Program Director

Aurec Group; Canberra; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Aurec Group in Canberra, ACT is seeking a Head of Programs (EL2 Equivalent) to lead the Program Management Unit and own multi-million-dollar portfolio execution. The role demands high autonomy, authoritative decision-making, and direct accountability for delivery.

Responsibilities include portfolio leadership, multi-stream financial oversight, executive governance, and high-stakes stakeholder management within a government-facing program. Office-based on-site with limited travel.

Job description

This initiative represents Australia's international cyber security and critical technology capacity-building investment in the Indo-Pacific. It serves as a key vehicle for advancing national security, foreign policy, and regional digital resilience. The broader portfolio encompasses several specialised sub-initiatives:

Rapid Incident Response: Deploying emergency cyber incident support, technical teams, and rapid-assistance mechanisms to regional partner nations during active crises.

Regional Modernisation Projects: Executing critical IT infrastructure, hardware, and software upgrades across partner government networks.

Regional Exercising & Capacity Building: Designing and running operational, technical, and policy-level cyber security exercises with foreign government counterparts to improve incident response readiness.

Bilateral Governance & Diplomatic Engagement: Overseeing formal bilateral relationships, regional MoUs, and inter-governmental security frameworks.

Program Overview & Core Initiatives

This initiative represents Australia's international cyber security and critical technology capacity-building investment in the Indo-Pacific. It serves as a key vehicle for advancing national security, foreign policy, and regional digital resilience. The broader portfolio encompasses several specialised sub-initiatives:

• Rapid Incident Response: Deploying emergency cyber incident support, technical teams, and rapid-assistance mechanisms to regional partner nations during active crises.

• Regional Modernisation Projects: Executing critical IT infrastructure, hardware, and software upgrades across partner government networks.

• Regional Exercising & Capacity Building: Designing and running operational, technical, and policy-level cyber security exercises with foreign government counterparts to improve incident response readiness.

• Bilateral Governance & Diplomatic Engagement: Overseeing formal bilateral relationships, regional MoUs, and inter-governmental security frameworks.

Position Overview: Head of Programs (EL2 Equivalent)

As the operational head of the Program Management Unit (PMU), this role requires high autonomy, authoritative decision-making, and direct accountability for multi-million-dollar portfolio execution:

• Portfolio & PMU Leadership: Leading a multidisciplinary team of project officers, program managers, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) specialists, and procurement experts.

• Multi-Stream Financial Oversight: Direct management of complex, co-mingled funding lines-including international development assistance ($ODA$), non-$ODA$ administered funds, and departmental appropriations-under strict Commonwealth compliance rules.

• Executive & Inter-Agency Governance: Functioning as the Secretariat for the program Steering Committee, preparing ministerial updates, and providing authoritative advice to Senior Executives.

• High-Stakes Stakeholder Management: Interfacing across senior executive leadership, central government agencies, private sector delivery partners, civil society, and international government counterparts.

CRITICAL SELECTION CRITERIA

• Location: Canberra, ACT (Office-Based / On-Site Required)

• Security Clearance: Active Negative Vetting Level 1 (NV1) Minimum REQUIRED

• Classification: EL2 Equivalent (Contract / Labour Hire)

• Contract Term: 12-Month Initial Engagement + 12-Month Extension Option

• Travel: Limited international travel within Southeast Asia / Pacific (Max 2 trips/year)