Director, Event Workforce

Australian Electoral Commission; Canberra; On-site; AUD 190,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) in Canberra seeks a Director, Event Workforce to provide strategic leadership and operational management of the agency's workforce function for electoral events. You will lead nationally significant programs, develop policies and contracts, and ensure consistent, compliant workforce delivery across a geographically dispersed network.

The role requires collaboration with senior executives, State Managers and external providers to recruit, train and remunerate

Qualifications

• Strategic leadership in complex operational environments.
• Experience leading large-scale workforce mobilisation.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement.
• Budget and contract management experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead the national Event Workforce program and workforce function.
• Develop policies, procedures, systems and contracts for event delivery.
• Ensure nationally consistent workforce management across a dispersed network.
• Collaborate with senior executives, State Managers and external providers.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Workforce mobilisation

Stakeholder engagement

Budgets & contracts

Job description

Position:

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Agency Purpose

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is an independent statutory authority established by the Australian Government to maintain an impartial and independent electoral system for eligible voters through active electoral roll management, efficient delivery of polling services, and targeted education and public awareness programs.

The AEC’s values and commitments

The AEC values and commitments are an essential component of our operating environment and frame how AEC staff work. The AEC's focus is on electoral integrity through the values of quality, agility and professionalism.

About the Team

The Event Workforce Section sits within the Event Enabling Branch and is responsible for the strategic planning, recruitment, establishment, support, training coordination, and remuneration systems that enable the AEC's event workforce.

The section provides national leadership for the attraction, recruitment, and management of the AEC's permanent election surge workforce and Temporary Election Workforce (TEW), supporting the delivery of federal elections, referendums, and by-elections across Australia.

The section is responsible for overseeing workforce planning, labour hire arrangements, TEW systems, operational recruitment delivery, employment frameworks, training support arrangements, and workforce reporting. During a federal election, these arrangements support the engagement, training, and payment of approximately 100,000 temporary election workers nationwide.

The Opportunity

This is an exciting opportunity to join the AEC and contribute to work that has a direct impact on Australia's democratic processes.

As Director, Event Workforce, you will provide strategic leadership and operational management of the AEC’s workforce function, ensuring the agency can recruit, establish and support a suitably skilled temporary workforce to deliver electoral events.

The role leads nationally significant workforce programs and services, overseeing the development of policies, procedures, systems, contracts and operational frameworks that support election readiness and successful event delivery. The Director is responsible for ensuring nationally consistent workforce management practices and service delivery across a geographically dispersed network.

The Director works collaboratively with senior executives, State Managers, operational leaders, People Branch and external providers to deliver workforce outcomes that are scalable, compliant, efficient and capable of supporting the AEC's evolving operational requirements.

To excel you’ll have:

We are seeking a motivated and capable professional who can demonstrate the skills, knowledge and experience required to perform successfully in this role.

• Demonstrated ability to provide strategic leadership in complex operational environments, including setting direction, leading teams, building organisational capability, fostering a positive workplace culture and delivering outcomes through others.
• Demonstrated experience leading large-scale workforce mobilisation, recruitment, service delivery or operational programs, including establishing frameworks, systems and processes to support consistent national delivery.
• Highly developed communication, stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, including experience building productive relationships, negotiating outcomes and working collaboratively across diverse stakeholder groups.
• Demonstrated experience managing budgets, contracts, procurement activities and service provider relationships, together with the ability to evaluate risks, drive continuous improvement and deliver compliant, efficient business outcomes.

Desirable

• Knowledge of Commonwealth employment frameworks and workforce legislation.

Eligibility

• AEC employees must be Australian citizens.
• Any person who is, and seen to be active in political affairs, and intends to publicly carry on this activity, may compromise the strict neutrality of the AEC and cannot be considered.
• Applicants are required to consent to, undergo, obtain and maintain a character clearance.
• Applicants are required to consent to, undergo, obtain and maintain the security clearance required for this role.