Senior Research Manager – Australian Institute of Family Studies
📌 Vacancy Fact Sheet
- Reference Number: VN-0770933
- Agency: Australian Institute of Family Studies
- Job Title: Senior Research Manager
- Position Number: 26-09
- Classification: Executive Level 2
- Closing Date: Tuesday 28 July 2026
- Job Type: Full-Time, Ongoing;Non-Ongoing
- Location: Melbourne VIC
- Future Merit Locations: Melbourne
- Salary: $141,787 – $166,223
- Office Arrangement: Hybrid (Combination of office attendance and work from)
About Australian Institute of Family Studies
The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS, or ‘the Institute’) is the Australian Government’s
key research body in the area of family wellbeing. It is an independent statutory authority
established in 1980 under the Family Law Act 1975. It is also home to the Australian Gambling
Research Centre (AGRC), established under the Gambling Measure Act 2012 which builds the
evidence base on gambling-related harm. The Institute is an agency within the portfolio of the
Department of Social Services (DSS).
Our mission is to conduct high-quality, impartial research into the wellbeing of Australian families,
to inform government policy and promote evidence-based practice in the family services sector.
We conduct research, provide independent advice and communicate findings to government
policymakers, service providers, researchers and the community about factors affecting family
wellbeing. Through our research, we contribute to developing policy and practice to promote the
wellbeing of families in Australia.
Our teams
The AIFS Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) program
team consists of researchers, statisticians, data managers, and survey methodologists who work
across all parts of the LSAC study, including participant recruitment and retention, survey design,
data management and linkage and research and analysis. The team is structured around 4
primary areas of expertise: survey methodology, data management, research and analysis and
project management.
The AIFS Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health (TTM) program team is
responsible for the end-to-end management of the TTM study. This includes methodology and
content development, respondent engagement, fieldwork supervision, data management and
linkage, data analysis and preparation of study outputs.
Position requirements:
• Senior expertise in survey methodology within longitudinal or lifecourse or similarly complex
studies, with the ability to apply subject matter expertise to guide research design, ensure
scientific rigour, and deliver high impact outputs and an enduring national data asset.
• Drives methodological innovation to ensure the surveys relevance, scientific rigour, and AIFS
status as managers of significant longitudinal data assets
• Demonstrated understanding of the policy environment, and ability to deliver longitudinal survey
content and evidence that is timely, relevant, and aligned with government priorities in the short
and long term.
• Demonstrated experience in leading the operational delivery of complex and/or multi-year
research projects and surveys including scoping, planning, implementation, analysis and report
writing within a policy-relevant context. Includes proven experience in managing complex surveys
using contemporary project management frameworks and methods, adhering to relevant ethical,
privacy, and other relevant national study obligations, sensitive issues around findings and
reputational risk and ensuring that work runs to time, cost, quality, and scope requirements.
• Strong strategic skills, with the ability to contribute to project-level strategy and provide high-level
analysis of policy issues to inform research direction and survey development and outputs.
• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary and distributed study teams, coordinate across the groups,
and foster a collaborative and inclusive team culture that supports professional development and
high performance.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills, including the demonstrated ability to liaise, consult, and
negotiate with senior officials in government, industry, and community sectors to support
organisational business development priorities.
• Experience in business development, including supporting the preparation of funding proposals,
identifying future research opportunities aligned to organisational priorities, and building and
maintaining relationships with key stakeholders.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to represent their organisation
externally, build relationships, leading through others, stewardship and integrity, managing risk
and ambiguity, driving organisational improvement, exercising sound judgement under pressure
and convey complex research findings to diverse audiences.
• Commitment to diversity, inclusion, and culturally safe practices, with demonstrated experience
in embedding these principles into research design, team leadership, and stakeholder
engagement.
Duties
- Managing major research projects, large scale surveys, programs and contracts, including
- setting clear direction, monitoring progress, managing risks, reporting to senior leaders and
- funders, responding to changes and delivering high-quality results
- Building and managing stakeholder relationships by providing information, survey methodological
- expertise and specialist advice to key stakeholders, including funding bodies, policy makers (in
- government and service provision agencies), governance and advisory groups, fieldwork providers
- and other contractors
- Leading and managing a team of researchers, survey methodologists, and data specialists
- responsible for delivering research projects, overseeing the roll out of the survey, and data
- processing including managing performance, guiding development and providing feedback
- Leading or contributing to the development of research proposals including collaborating with
- other AIFS groups, external organisations, and providing survey methods expertise for cross-team
- responses
- Managing relevant budgets and other resources in line with AIFS’ obligations and procedures
- Undertaking research to contribute to the achievement of organisational goals
- Communicating research findings and representing the Institute at relevant conferences,
- webinars, workshops, teleconferences, meetings and other events
- Contributing to the senior leadership and strategic direction of OneAIFS.
- Key Capabilities
- · Strategic Leadership
- · Policy Engagement
- · Research Excellence and Innovation
- · Operational Oversight
- · Stakeholder Engagement
- · Business Development
- · Team Leadership
- · Functional Management
- For a comprehensive overview of the key capabilities, please refer to the Job Description.
Eligibility / Notes
- To be eligible for engagement, applicants must be Australian citizens unless special approval is
- provided in exceptional circumstances. For example, applicants with permanent resident status
- who have applied for Australian citizenship may be considered for engagement.
- Conditions of engagement including probation, health and character clearances (including police
- records check, Working with Children Check and security clearance) may apply to this position.
- Terms
- The Senior Research Manager role may be offered as a full-time, ongoing or non-ongoing position
- at the EL2 level in the LSAC or TTM teams. This will be with an annual salary range of between
- $141,787 to $166,223 depending on the skills and experience of the successful candidate, plus
- 15.4% superannuation. Our salaries and conditions of employment are set out in our Enterprise
- Agreement.
- Application information
- For your application to be considered, please:
- 1. Complete the application form.
- 2. Submit a current resume/CV detailing your recent employment history.
- 3. Submit a cover letter addressing the key capabilities required as outlined on the Job Description
- (maximum 2 pages).
- Important to note: Principles for candidate use of AI in recruitment
- Please refer to the: Job Description and Job Pack.
- Please visit: for full application requirements. Current vacancies | Australian Institute of Family Studies
- Applications for this position close at 11.30 PM AEST on 28 July 2026.
How to Apply
Position Contact Human Resources, 03 92147888
Agency Recruitment Site https://aifs.gov.au/main/work-with-us
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
Services Australia (part of the Social
Services Portfolio)
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