About the company

Public Skills Australia (PSA) is appointed by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) as one of 10 Jobs and Skills Councils. Public Skills Australia works with employer and employee representatives (career and volunteer) from the Public Safety and Government industry-sectors – Police, Fire and Emergency Services, Correctional Services, Defence, Federal, State/Territory, and Local Government – and provides the following services in support of industry:

development and consultation of workforce planning and training products that meets industry and policy needs; implementation, promotion and monitoring of strategies that drive improvement of training delivery and monitor resulting impacts; and stewardship of intelligence relating to workforce challenges and skill needs.

About the position

The Project Officer is accountable to the Manager, Training Product Development, and is part of the Training Product Development Team.

The position delivers on Training Product Development activities as outlined in the approved project plan. This role is responsible for the delivery of several areas of work simultaneously. Key activities include:

• Collaboration with subcontractors on program and project delivery.

• Fostering and maintaining strong relationships with key industry partners.

• Developing and piloting implementation programs to support industry-sector RTOs.

• Developing high-quality reports and briefing papers.

• Organising and facilitating various committee meetings.

• Presenting high quality, accurate, verbal and written information to the Executive and internal and external industry stakeholders.

The Project Officer (VET Workforce Research Project) will be required to promote and support the vision of the Board, the outcomes of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Reform program and ensure robust compliance, good governance, fiscal responsibility and adherence to federal requirements. The position is required to build and maintain strong relationships with all staff within the company.

PSA behaviours and expectations

As a team member within PSA, you will be expected to: Actively contribute: You will proactively provide strategic advice and focus on key deliverables. Promote good governance: You will actively promote good governance and adhere to policies and procedures. Collaborate with stakeholders: You will promote stakeholder engagement and pursue opportunities to connect PSA across industry sectors under its remit. Drive engagement: You will communicate, consult and collaborate widely, effectively representing and promoting PSA at all times.

Key responsibilities

In partnership with internal stakeholders, external stakeholders and external service providers, with the intent of ensuring compliance with all relevant legislative, grant and company compliance obligations, the VET Project Officer will:

• Deliver the VET Projects, as outlined in the approved project plan and any subsequent variations.
• Deliver quality work on time, in line with governance and consultation processes and to the required standard.
• Demonstrate appropriate professional behaviour in line with company values and encourage colleagues to do the same by leading by example.
• Contribute to other team member responsibilities and company functions enabling cross collaboration, demonstrating corporate maturity
• Support the decisions, direction and vision of the Executive and Management teams by acting cohesively and presenting a unified front.
• Support the decisions, direction and vision of the Board, members, DEWR and other JSCs by working collaboratively for the good of the VET Reform program.
• Undertake responsibilities and key work activities, diligently, in a planned and purposeful way.
• Undertake other reasonable duties as required.

Key selection criteria

Essential

• Tertiary qualification(s) and/or equivalent experience relevant to the responsibilities of the position.
• Demonstrated experience delivering qualitative and quantitative research projects within a company in partnership with internal and external stakeholders, with relevance to vocational education and training, workforce planning and/or labour market research.
• Demonstrated experience consistently delivering high quality verbal and written content (such as Selection Reports) on time and to required standards.
• Demonstrated experience delivering successful outcomes whilst exhibiting professional behaviour in line with organisational values.
• Demonstrated experience contributing to and collaborating with other internal stakeholders to ensure successful outcomes for an organisation.
• Demonstrated experience acting cohesively within a workplace and presenting a unified front with internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to support and advocate company position(s) with internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience planning, delivering and forecasting key responsibilities and associated work activities within an area of responsibility to successfully achieve organisational requirements.
• Willing to be hands-on working in a dynamic team environment.

Desirable

• Demonstrated experience working within service-focused companies including public safety, not-for-profit companies and/or government.
• Demonstrated understanding of corporate governance and compliance requirements.
• Demonstrated experience working within the vocational education and training sector.
• Vocational qualification(s) in training and assessment (eg. TAE40122 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, TAE50122 Diploma of Vocational Education and Training)

Other

• For the duration of employment, the incumbent is required to: (a) pass and maintain a National Police Record Check; (b) pass and maintain an ‘employee’ type Victorian Working with Children Check (WWCC); (c) be vaccinated against COVID-19; (d)be legally allowed to work within Australia.
• It is strongly preferred that the applicant hold a current Australian State or Territory drivers licence (car).
• There will be times when it is required to work outside normal business hours i.e. evenings and weekends to meet stakeholder requirements.
• Travel may be required for this position, including overnight stays and journeys by road, public transport and commercial airlines.

Type of employment

This is a full-time, fixed-term position, with the duration aligning to project milestones through till 30 June 2026. 

Experienced staff within the public service will be considered for secondment arrangements.

Applicants should note that a six (6) month probationary period applies to all new PSA employees (external candidates).  

Location

Although this position is based at the company’s office within the Melbourne Central Business District (CBD), the candidate’s work location may be undertaken from other locations within Australia by negotiation with line management. The candidate will be required to attend the Melbourne office as necessitated by business and deliverable requirements.

PSA supports flexible working arrangements, with a focus on balancing staff needs with work requirements.

Periodical Review

All PSA positions are subject to regular review and amendment as appropriate following consultation with the Chief Executive Officer.

This Position Description serves to illustrate the scope and responsibilities of the post and is not intended to be an exhaustive list of duties. You will be expected to perform other job-related tasks requested by management and as necessitated by the development of the organisation.

Please include a Cover Letter, as part of your application, addressing the Key Selection Criteria.

Applications are open for 21 days; however, Public Skills Australia reserves the right to close advertisements early upon receiving sufficient applications.