Director, Workforce

Australian Public Service Commission; Australia; Hybrid; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) is seeking a Director – Workforce to lead the design and delivery of contemporary workforce strategies that ensure the agency attracts, develops and retains the skills needed to deliver its priorities. The role requires close collaboration across the AER and senior stakeholders to translate data into strategic actions.

Based in Australia, the Director – Workforce will guide workforce planning, policy development, and professional development initiatives

Qualifications

• Australian Citizenship required
• Security clearance required or ability to obtain and maintain
• Employment checks will be conducted as part of suitability assessment

Responsibilities

• Lead teams to embed better practice services across Capability, Recruitment, Payroll and Workforce Reporting functions.
• Establish governance, policies, processes and reporting frameworks across the portfolio and develop a high-performing multidisciplinary team.
• Oversee the Capability, Recruitment, Payroll and Workforce Reporting functions to ensure compliance with legislative, industrial instrument and policy requirements.
• Lead agency-wide workforce planning and capability initiatives, including design and delivery of the AER Workforce Plan.
• Oversee development and delivery of the AER’s capability framework, leadership development and professional development initiatives.
• Lead APS Census, workforce reporting and analytics, translating data and insights into actionable advice for senior leaders.
• Provide high-level strategic advice to senior executives on workforce strategy, capability, resourcing and risks.

Job description

APSJobs experienced an unexpected outage between 5:50pm on 16 September and 1:30am on 17 September 2026. Services have now been restored. If you are concerned the outage affected an application that closed on 16 September, please contact the relevant agency. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Employees are required to work in the office a minimum of 2 days per week

Learn how a merit list or pool may be used

Applicants suitable for the role but not offered the position for the current vacancy, may be placed in a merit list or pool. If the applicant agrees, the results may be shared with other Australian Public Service (APS) agencies for filling similar roles. Applicants may be offered a future role, without the need to reapply. A merit list or pool may be used for up to 18 months. This merit list or pool may be used to fill other vacancies anywhere in Australia. For more information about Merit Lists or Merit Pools please go to APSC's website - The APS Merit Principle

On 1 July 2026, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission legally separated. The AER has established and is operating foundational human resources services, systems, processes and practices. Initially, the Director – Workforce’s priority will be to lead the evolution of operational human resources functions from foundational services, systems, practices and procedures to a high performing human resources operation.

As better practice services, systems, process and practices are embedded, the Director – Workforce will lead the design and delivery of contemporary workforce strategies that ensure the AER can attract, develop and retain the skills and capability required to deliver its strategic priorities. This will require the Director – Workforce to work collaboratively across the AER and provide strategic advice to senior leaders on workforce trends, requirements, risks and strategies.

The key duties of the position include:

• lead teams to define and embed better practice services, systems, process and practices across the Capability, Recruitment, Payroll and Workforce Reporting functions.
• establish governance, policies, processes and reporting frameworks across the portfolio, while leading and developing a high-performing multidisciplinary team.
• oversee the Capability, Recruitment, Payroll and Workforce Reporting functions to ensure these functions are effective, efficient and adhere to all applicable legislative, industrial instrument and policy requirements.
• lead agency-wide workforce planning and capability initiatives, including the design and delivery of the AER Workforce Plan, to support strategic priorities and future workforce needs
• oversee the development and delivery of the AER’s capability framework, leadership development and professional development initiatives.
• lead APS Census, workforce reporting and analytics, translating data and insights into actionable advice for senior leaders.
• provide high-level strategic advice to the Executive General Manager, General Manager Corporate and Senior Leadership Team and senior stakeholders on workforce strategy, capability, resourcing and emerging people risks.
• Australian Citizenship – our successful candidate must be an Australian Citizen
• Security clearance – our successful candidate is required to hold, or have the ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance at the required level
• Employment check – your suitability for employment will be assessed through a screening process.

RecruitAbility applies to this vacancy. Under the RecruitAbility scheme you will be invited to participate in further assessment activity for the vacancy if you choose to apply under the scheme; declare you have a disability; and meet the minimum requirements for the job. For more information visit: https://www.apsc.gov.au/recruitability . This initiative/program is only applicable where the successful applicant will be employed under the Public Service Act 1999. Similar conditions may apply when employed under other Acts. For clarification please contact the advertising agency.

Getting to know the Australian Energy Regulator

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) works to make energy consumers better off, now and in the future. We focus on ensuring a secure, reliable and affordable energy future for Australia as it transitions to net zero emissions.We regulate electricity networks and covered gas pipelines, in all jurisdictions except Western Australia. We set the amount of revenue that network businesses can recover from customers for using these networks.From 1 July 2026, the AER structurally separated from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and transitioned into a standalone non-corporate Commonwealth entity with its own accountable authority, staff and budgetary control.The separation of the AER from the ACCC is a significant regulatory reform aimed at improving the governance and operational autonomy of the AER.