of Employment

To be eligible to work with the NEMA you must:

• Be an Australian Citizen
• Fulfil the Agency’s minimum requirements by satisfactorily answering all screening questions during the application process
• Obtain and maintain the required AGSVA clearance
• Satisfy a probation period
• Undergo a health assessment (if applicable).
   

Technical Assistance

If you are experiencing problems submitting your application online, please email the nature of the issues you are experiencing to Recruitment (recruitment@homeaffairs.gov.au) including screen captures if necessary. A response will be sent during business hours.

Notes

Remuneration: The Agency offers an attractive remuneration package, including salary, superannuation benefits and flexible working conditions appropriate to the level of the position.

If you have identified as having a disability, please indicate whether you require any support throughout the selection process. For further information please contact Recruitment: recruitment@homeaffairs.gov.au.