Company description:

The Department is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds, including veterans, people who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, have a disability, are from varied cultural backgrounds and those who identify as LGBTIQ+. The Department provides workplace adjustments for applicants with disabilities.

Job description:

The Department is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds, including veterans, people who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, have a disability, are from varied cultural backgrounds and those who identify as LGBTIQ+. The Department provides workplace adjustments for applicants with disabilities.

Planning and Land Services Group in the Department, brings together statutory planning, building policy, land, property and heritage capability to deliver statewide services. The Group administers statutory planning responsibilities including improvements to planning system and provisions, assessing planning scheme amendments and environmental assessments and planning permits.

We're focused on outcomes that deliver more choice, connections and confidence in our travel, ensuring the whole transport network works as one to deliver better services and outcomes.

About the Role

The Principal Policy Officer provides strategic and technical policy and regulatory expertise to underpin the department's approach to maintaining and improving the regulatory framework for building, plumbing and architecture industries. They will develop and oversee a cohesive approach to progressing a long-term pipeline of regulatory projects, ensuring a connection between short-term statutory requirements and longer-term reform priorities and direction. They will support effective project scoping and monitoring of delivery against project plans, ensuring that objectives are met across a suite of projects over short- and long-terms. In doing so, they will provide mentoring, coaching and guidance to project leads, tailoring their involvement in individual projects to best support delivery within the context of resource and priority settings.

To access the Position Description, please click here.

Position Outcomes

• Provide high level strategic and technical advice on significant policy and regulatory matters related to the building, plumbing and architecture industries, identifying emerging issues and ensuring appropriate responses, including risk analyses and the preparation of reports for a range of audiences.

• Ensure a cohesive focus and high level of project management capability across a suite of regulatory projects, balancing short- and long-term needs and supporting strategic approach to project prioritisation, resourcing, scoping and delivery.

• Foster key strategic relationships, design and lead complex stakeholder and community engagement strategies with key internal and external stakeholders, to facilitate a partnership approach and ensure that regulatory projects are implemented collaboratively and flexibly.

• Maintain an active awareness of international and national building issues, with a particular focus on regulatory amendment proposals and any implications for the building regulatory system in Victoria.

• Prepare detailed reports, business cases, Cabinet submissions, Ministerial briefings, discussion papers, impact assessments and legislation, while demonstrating an understanding of the policy, political and legal context.

Key Selection Criteria

Join a dynamic team shaping policies that influence Victoria's transport and planning landscape. This senior role requires expertise in policy design, stakeholder engagement, and strategic leadership to drive meaningful change.

You will lead the development of legislation and regulations working closely with senior leaders to secure support for innovative proposals. Your deep understanding of the political and organisational landscape will help anticipate and navigate external changes, ensuring the department remains proactive and responsive.

Building strong relationships with stakeholders, you will facilitate collaboration and develop long-term strategies to influence key decision-makers. Your ability to negotiate, persuade, and foster a culture of teamwork will be essential in achieving shared objectives.

If you are a strategic thinker with a track record of delivering impactful policy outcomes, we want to hear from you. Apply now to shape the future of transport and planning in Victoria.

Qualifications and Experience

Desirable

• A tertiary qualification in law or public policy is highly desirable.
• Experience in the development and amendment of legislation and/or regulations in a State or Commonwealth public service setting is highly desirable.

What we offer

• Meaningful work making Victorian communities more accessible and liveable.
• Professional growth and development opportunities across the department and the wider Victorian Public Service.
• A hybrid working model focused on collaboration and teamwork.
• Optimal work-life balance initiatives including flexible working arrangements.
• We prioritise the development of a safe and inclusive culture.

Culture Value

We are an equal opportunity employer, embracing a diverse range of applicants such as veterans, and people who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, LGBTQIA community members, individuals with disabilities and/or health conditions, as well as those from varied faith and cultural backgrounds. At our department, we prioritise the development of a safe, inclusive, and high-performance culture through shared actions and behaviours that align with our strategy and direction. This empowers our employees to effectively contribute to our goals.

How to Apply

Create an account by clicking the ‘Apply' button and follow the prompts.

For help, click here for a Quick Reference Guide on how to apply.

Applications close 11.59pm on Tuesday, 25th March 2025. All Applications should include a resume and a cover letter. For further information about the role please contact Nick Oats - Manager Building Policy and Regulation via [email protected].

Please include a resume and cover letter. All applications must be submitted through the online portal. We're unable to consider email or manual applications at this time.

Preferred applicants may be required to complete a police check and may be subject to other pre-employment checks. Information provided to the Department of Transport and Planning will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Please let us know by phone or email if you need any adjustments to fully participate in the recruitment process. If you require the ad or any attachments in an accessible format (e.g., large print) due to viewing difficulties or other accessibility needs, we are happy to accommodate.