Agency Purpose
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is an independent statutory authority established by the Australian Government to maintain an impartial and independent electoral system for eligible voters through active electoral roll management, efficient delivery of polling services, and targeted education and public awareness programs.
The AEC’s values and commitments
The AEC values and commitments are an essential component of our operating environment and frame how AEC staff work. The AEC's focus is on electoral integrity through the values of quality, agility and professionalism.
The Team
The People Branch delivers strategic and operational human resources services across the AEC, supporting employees, managers and business areas through expert advice, proactive support and workforce solutions. The branch is responsible for a broad range of functions, including workforce planning and analysis, recruitment and onboarding, employee relations, and work health and safety.
The Attraction and Recruitment section plays a key role in helping the AEC attract, recruit and retain a capable and diverse workforce across the agency. The section partners with business areas to deliver end-to-end recruitment services, ensuring the AEC can meet its operational requirements and workforce objectives.
The section provides expert advice, manages recruitment processes, promotes best practice and works to ensure a positive experience for candidates and hiring managers.
The Opportunities
The Attraction and Recruitment section is looking to engage multiple Assistant Directors to lead key functions across the section. As the AEC progresses towards the Directed Level of Event Readiness, these opportunities will play a critical role in strengthening workforce capability, supporting operational readiness, and ensuring the agency is well positioned to deliver future electoral events while maintaining business-as-usual operations.
Assistant Director, Surge Strategy & Entry Level Programs
The Assistant Director, Surge Strategy & Entry Level Programs leads strategic recruitment, talent management and workforce capability initiatives to attract, develop and retain a high-performing workforce. The role oversees entry-level recruitment programs, including Graduate and School Leaver Programs, as well as surge recruitment activities, with a strong focus on the delivery and continuous improvement of the Contingent Workforce to support electoral readiness.
Working under broad direction, the position manages complex workforce projects, leads a team, and provides expert advice on recruitment, workforce planning and people management matters. The Assistant Director drives workforce capability through innovative recruitment and development strategies, stakeholder engagement, policy development, compliance oversight and strategic workforce planning.
Assistant Director, Onboarding & Internal Movements
The Assistant Director, Onboarding & Internal Movements leads the delivery of onboarding services across the AEC, ensuring a compliant, customer-focused, and efficient employee onboarding experience. The role provides strategic and operational leadership of the onboarding function, including team management, workforce planning, governance, reporting, process improvement, and service delivery.
Working collaboratively with stakeholders across the organisation, the Assistant Director drives continuous improvement initiatives, supports workforce readiness, and ensures onboarding services align with agency objectives and legislative requirements.
Assistant Director, Recruitment
The Assistant Director, Recruitment leads the delivery of recruitment services across the AEC, managing day-to-day recruitment operations, including the provision of labour hire services, while providing strategic and operational leadership to a high-performing team.
The role works collaboratively with hiring managers and key stakeholders across the agency to deliver contemporary, responsive and compliant recruitment outcomes that support organisational workforce capability and readiness. The Assistant Director will provide specialist advice and guidance on complex and sensitive recruitment matters, oversees recruitment activities and team performance, and drives continuous improvement initiatives to enhance service delivery and candidate experience.
To excel you’ll have:
- Demonstrated experience leading high-performing teams in recruitment, onboarding, workforce planning, talent acquisition, or broader HR functions.
- Strong stakeholder engagement, communication, and influencing skills, with the ability to build productive relationships and achieve outcomes across diverse environments.
- Proven ability to manage complex and sensitive workforce matters, balancing competing priorities while delivering high-quality outcomes.
- Strong strategic, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to assess risk, exercise sound judgement and make evidence-based decisions.
- Experience leading change, driving continuous improvement, and implementing initiatives that support organisational and workforce objectives.
- Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain policies, governance frameworks and reporting arrangements that support effective workforce outcomes.
Desirable
- Relevant tertiary qualifications in Human Resources, Business, Management, Public Administration or a related discipline, or equivalent demonstrated experience.
- Experience working within the Australian Public Service, or a similar organisation, across recruitment, onboarding, workforce administration or employee lifecycle functions.
- Knowledge of, or the ability to quickly gain knowledge of, AEC workforce systems, policies and Commonwealth employment frameworks.
Eligibility
- 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.
