First Assistant Commissioner, Funding and – Australian Electoral Commission
📌 Vacancy Fact Sheet
- Reference Number: VN-0770799
- Agency: Australian Electoral Commission
- Job Title: First Assistant Commissioner, Funding and
- Position Number: 2026-087 16960 SES
- Classification: Senior Executive Service Band 2
- Closing Date: Tuesday 21 July 2026
- Job Type: Full-Time, Ongoing
- Location: Canberra ACT
- Future Merit Locations: Various locations – ACT, Various locations – NSW,
- Salary: Future Merit
- Office Arrangement: On Site (The AEC support flexible workplace arrangements as)
About Australian Electoral Commission
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is at the heart of Australian democracy. The AEC is responsible for conducting federal
elections and referendums, maintaining the Commonwealth electoral roll and making sure the Australian public is informed about
all electoral matters. Our goal is to see that all eligible Australians actively participate in our democracy. The AEC values of
electoral integrity through quality, agility and professionalism drive strategic and corporate planning and assist in organising the
agency in a way that will effectively deliver the business into the future. The AEC is an equal opportunity employer which upholds
the APS employment principles and actively encourages a diverse and inclusive workplace. The AEC’s statutory functions in
relation to the conduct of elections and referendums require that the AEC and its employees must be, and must be seen to be,
impartial and politically neutral. As a result, the AEC Enterprise Agreement and Political Neutrality Policy state that it is an inherent
requirement of AEC employment that employees, and prospective employees, are not publicly active in any political affairs and do
not publicly engage in such activities. This includes advocating any issues associated with a referendum. Should a prospective
employee fail to meet this inherent requirement, they will be ineligible for employment with the AEC.
Duties
- This is a pivotal executive leadership role at the centre of one of the AEC’s most important
- transformation agendas. As First Assistant Commissioner, Funding and Disclosure Reform
- Program, you will help lead a major enterprise reform program to modernise Australia’s political
- finance funding and disclosure arrangements, translating legislative intent into a deliverable reform
- pathway that is strategically sound, operationally workable and publicly credible.
- As a senior member of the Executive Leadership Team and as Deputy Senior Responsible Officer,
- you will shape program vision, strategy and execution, provide authoritative advice on risks and
- delivery, and establish the governance and assurance needed to support confident, transparent
- and defensible decisions. You will lead complex, interdependent streams of work spanning policy,
- systems, data, operations and organisational change in an environment where delivery quality,
- integrity and timeliness matter deeply.
- You will oversee major commercial arrangements, program risk, compliance and assurance
- settings, and ensure strong probity and vendor performance across the reform effort. You will also
- engage at senior levels with government, parliamentary bodies, external partners and regulated
- stakeholders, helping to navigate complexity, build confidence and maintain momentum across a
- high-profile national reform program.
- Success in this role will require you to build and lead a high-performing multidisciplinary team,
- drive sustained organisational change and embed new capability across the agency. In doing so,
- you will help position the AEC to deliver reform with integrity, transparency and confidence, while
- creating a lasting transformation legacy for one of Australia’s most important public institutions.
- What you will bring
- You will bring the executive judgement, transformation leadership and delivery capability to
- succeed in a role of significant scope, visibility and national importance. You will demonstrate
- leadership behaviours consistent with the APS Secretaries Charter of Leadership Behaviours and
- work with the SES cohort across the agency to deliver shared priorities, with a strong focus on
- stewardship, collaboration, integrity and accountability.
- To excel you will have:
- Proven experience leading large-scale, complex Tier 1 transformation programs, including
- translating legislative or policy intent into executable delivery strategies, roadmaps and
- outcomes.
- Demonstrated ability to provide strategic leadership in a high-pressure, fast-paced
- operational environment, carefully responding to shifting priorities, delivery pressures,
- interdependencies, and critical delivery timeframes.
- Demonstrated experience establishing and leading robust governance, assurance and
- decision-making frameworks to support transparent, defensible and high-quality program
- outcomes.
- Demonstrated ability to lead and mobilise multidisciplinary teams, including building
- organisational capability and fostering a high-performing, accountable and collaborative
- culture.
- Proven stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, including the ability to work
- effectively with senior executives, ministers, parliamentary bodies, external partners and
- regulated entities.
- Demonstrated experience in senior-level program and financial management, including
- oversight of budgets, resource allocation, procurement and vendor performance.
- Demonstrated capacity to manage risk, uncertainty and change, including implementing
- effective risk, issue and change control processes in complex environments.
- Experience driving organisational change, including designing and delivering
- communication, training and capability uplift strategies to support sustained adoption of
- reforms.
- Strong understanding of data, digital and system-enabled transformation, including data
- governance, information management and assurance of data quality and integrity.
- Desirable:
- Knowledge of, or ability to quickly gain knowledge of, Australian electoral law, political
- finance, and public sector governance requirements.
Eligibility / Notes
- To be eligible for this position, you must be an Australian citizen. Exemptions may apply in certain
- circumstances, such as if you are expecting to gain citizenship.
- 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
Position Contact Alex Famelis, [email protected]
Agency Recruitment Site https://candidate.aurion.cloud/aec/production/
Applicants to vacancies notified in all formats of the electronic Public Service Gazette should be aware:
that the names of successful applicants will also be notified in all formats of the electronic Public Service Gazette
applicants found suitable may be offered similar employment opportunities by other Australian Public Service agencies
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