VACANCY – China Strategy & Communications Manager – Visa Services DIBP, LE7

The Australian Embassy is seeking expressions of interest from suitably qualified to fill the position of China Strategy & Communications Manager, Visa Services DIBP. The position will be offered at LE7 level, a non-ongoing contract position for a fixed term of one year.

Please see the attached for the duty statement and selection criteria. We are seeking high quality written applications. Your application should include a cover letter, CV and statement of claims directly addressing the selection criteria. All applicants should provide detailed contact information for two referees.

The application period will close on 30 September 2014.

Applications should be submitted to the Human Resources Section of the Australian Embassy, Beijing at: [email protected]

Please note that only applicants short-listed for interview will receive a written reply. Thank you for your understanding and your interest in working at the Australian Embassy.

Background
China is one of Australia’s most significant immigration relationships. It is one of Australia’s top source countries for all of our visa programmes, including international students, business visitors, tourist visas and permanent migrants. Unprecedented growth has seen visa applications from Chinese nationals reach 550,000 for the 2013-14 financial year. This growth has been facilitated by Australia’s visa system in China, which is the responsibility of Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP).

Australia has a long history of innovation in our visa services in China.

We aim to continually make improvements to our visa service and look to be more effective and efficient.

The Position
In this context, an exciting and demanding role as China Strategy & Communications Manager for DIBP is becoming available. The role will work to improve understanding and awareness of our services among our key stakeholders in China. The role involves identifying opportunities to disseminate clear public information about our visa services, as well as using feedback to inform future changes to our service delivery.

As Strategy & Communications manager, the successful candidate will play an active role in outreach and engagement activities, in support of Australian staff in China. The successful candidate will identify key client groups and stakeholders and develop a strategy to assess and meet their needs. The strategy and communications manager will be a point of contact as changes are implemented and will be responsible for developing materials to support the strategy.

The role requires excellent interpersonal skills to liaise with the wider Embassy, business leaders, clients, stakeholders, media organisations and DIBP officers at other posts and in Australia.

The successful candidate will need to be a confident, strategic thinker who has strong spoken and written skills in English and an ability to convey sometimes complex procedural and legislative requirements in simple language. They also need to have experience in preparing PowerPoint presentations and public information products. The successful candidate will need to be comfortable preparing and presenting information sessions to large groups. They need to be confident in engaging at a senior level, including with business leaders and other influential stakeholders.

This position will report to the Principal Migration Officer (1st Secretary – Immigration) at the Australian Embassy in Beijing, but the position will have a focus on service delivery across the whole of China.

Duty Statement
• Prepare communications and stakeholder engagement plans for new processes, programs and other initiatives relating to Australia’s visa system.
• Assist with the implementation of the communications and stakeholder engagement plans for new processes and programs, including development of information products for use by staff at the three DIBP China posts.
• Assist Australian-based staff at the three DIBP China posts with the delivery of information sessions on Australia’s visa system, including on specific programs such as the Visitor visa or Significant Investor visa programs.
• Develop information products which clearly identify the comparative advantages of Australia’s visa system, including newsletters, media releases, website information and PowerPoint presentations.
• Identify and maintain a register of key stakeholders with an interest in Australia’s visa system.
• Create and maintain relationships with key stakeholders and develop an understanding of their needs in relation to Australia’s visa system.
• Where possible and desirable, identify visa products or processes to meet the needs of key stakeholders.
• Where stakeholder needs are not met with existing products or processes, provide input into the policy and systems development process, including the development of innovative solutions for consideration.
• Coordinate and provide input into requests for information from Government, including Ministers, about current and planned visa processes in China.

Selection Criteria

ESSENTIAL
1. Demonstrated ability to think strategically, and understand and respond to business priorities.
2. A record of displaying flexibility and initiative to identify problems or gaps, and developing innovative solutions to respond to these.
3. Highly effective oral and written communication in English, with well-developed skills in cross-cultural communication in the Chinese context.
4. High level representational and stakeholder engagement skills, including a demonstrated ability to develop productive relationships with a range of stakeholders and clients.
5. Proven ability to work independently, and also cooperatively and flexibly in a geographically dispersed team environment.
6. Good understanding of Australia’s visa system, or a demonstrated ability to quickly acquire this understanding.
7. Strong ability to use standard computer programs (for example, the suite of Microsoft Office products), including an ability to develop high quality presentation materials in PowerPoint.

DESIRABLE
1. Ability to communicate effectively in oral and written Mandarin.
2. Skills in translating and interpreting (English/Mandarin, and Mandarin/English).