The role

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

As a Project Officer in the SA State Office team, you will play an important role in delivering high-quality outcomes for the AEC by contributing to the effective administration and delivery of the State Office’s corporate, governance, and election readiness functions. This includes supporting section planning activities for short-term priorities and contributing to work area planning for longer-term strategic initiatives.

The role also provides project support for electoral events, including assisting with project administration, monitoring timelines and budgets, preparing reports, and supporting the delivery of project outcomes within agreed timeframes.

Operating under limited direction, the Project Officer undertakes moderately complex to complex work and applies specialised knowledge, analytical skills, and professional judgement to support the delivery of corporate, compliance, governance, electoral, and project objectives.

This position requires flexibility and adaptability, and your work will contribute to nationally significant outcomes. During the election cycle, the role will contribute to a variety of projects across the State Office in response to evolving agency priorities and operational requirements, as directed by management. You will be joining a collaborative and high-performing team, where you will be supported by experienced colleagues.

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, including:

• Ability to apply judgement when interpreting and applying legislation, policies, procedures and operational guidance to achieve quality outcomes.
• Experience in contract management, including developing scopes, supporting tender processes and monitoring contract performance.
• Ability to liaise effectively with internal and external stakeholders on project and operational matters.
• Sound planning, organisational and project coordination skills, including the ability to manage competing priorities and deliver quality outcomes within established timeframes.
• Well-developed communication skills, with the ability to collaborate, negotiate and engage effectively with colleagues, business areas and external stakeholders at all levels.
• Demonstrated ability to work autonomously, alongside a strong commitment to working collaboratively within a team to achieve shared objectives.
• Demonstrated resilience and adaptability, including the ability to remain effective under pressure, respond positively to changing priorities and manage periods of increased operational demand.

Desirable

• Experience in planning and organising major logistical events, including managing time effectively and identifying and organising resources to achieve results.
• Knowledge of Australian electoral law and practice, or the ability to quickly acquire and apply that knowledge.
• Knowledge of the Commonwealth Resource Framework, or the ability to quickly acquire and apply that knowledge.

Job description

The SA State Office team plays a key role in delivering operational excellence through assurance, governance, compliance and planning functions for SA's state-wide business-as-usual operations, event preparation and readiness, and end-to-end event delivery.

The team is responsible for managing a range of functions during our business-as-usual period, including finance, procurement, human resources, logistics, facilities management, monitoring and reporting, risk management, and roll management support. To deliver outcomes that support the integrity, effectiveness and continuous improvement of Australia's electoral system, the SA State Office team acts as the primary conduit between national and state operational networks, while linking organisational strategic objectives to operational deliverables.

Eligibility requirements

• 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.

About the agency

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is at the heart of Australian democracy. The AEC is responsible for conducting federal elections and referendums, maintaining the Commonwealth electoral roll and making sure the Australian public is informed about all electoral matters. Our goal is to see that all eligible Australians actively participate in our democracy. The AEC values of electoral integrity through quality, agility and professionalism drive strategic and corporate planning and assist in organising the agency in a way that will effectively deliver the business into the future. The AEC is an equal opportunity employer which upholds the APS employment principles and actively encourages a diverse and inclusive workplace. The AEC’s statutory functions in relation to the conduct of elections and referendums require that the AEC and its employees must be, and must be seen to be, impartial and politically neutral. As a result, the AEC Enterprise Agreement and Political Neutrality Policy state that it is an inherent requirement of AEC employment that employees, and prospective employees, are not publicly active in any political affairs and do not publicly engage in such activities. This includes advocating any issues associated with a referendum. Should a prospective employee fail to meet this inherent requirement, they will be ineligible for employment with the AEC.