Assistant Director Strategic Relations

Who we are
The Inspector-General of Water Compliance (Inspector-General) is an independent statutory role and an identified integrity agency, supported by staff provided by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment & Water (the Department). Inspector-General’s vision: Water management and use within the Murray-Darling Basin is lawful, transparent, and accountable, and the Australian public is confident in the integrity of Basin Plan delivery.

Inspector-General’s purpose: The Inspector-General ensures various government bodies, water managers and users in the Murray-Darling Basin (the Basin) comply with their obligations under the Water Act 2007 (Cth) (Water Act) and the Basin Plan 2012 (Cth) (Basin Plan) and drives governments and water managers to uphold high standards of integrity and performance. The Inspector-General’s role includes oversighting the performance of government agencies in the management of Basin water resources, as well as ensuring compliance with various commitments under legislation. The Inspector-General currently has offices located in Albury, Mildura, Dubbo, Goondiwindi, Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney, and Adelaide.

The Strategic Relations team acts as a focal point and provides strategic insights into key relationships and agreements between stakeholders in the Murray-Darling Basin (The Basin) that impact on regulatory compliance and Basin Plan performance. The team liaises with the Basin’s key stakeholders and manages those relationships to assist the Inspector-General in understanding current issues and facilitating solutions to high risk matters and in undertaking the roles and responsibilities of the Inspector-General.

This includes:

Providing Ministerial & Parliamentary liaison.
Providing a central contact point for information sharing and support for the Inspector-General’s engagement with State and Commonwealth government stakeholders.
Custodian of better practice forums which engage regulatory leaders and practitioners to discuss issues, share better practice, work together on cross-cutting issues and common regulatory problems, and collaborate more effectively.
Intelligence support including information gathering, mapping, analysing and reporting.
Supporting the annual Inspector-General survey work across the Basin.
Providing strategic on-ground engagement, intelligence and insights from key Basin stakeholders to inform the work of the Inspector-General, both in the oversight function and more broadly across the OWC.

Staff across the team are tasked with establishing and maintaining Basin-wide networks and knowledge and identifying opportunities in line with the Inspector-General’s strategic and work plans to provide insights, information and situational awareness to the Inspector-General.

The Job
The Assistant Director Strategic Relations establishes and maintains effective networks, communication channels and cooperation with all stakeholders to ensure the Inspector-General is aware of current and emerging issues and risks to compliance and the Basin Plan.

In this role you will be responsible for:

Implementing the Inspector-General’s engagement strategy, including leading a team of field officers located across the Basin to speak directly with community.
Building, maintaining, and utilising effective officer-level working relationships with state, territory and Commonwealth government agencies involved in the management of water in the Basin
Assist the Director of Strategic Relations with intergovernmental relations and the coordination of high-level engagement activities led by the Inspector-General, including the Regulatory Leaders’ Forum.
Ensuring the safety of field officers as a non-negotiable priority in compliance with relevant workplace safety obligations.
Establishing and implementing frameworks, systems, training, operational procedures, protocols, plans, process improvements and reviews to guide the work of field officers in an efficient and effective way.
Providing guidance and the development of triage papers for the referral of complaints and allegations to responsible areas within the OWC, or most appropriate external agencies.
Establishing and implementing the process of engagement information gathering, analysis and migration into information or intelligence products to identify risks and provide insights to the Inspector-General.
The provision of detailed and timely engagement information and reports designed to improve the evidence base and situational awareness of the Inspector-General.
Monitoring team performance and following through to deliver quality outcomes in line with the strategies and plans of the Inspector-General.
Model the Inspector-Generals values of integrity, accountability and transparency for your team as a leader in the IGWC to build a positive culture.

What we are looking for
Knowledge and experience
The successful applicant should be able to demonstrate most or all of the following:

Knowledge of regulatory policy and practice.
Knowledge of water reform within the Basin including the Basin Plan and Water Act and related water management issues, or the demonstrated ability to acquire this knowledge.
Extensive experience in stakeholder engagement.
Experience in information or intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination.
Experience operating with complex legislation.
Government administration experience including governance, coordination, project management, reporting, procurement and recruitment.
Experience providing advice on matters and working with internal and external stakeholders to facilitate the resolution of complex issues.
Experience working within or leading a geographically dispersed and/or regional team.

Skills and capabilities
The successful candidate will:

Build, maintain and strengthen relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
Have a keen eye for detail and ability to effectively communicate clearly and concisely, both verbally and in writing, to a diverse range of stakeholders.
Have an open, practical, diplomatic and democratic communication style, and an attitude that welcomes the opportunity to learn from others in an inclusive way through collaboration, consultation, and engagement.
Possess a high level of emotional intelligence with the demonstrated ability to maintain positive and productive relationships with a broad range of stakeholders from diverse backgrounds, both government and non-government.
Identify and analyse information trends, developing advice and/or solutions which demonstrate sound judgement and an awareness of the context in which they are operating.
Apply critical and analytical thinking and problem-solving skills to complex policy, regulatory and compliance issues to provide high-level strategic advice.
Understand team priorities and adapt when those priorities change, take responsibility for their workload, and understand when to escalate issues.
Work collaboratively and cooperatively as a member of a team, contributing to ideas, coordinating projects, suggesting improvements and leading and developing other team members, as appropriate.

Desirable Qualifications

The successful candidate must have relevant qualifications or demonstrated professional experience in areas related to environmental or natural resource management (particularly water management), public administration, engagement, information or intelligence analysis.

Eligibility and other requirements
Citizenship – To be eligible for employment with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water you must be an Australian citizen.

Security Clearance – This position requires a Baseline Vetting security clearance. You will be required to obtain and maintain a clearance at this level.

Pre-employment Check – Your suitability for employment will be assessed through a pre-employment screening process. This process includes a requirement to undergo and satisfy a National Police Check, referee checks, character clearance and where required a pre-employment medical assessment, specified mandatory qualification(s) validation and a probation period of 6 months.

For additional information, please read the Job Description below.

Candidate Information Pack (Docx)

Candidate Information Pack (PDF)

Job Description