Assistant Director, Climate Risk Strategy

The Australian Government's Department of Climate Change is seeking an Assistant Director for Climate Risk Strategy. This EL 1 role, with a salary of $124,861 - $134,295, involves managing climate risk and engaging with stakeholders to implement climate policy. The position focuses on strategic knowledge brokering and systems thinking to enhance climate adaptation efforts. Applicants can work full-time or part-time from various locations in Australia, including Adelaide, Brisbane, and Sydney.
• EL 1 - $124,861 - $134,295 per annum plus superannuation
• Climate Change Policy, Adaptation & Risk Division
• Adelaide, SA,Brisbane, QLD,Canberra, ACT,Darwin, NT,Hobart, TAS,Melbourne, VIC,Perth, WA,Sydney, NSW

Who we are
Our Climate Change Policy, Adaptation and Risk (CCPARD) division sits within the broader Climate group, and it is responsible for driving national adaptation based on assessment of climate change risks and providing advice on implementing the government’s climate action agenda, as well as future directions. The division is responsible for the National Climate Risk Assessment, the National Adaptation Plan, the Annual Climate Change Statement to Parliament, implementing the Climate Change Act 2022 and Climate Change Authority Act 2011, the Climate Active program, coordination, and advice on climate science and climate services, uplifting government engagement with climate risk, as well as general climate change policy, strategy, and communications all within the realm of its three branches. The division leads climate adaptation policy, coordinates climate science and information services across Australia, oversees the implementation of the Powering Australia agenda and provides advice and analysis on strategic climate policy.

The Climate Active, Risk and Science Branch sits within CCPARD and is responsible for key elements of the Government’s climate change agenda, including the Climate Active program, National Climate Risk Assessment, Climate Risk and Opportunity Management Program and climate science.

The Climate Risk Strategy team is one of the teams responsible for helping connect available science and policy information to deliver long-term outcomes for managing climate risk to our core systems. We are a team focused on enabling strategic management of climate risk at a system-wide level. We share and connect information and groups and provide guidance and support to help make it as easy as possible for others to take appropriate action to connect and manage climate risks at a strategic level.

The Climate Risk Strategy team is seeking to fill multiple EL1 positions either on a full-time or part-time basis. The successful applicants will work as part of a small team with an ambitious agenda and must have a growth mindset, strong engagement and knowledge brokering skills, and a strong practical understanding of the climate services and climate risk space in Australia. Experience in climate risk management, systems thinking, and behavioural economics would be highly desirable but are not essential.

The Job
We have an exciting opportunity that would suit applicants with strong engagement, knowledge brokering, influence and systems thinking skills. As part of the team, you will:
• help deliver long-term outcomes for managing climate risk to our core systems by acting as intentional and strategic knowledge brokers
• build and strengthen relationships with key internal and external stakeholders
• use behavioural science approaches to make climate risk information usable for policy decisions and to communicate it in a way that drives decision makers to take appropriate action
• use systems thinking approaches and apply strategic policy expertise to plan and influence efficient and effective actions at a strategic level
• support with design phases of work to find key connecting parts of systems where action is needed to address climate risk
• use analysis skills to match up climate risks and current actions to identify gaps, address risks and to inform prioritisation work
• support with providing coordination, leadership and visibility of climate risk information across areas.

What you’ll gain from the experience
This is an exciting opportunity to help manage climate risk to the core functional systems that underpin our society. In this role you will apply your skills to influence the right people at the right time, connect them with the right information, and uplift capabilities to support better strategic alignment of actions in the climate risk space. In this role you can support meaningful change at a whole of systems level.

Eligibility
• 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 checks - 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.