• Location: Newcastle  
• Clerk Grade 7/8
• Salary ($99,431 - $110,064 pa), plus employer’s contribution to superannuation and annual leave loading
• Temporary position end date 30.06.2022
• Industry leading training with ongoing career development and support
• Generous leave entitlements including flex leave
• Flexible work practices
• Diverse and inclusive organisation

Please note: Office location is Newcastle, however position covers Hunter and Central Coast District – location flexible during working from home COVID-19 current restrictions.

About the role

The primary purpose of this role is to facilitate engagement with the sector and local communities to improve the local supply of services, whilst building collaborative relationships with Government and Non-Government Organisation’s developing avenues for contract management that directly contribute to better outcomes for individuals, families, and communities.

As a Commissioning and Planning Officer (CPO) you will work closely with our Non-Government Organisations and partners to ensure that services provided achieve the best possible outcomes for children and young people, and support capacity building in their governance and financial management capabilities, by being transparent about potential risks to service delivery and by acting early if issues arise.

This position within the HCC Commissioning and Planning team, will be directly responsible for ensuring the delivery of the Permanency Support Program (PSP) and Intensive Therapeutic Care (ITC) Program across the district. The successful applicant will support all internal and external service providers to meet the needs of children and young people with statutory out-of-home care to meet their permanency goals. 

To be successful in this role you will be a good negotiator with demonstrated experience in relationship management and contract management processes. In addition, you will be innovative and client focused in the delivery of services to children and young people and how you promote change in the sector. You must have demonstrated high level communication, decision making and project management skills.

To ensure recruitment at the Department of Communities and Justice continues without interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, some interviews and assessments may be performed using alternative methods.

This may include video interviewing, telephone interviewing and online assessments. If you are successful following review of your application, you may need to perform assessments and/or interviews via online platforms using a PC, laptop or smart phone. By doing so, we will be adhering to the strict social distancing advice currently in place.

You may also be asked to complete a Health Declaration Form in later stages of the assessment process.

Agency overview

The Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) commenced on 1 July 2019 and is the lead agency in the new Stronger Communities Cluster. DCJ brings together the former departments of Family and Community Services (FACS) and Justice. 

Working together for stronger communities means that DCJ can continue to deliver services with a more unified and collaborative approach. This means a greater focus on prevention and early intervention, faster responses, more seamless operations, less duplication of effort and better outcomes. 

Stronger Communities brings all government services targeted at achieving safe, just, inclusive and resilient communities under one roof.

As Australia’s largest child protection provider, DCJ directly supports approximately 800,000 people every year and reaches a further million people through local community based programs.

We collaborate with government, non-government and community partners to work with children, adults, families and communities to improve lives and realise potential with a focus on breaking rather than managing disadvantage.

Essential requirements of the role

• Tertiary qualifications in a related discipline and/or equivalent knowledge, skills and experience with demonstrated commitment to ongoing professional development
• Possession of a current NSW Driver’s Licence and a willingness to travel to and work with clients in their home (a corporate vehicle will be provided for travel between office and clients home)
• It is an essential requirement of the role that successful applicants will have had their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by 25 October 2021 and their second dose by 17 January 2022

Applying for the role

Click the "Apply Now" button. When applying you will need to:

Attach a resume (maximum 5 pages) and a cover letter (maximum 3 pages) outlining how you meet the requirements and capabilities of this role as well as providing answers to the 2 pre-screening questions below: 

• Targeted Question 1 (Capability Assessed: Influence and Negotiate, Deliver Results)

DCJ undertakes program reforms which lead to new program guidelines and service delivery requirements being negotiated within a recommissioning process. These changes may in turn affect our funded service providers and how they provide their services to their clients within our community. Some key stakeholders may not always be supportive of these changes required. Demonstrate an example of when you have worked with stakeholders to discuss a change in circumstance, where you were required to get the parties to reach agreement on a collective outcome.  How would you manage a challenging or complex negotiation? What knowledge and skills would you utilise? Describe what you were trying to achieve and the result?

• Targeted Question 2 (Capability Assessed: Think and Solve Problems, Procurement and Contract Management)

Describe a time where you have been responsible for researching, designing and implementing a new service or program to meet a service delivery gap you identified? What steps did you undertake to identify the service gap, and to design and implement this the new service or program? Demonstrate the procurement process undertaken and your role in this? How did you ensure this new service or program contributed to better outcomes for your clients whilst meeting the needs of the community and how did you measure this? 

For role enquiries please contact: Sarah Masters Phone: 0436 688 489 or Email [email protected] using the subject line: Commissioning and Planning Officer - Newcastle enquiry via EthicalJobs.

If you experience technical difficulties when submitting your application, please contact our team on (02) 8671 8602 

Appointments are subject to reference checks. Some roles may also require the following checks/ clearances:

• National Criminal History Record Check in accordance with the Disability Inclusion Act 2014
• Working with Children Check clearance in accordance with the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012

IMPORTANT

To ensure recruitment at the Department of Communities and Justice continues without interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, some interviews and assessments may be performed using alternative methods. 

This may include video interviewing, telephone interviewing and online assessments. If you are successful following review of your application, you may need to perform assessments and/or interviews via online platforms using a PC, laptop or smart phone. By doing so, we will be adhering to the strict social distancing advice currently in place.

Inclusion and Diversity lies at the heart of how we recruit

DCJ is committed to building a workplace culture that values diversity and inclusion. We actively promote the employment of people with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, LGBTI and other diversity groups.

DCJ encourages applications from people with disability and will provide reasonable adjustments in our recruitment processes and in the workplace.

We continue to hire great people with a wide variety of skills, experience and backgrounds. This includes people with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, women, people identifying as LGBTIQA+, culturally and linguistically diverse people, carers and other diversity groups. 

If you require an adjustment within the recruitment process, please contact 02 8671 8602 or via email at [email protected] and advise us of your preferred method of communication.

If you are looking for more information about workplace adjustments at DCJ, please visit our Careers site.

A talent pool may be created for future ongoing and temporary roles and is valid for a period of up to 18 months. 

Thank you for your interest in this role. We look forward to receiving your application.

A position description is attached.