GAZ - EL1 - ACT - Assistant Director, Open Source Information Manager

Requisition Number: 127860
Position Number/s: 60160557 
Classification: Executive Level 1 
Location: ACT  
Division: > ALL DIVISIONS  
Branch: National Crisis Operations  
Section: Information Collection Management  
Security Classification: Negative Vetting Level 1 
Salary: $112,822.00 to $128,586.00  
Contact: Kimberley Wilson / kimberley.m.wilson@nema.gov.au  
Period of Vacancy: Ongoing 
Number of Vacancies: 1 

Applications close: Sunday 4 June 2023 at 11:59pm (midnight) - AEST 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 (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 local communities as well as state and territory Governments 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;
• Work with communities, industry and non-government organisations by connecting local Regional Support Officers and other NEMA staff right around Australia, to share lessons learnt, provide awareness on navigating Government services, and gain community and industry-led ideas and concepts to inform strategic policy and planning;
• 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.

Overview of the Branch and Section:

The National Crisis Operations Branch (NCOB) is the all-hazards single source of truth and decision support for government. The branch provides end-to-end management of national crisis operations, including high quality 24/7 support to the Australian Government and NEMA Executive through integrated predictive analysis, impact and consequence assessment, and coordination of Australian Government assistance to states and territories in preparation for, response to and recovery from disasters.

The Information Collection Management (ICM) section supports NCOB and decision makers through proactive collection and management of information sourced from publically available sources. ICM supports decision makers through: the development of standing intelligence requirements to expedite information/collection requests during crises, generating collecting requests, collecting open source information and managing the collection and dissemination of geospatial products. ICM is made up of three distinct capabilities: Open Source Intelligence, Geospatial Operations and Requirements and Collection Management.

About the role:

The Assistant Director, within ICM, operates under limited direction to oversee the prioritisation, allocation of resources and development of the open source capability, as required.

The Assistant Director identifies opportunities to enhance the open source function and oversees the research and sourcing of related tools and platforms, and associated training. The Assistant Director is responsible for developing and maintaining a register of open source surge team members, to ensure a Crisis Coordination Team is appropriately resourced with open source analysts in times of crises.

The Assistant Director works in close collaboration with NCOB teams to identify information requirements, and to identify data feeds that may support the National Joint Common Operating Picture. The Assistant Director will work closely with other professionals in open source tradecraft, stakeholders and partner agencies to scope and confirm development of the strategic and operational needs of NEMA and its stakeholders.

This role may be required to provide open source information management and support for the emergency response efforts to all hazard events outlined in the Australian Government Crisis Management Framework. This may require some after-hours work.

Our ideal candidate:

NEMA is seeking an Assistant Director to develop and mature it’s open source capability in order to support decision makers in preparation for, response to and recovery from disasters. NEMA is seeking an individual who enjoys working in a rapidly evolving and forward thinking environments. NEMA has a focus on innovation and progression, our ideal candidate will help to maintain and further develop the open source capability which is rapidly being requested in preparation for an response to crises. As disasters are inherently difficult to predict you will be required to complete additional hours which may include weekends.

Specific duties/responsibilities:

• Develops and maintains the branch’s open source strategy and communicates clear collection objectives, outcomes and priorities to the team.
• Leads the team to develop and deliver open source training to the NSR and wider branch
• Develops and maintains governance for collection activities and ensures open source collection activities are compliant with legislated and jurisdictional laws, policies, guidelines and standards
• Develops and maintains a surge register to ensure Crisis Coordination Teams are supported during high temp emergency response times
• In consultation with the Director of ICM, researches and procures appropriate ICT tools and open source techniques to make sense of, and logically categorise and structure, data to support NEMA’s priorities
• Identifies data that may support the National Joint Common Operating Picture, and works with the Manager Data Spatial Team to source feeds
• Engages with stakeholders to develop and maintain collection approaches that leverage collective capabilities
• Ensures other areas of NEMA are supported with open source information as required.

Role requirements/qualifications:

Mandatory

• Experience in managing positive relationships with team members and stakeholders
• Strong communication and negotiation skills with the ability to adapt to different audiences
• Leadership and management experience with the ability to mentor and develop staff
• The ability to work with limited supervision and demonstrate drive towards team goals
• Ability to undertake analysis of information across a broad range of sources to support operational outcomes.

Desirable

• Experience in intelligence related fields, with a strong focus on open source information
• Development and delivery of training and technical capabilities
• Emergency management qualifications, knowledge and/or expertise.

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 statement of claims response (Applicant Response) addressing the following capabilities:

• Contributes to strategic thinking
• Achieves results
• Supports productive drive and integrity
• Display personal drive and integrity
• Communicates with influence
• Demonstrates professional or technical proficiency

Please provide a one page response (in total).

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 - 127860 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).

To be eligible to work in some roles, you may be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (including any COVID-19 booster dose to maintain an 'up-to-date' status). Candidates should be aware that in roles where vaccination against COVID-19 is required by public health orders/directions or other legislation, if a candidate is not fully vaccinated or is unwilling to be vaccinated within a reasonable period, they may not be offered that role.

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.