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 Northern Territory team is administered from the Darwin office. The team is made up of a small permanent workforce that scales significantly during electoral events and is responsible for providing electoral services across the electoral cycle, including electoral roll management, electoral participation initiatives, industrial elections and ballots, and preparation for federal electoral events.
The AEO NT leads the Northern Territory team and reports to the AEO WA, working closely to support efficient service delivery, shared administrative and operational functions, and consistent outcomes across Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
About the role
The AEO NT is accountable for leading AEC operations in the Northern Territory and ensuring electoral services are delivered lawfully, impartially and effectively across the electoral cycle. The role discharges statutory responsibilities under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 and Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984, including the preparation and delivery of federal electoral events and redistributions within fixed legislative timeframes and under significant public and political scrutiny.
The AEO NT leads electoral readiness, electoral roll management, and participation initiatives in the Northern Territory while maintaining integrity, impartiality and quality in electoral administration and delivery. Working closely with the AEO WA, the role supports shared operational functions and nationally consistent outcomes across Western Australia and the Northern Territory. As part of the State and Territory leadership group, the role contributes to the AEC's strategic direction, enterprise priorities and governance, and leadership activities.
The role provides strategic advice to the Electoral Commissioner and Senior Executive Team, as well as the Executive Leadership Team on matters affecting electoral administration, participation, operations and reputation in the Northern Territory. The role also requires building productive relationships with governments, elected officials, political participants, First Nations organisations and community stakeholders. The AEO NT leads and develops a geographically dispersed workforce and promotes a culture of integrity, accountability, inclusion and high performance.
During electoral events, the AEO NT leads delivery in the Northern Territory, mobilises the event workforce and operational arrangements, manages risks and emerging issues, and provides timely advice, reporting and escalation to the National Election Manager. Success in the role requires strong judgement and resilience, political neutrality, effective governance and stewardship of public resources, and the ability to lead complex and time-critical operational delivery environments.
The ideal candidate
The ideal candidate will have the following qualifications, skills, and experience:
- Demonstrated senior leadership experience and a proven track record of success within a complex operational, regulatory, service delivery or public administration environment.
- Proven ability to lead large-scale, complex and time-critical operations delivered under significant scrutiny.
- Experience leading geographically dispersed teams and delivering outcomes through others.
- Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain productive relationships with senior stakeholders across government, industry, community and representative groups.
- Exceptional judgement, integrity, professionalism and decision-making capability.
- Demonstrated ability to promote trust, confidence and organisational reputation in a sensitive public environment.
- Strong communication and influencing skills, including the ability to represent an organisation in high-profile and sensitive environments.
- Highly developed planning, risk management, problem-solving and governance skills.
- Knowledge of, or ability to rapidly acquire knowledge of, Australian electoral law and practice.
- Experience planning, preparing for and delivering large-scale operational events, major programs or equivalent complex activities.
Desirable:
- Experience within electoral administration or an equivalent high-integrity regulatory environment.
- Experience engaging with First Nations communities and stakeholders.
- Experience leading major operational activities in remote, regional or geographically dispersed environments.
- Relevant tertiary qualifications.
Eligibility
To be eligible for this position, you must be an Australian citizen.
In addition, there may be an exclusion period if you have received a redundancy benefit from a previous APS employer.
This position is a position of trust. The occupants must have the ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance to the level of Negative Vetting Level 1 or hold a current security clearance of appropriate level. You will be required to undertake a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History check (police check) prior to engagement.
How to apply
Your application must be submitted online prior to the closing date.
Your application should contain the following documents:
- Based on the duties and responsibilities of the role, and the qualities of an ideal candidate, a one-page pitch outlining why you are the best person for this role, and
- Your resume of no more than three pages and including the names and contact details of at least two referees.
Please note: exceeding the page limits outlined above may result in not all evidence provided being reviewed by the recruitment panel.
