THE POSITION

Victorian Greens Leader Ellen Sandell is seeking an experienced and motivated political adviser to be a part of her small but dynamic office helping to drive the work of the Victorian Greens parliamentary team.

The Victorian Greens have eight MPs in the Victorian Parliament and are in shared balance of power in the upper house, offering opportunities to drive the political agenda and secure outcomes for Victorians.

This senior position works directly with the Leader, MPs and the Chief of Staff. This role is a leadership role, and is generalist in nature. It requires someone with political experience and nous and the ability to support the Chief of Staff and Leader with whatever is required, but has a particular focus on helping manage and support our 25+ staff across all MP offices, helping our teams to run campaigns on key issues, and assisting with parliamentary strategy and other tasks as needed by the Chief of Staff.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Human resources and supporting our staff team. You will be the main person responsible for supporting our broader MP and staff team with people management and workplace culture, including writing and maintaining internal HR policies, inducting new staff, organising all-staff meetings, maintaining good workplace culture, managing internal cross-office training programs and trouble-shooting and risk management for staff and MPs.

• Campaign support. Our staff work collaboratively on issues-based campaigns to help achieve the Greens goals - such as campaigns on housing, climate change and the cost of living crisis. You’ll be responsible for supporting staff to deliver these campaigns well, including attending meetings, helping coordinate and forward-plan the campaigns so they all fit together well, helping staff with ideas and trouble-shooting, and helping with internal communications.

• Assist the Chief of Staff, Leader and MPs with any other tasks, including political and parliamentary strategy. This includes picking up any work that is needed by the Chief of Staff and Leader, to help us achieve our overall Greens mission. It might mean talking to stakeholders, following up with Ministers or other MPs by writing letters or making phone calls, reading legislation to help us look for risks and opportunities, or attending internal Greens meetings and functions to help with our overall strategy. It could include a broad range of administrative and communications tasks like organising meetings, attending events with the Leader and MPs, writing speeches or picking up work as required when other staff are away.

SELECTION CRITERIA

1. Experience in achieving successful outcomes in a political setting, with a demonstrated high level of political nous and strategic thinking. Parliamentary experience is desirable but not strictly necessary.
2. Experience with managing people and building collaborative teams - including coordinating groups of people towards a shared goal and building a positive team culture.
3. Highly developed written, oral and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to ‘manage up’ and the ability to say no.
4. Experience working on issues-based or political campaigns.
5. Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities and work to tight deadlines in a fast-paced and complex environment - and the self-awareness and ability to manage your own time and energy effectively.
6. Demonstrated commitment to Australian Greens' policies, and commitment to the Australian Greens' Principles and Charter.

The Greens are an equal opportunity employer. We know that strength comes with diversity and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds. We encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as well as people of colour, people with a disability, and those of any religion or gender identity to apply. Even if you feel you do not possess all the required skills or experience for the role/s you’re interested in, we’d encourage you to apply and provide us with information on your other relevant or aligned skills.

TO APPLY

Please submit a resume (maximum 2 pages) and cover letter which tells us why you’re interested in this role, and includes specific responses to the 6 selection criteria (maximum 3 pages) via the Apply Now link.

For questions about this role please contact Matt Thomas at [email protected], using the subject line: Deputy Chief of Staff - The Office of Ellen Sandell enquiry via EthicalJobs.

FURTHER INFORMATION

You will be employed under the terms and conditions of a Parliamentary Advisor. Parliamentary Advisors are employees of the Victorian Parliament, directly accountable to the Parliamentary Leader. Parliamentary Advisor roles require a high degree of loyalty, versatility and the ability to maintain confidentiality on behalf of the Leader, MPs and those who contact the office.

Reporting | This position reports directly to the Chief of Staff, however, with supervision from the Parliamentary Leader.

Location of the position | The position will be based primarily at the Leader’s office in inner Melbourne, with the expectation of work in other locations, most notably Parliament House.

Hours of work | The role is offered as full time but a 9 day fortnight or 4 day week may be considered for the right applicant. A standard work day is 7.6 hours, to be worked between 8am and 6pm, with some overtime and weekend work as needed.

Salary | Parliamentary Advisor starting salary is $105,097 plus an additional 4% workload management allowance per annum, plus superannuation. People with direct Parliamentary experience may be able to start at a higher starting salary. Please contact Chief of Staff Matthew Thomas should you wish to discuss the salary for this position at [email protected].