About Jobs and Skills Australia
Want to work for an organisation recognised and celebrated for our excellence in leadership, stewardship and innovation? Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) may be the place for you!
As part of a motivated and dynamic organisation, we value being innovative, collaborative, accurate, respectful, courageous, and making a difference.
We are an independent secondary statutory body, within the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations that provides advice and data to the Government on every aspect of the jobs and skills system, to help all Australians realise their full skills potential.
We do this by working with our stakeholders to advise on current vocational education and training, higher education, and migration systems to meet Australia’s future skills and workforce needs.
Our people include specialists in policy, data, economics, communications, stakeholder engagement, digital solutions and research who are located across Australia.
We offer a positive, productive and supportive work environment and are committed to providing an inclusive workplace where continuous learning and building skills and professional networks are a priority.
Find out more about your future .
The Role
JSA is seeking a Research Lead to join the Inclusive Participation team. Reporting to a First Nations director and joining First Nations team members, this role is focused on developing a bespoke and dedicated multi-year First Nations research program. The research program’s objective is to develop new evidence, data and advice, in accordance with Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles, to inform policy on how we can Close the Gap on skills and employment outcomes for Indigenous Australians faster.
Key parts of the role include:
* Collaborating with the JSA wide Indigenous Cultural Advisory Panel (ICAP) to develop the research program.
* Champion efforts to promote and embed the principles and practices of Indigenous Data Sovereignty.
* Designing research projects and publications that use both quantitative and qualitative sources, methods and approaches to fill evidence gaps and make real-world policy change.
* Working with a dynamic transdisciplinary team of researchers, data analysts, economists and policy officers who are highly motivated.
The role offers a great opportunity to work at the cutting edge to embed Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles into JSA’s work program. You will be able to contribute to work that respects and amplifies Indigenous voices in shaping policy for a more equitable and responsive skills and labour market system for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
There will also be opportunities to support other intersectional research work on gender, people with a disability, mature age workers and migrants.
We are looking for research leads from diverse academic, not-for-profit, advocacy and policy backgrounds. This Research Lead position is equivalent to a middle management position in the private sector or an early career researcher in academia.
The key duties of the position include:
Responsibilities of the EL1 may include:
* Lead the development of a multi-year First Nations Research Program in collaboration with the ICAP, including exploring opportunities to promote Indigenous Data Sovereignty.
* Strategically design and lead research and analysis using diverse data sources to critically analyse workforce and skills dynamics affecting different industries, jobs and cohorts of workers.
* Prepare high-quality and engaging reports, briefs, papers, and other deliverables for diverse audiences based on this research.
* Contribute to the delivery of the ICAP and longer-term projects under the guidance of senior management and JSA executive.
* Engage with internal and external stakeholders and across Government to gather intelligence, validate research findings and support policy reforms as part of the research program and broader intersectional stream work.
* Collaborate across teams and agencies to support JSA’s strategic objectives.
Eligibility
Please note, under section 22(8) of the Public Service Act 1999, employees must be Australian citizens to be employed in the APS unless the Agency delegate has agreed, in writing.
This is a designated security assessed position. The successful candidate will have the ability to obtain and maintain a Baseline security clearance.
This selection process may be used to establish a merit pool. The pool might be accessed to fill ongoing and non-ongoing vacancies for similar roles in the Department over the next 18 months.
Getting to know the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR)
We are the department that helps job seeking Australians find safe, secure, and well-paid work while we ourselves strive to be a model employer. We provide the framework for fair and productive relationships between employers and employees. We also oversee skills development and training initiatives to support those entering the workforce or retraining to take advantage of emerging employment opportunities. Secure jobs are vital—driving future economic growth and providing people with the certainty. We focus on connecting Australians who are starting, advancing or changing their career with the relevant skills, knowledge and experience to gain or regain employment. Our work directly contributes to shaping the employment landscape. It is our unique purpose to help people realise their potential and we want you to be part of it. Underpinning our important work is our focus on culture. We recognise that how we do things is equally important as what we achieve. Our workplace is one where different perspective are encouraged, people feel a sense of belonging and draw on the expertise of their peers. Our people demonstrate the APS Values, which includes being open, thoughtful, curious and candid. We also value employee wellbeing and developing leadership through investment in capability.