National Situation Room Officer, Senior Information Officer

Job Req ID

NEMA - 136853

Location

ACT 

 Employment Type

Ongoing, Full-time 

Classification

APS Level 5 - $85,687.00 and $91,809.00 plus 15.4% super (part time pro-rata)

Contact Officer

Kristy Hobbs at kristy.hobbs@nema.gov.au  

Office Arrangements

Onsite 
 

Applications close on 13/04/2025 at 11:59pm AEST (midnight) - Late applications will not be accepted.

About our opportunity

This process is being used to fill 3 immediate position/s. 

Applicants suitable for the role but not offered the position for the current vacancy may be placed in a merit list or pool to fill similar vacancies for up to 18 months anywhere in ACT.
 

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 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 About us | NEMA

Overview of the Branch and Section:
The Australian Government National Situation Room (NSR) is part of the National Crisis Operation Branch (NCOB) within NEMA’s Emergency Management Response Division (EMR). The NCOB provides awareness of unfolding and potential situations (situational awareness), decision support, prediction of potential community impacts (predictive analysis) and impact and consequence assessment for crisis that are emerging or underway. These functions support NEMA Crisis Coordination Teams to prepare for and respond to nationally-significant events through the activation of National Plans and coordination of Australian Government non-financial assistance.
 
The NSR monitors and reports on emerging, current and predicted hazards to support decision making across the Commonwealth, States, Territories and industry. The majority of NSR work relates to monitoring and reporting on natural disaster events across Australia (flood, bushfire, cyclone, heatwave and earthquakes), and includes a strong focus on weather forecast and relationships with the Bureau of Meteorology and Geoscience Australia. Under an ‘all-hazards' remit, the NSR also conducts monitoring and reporting on security incidents including cyber, significant demonstrations, impacts to critical infrastructure, space weather and space debris re-entry.
 
The NSR issues SMS, verbal and written notifications on all-hazard emergency events to key Government and jurisdictional stakeholders. Increasingly this information is available to our stakeholders through the National Joint Common Operating Picture (NJCOP), a web-based platform which provides decision makers with near real-time, automated, situational awareness and decision support for nationally significant hazard events.
 
The NSR houses the National Security Hotline (NSH), a public facing phone and email line for reporting concerns of national security to law enforcement agencies for further investigation. The NSH operator role is a significant component of the NSR Officer position.
 
About the role:
The NSR can escalate rapidly from steady state monitoring, to coordination of reporting across current and emerging hazards and disasters. NSR positions are designated shift work roles and the occupants are required to perform duties on a 24/7 rotational roster, including days, nights, weekends and public holidays, and are remunerated in line with these shift work requirements. Staff may be required to perform higher duties to fill operational vacancies. All NSR Officers will be assigned across both ‘Operational Support’ and ‘National Security Hotline’ skill sets. 

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:
We are seeking highly motivated, curious, critical thinkers who enjoy working in a rapidly evolving environment. You will have a high standard of oral and written communication with a developed ability to liaise with, coordinate and support multiple internal and external stakeholders.
 
Working in the NSR is often high-pressured and unpredictable and is best suited to team players who are flexible, resilient and able to quickly grasp new concepts. A high level of computer literacy will support your work across several online systems including utilising open source media platforms and search terms, databases and incident management systems. An interest in emergency management and natural disasters will drive your ability to learn across a broad scope of subject content.

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: 

• Monitor incoming agency feeds, open source media and the NSR's information systems on both emergency management and national security events, to inform development of briefing and analytical products for senior executive decision makers, Australian Government and jurisdictional agencies
• Draft written information products based on collected information
• Produce maps, diagrams, graphs and written reports to inform NSR briefing and analytical products
• Take NSH calls relating to matters of national security and accurately record and report that information
• Prepare and log information accurately into the NSH database and forward to relevant agencies
• Undertake other tasks related to the role, including project work, as directed by the NSR Shift Leader and Assistant Shift Leader
• Participate in crisis response planning meetings as required
• Produce complex/urgent event creation and notifications
• Assist the Shift Leader in ensuring ongoing development, maintenance and correct implementation of standard operating procedures, guidelines and other tools to ensure consistency and efficiency within the NSR
• Assist the Shift Leader in managing staffing changes to the NSR Operations roster
• Participate in Crisis Coordination Teams and internal briefings during an incident when required
• Undertake project work, as directed by the Shift Leader
• Assist the Shift Leader to supervise the work of the team.

Role requirements/qualifications:

• Must be able to obtain and hold an AGSVA Negative Vetting 1 security clearance and must have the ability to satisfy AFP building access requirements
• Ability to work as a high performing team member in high pressure situations, with rapidly changing priorities
• Availability to work full time shift work 24/7 (current rotation is 2 x 12hr days, 2 x 12hr nights, 4 RDO’s)
• Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to apply critical thinking to problem solving
• Demonstrated ability to navigate information technology applications such as online databases, geospatial products and social media platforms
• Psychometric testing and a work sample assessment may occur
• Ability to process content which may be confronting, challenging and or triggering including terrorism, natural disasters, child sexual abuse material, domestic violence and mental health issues.

 
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 - 136853 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 and successfully undergo a National Police Check
• Obtain and maintain a Negative Vetting Level 1 (AGSVA) security clearance
• Satisfy a probation period (if applicable)
• 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.