Assistant Director, Registrations

Council Jobs; Canberra; On-site; AUD 128,000 - 137,000; Full time

Job summary

Council Jobs in Canberra seeks an Assistant Director, Registrations within ACT Heritage to lead strategic coordination of heritage nominations and registrations. You will provide expert advice on listings and shape priorities and forward work programs, guiding a high-performing team delivering robust and evidence-based assessments.

Reporting to the Director, Registrations and Engagement, you will oversee the application of statutory criteria, manage competing priorities, and ensure high-quality

Qualifications

• Experience leading and managing teams responsible for administration of legislation.
• Knowledge and experience assessing heritage nominations against statutory criteria for heritage significance is highly desirable.
• Heritage-related fields (e.g., cultural heritage management, archaeology, architecture, history, landscape architecture, conservation management) preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic coordination of heritage nominations and registrations, provide expert advice on heritage listings, and develop registration priorities and forward work programs.
• Oversee a high-performing team responsible for historical and heritage research, complex assessments, and provision of advice to ACT Heritage Council.
• Ensure robust, transparent, evidence-based heritage assessment and registration processes and outcome delivery.
• Influence heritage policy and decision-making, build stakeholder relationships, and contribute to long-term stewardship and policy outcomes.
• Navigate sensitive issues, interpret evidence, and provide clear strategic advice for informed decision-making.
• Lead efforts to identify, protect and tell the stories that matter to Canberra and future generations.

Skills

Heritage leadership

Strategic planning

Stakeholder engagement

Team leadership

Education

Heritage-related field background

Job description

Classification: Senior Officer Grade C
Salary: $127,597 - $136,873 plus superannuation
Position No: 43072
Directorate: City and Environment
Advertised (Gazettal date): 26 October 2026
Contact Officer: Heather Wallace on***************@act.gov.auor(02) 6205 2***

Details: If you're passionate about heritage and want to lead work that shapes how the ACT recognises, protects and celebrates its most significant places, objects and stories, this is an opportunity to make a lasting impact.

As the Assistant Director, Registrations within ACT Heritage, you will lead the strategic coordination of heritage nominations and registrations, provide expert advice on heritage listings, and drive the development of registration priorities and forward work programs. You will play a key role in ensuring the ACT's heritage assessment and registration processes are robust, transparent and evidence-based.

Reporting to the Director, Registrations and Engagement, you will lead a high-performing team responsible for historical and heritage research, complex assessment work, and the preparation of advice and recommendations for the ACT Heritage Council. This includes overseeing the application of statutory heritage criteria, managing competing priorities, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality registration outcomes.

The role offers a unique opportunity to influence heritage policy and decision-making, build productive relationships with stakeholders, and contribute to the long-term stewardship of the ACT's cultural and environmental heritage.

We are seeking a capable and collaborative leader with strong analytical skills, sound judgement, and experience delivering heritage, planning, environmental or other regulatory outcomes in a complex policy environment. You will be comfortable navigating sensitive issues, interpreting evidence, and providing clear strategic advice to support informed decision-making.

Join us in leading work that helps identify, protect and tell the stories that matter to Canberra and future generations.

We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where people with diverse thoughts, lived experience, and perspectives can thrive and contribute their unique talents to the ACTPS and ACT community. We encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with disability, people with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, veterans, younger and older workers, and people with diverse genders, sexes and sexualities to apply.

Eligibility/Other requirements:

• Experience leading and managing teams responsible for administration of legislation.
• Knowledge and experience in assessing heritage nominations against statutory criteria for heritage significance is highly desirable.
• Skills, experience and qualifications in a heritage related field are highly desirable. Heritage related fields include cultural heritage management, archaeology, architecture, history, landscape architecture, cultural geography and conservation management.

Notes: A Merit Pool will be established from this selection process and will be used to fill vacancies over the next 12 months.

Note: Under the ACTPS employment framework you may be placed in another role where required for the efficient administration of the service.

The ACT public service is committed to closing the gap, underpinned by the belief that when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a genuine say in the design and delivery of policies, programs and services that affect them, better life outcomes are achieved. More information can be found here ACT Closing the Gap Implementation Plan - ACT Government Transparency Portal.