Chief Human Resource Officer

About us

As a department our purpose is to help the community to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from the impact of fire and emergency events.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) is the primary provider of fire, rescue and emergency management programs and services throughout Queensland and also supports other volunteer groups providing emergency response to Queenslanders.

QFES is one department with many services, many capabilities and many partners.

Purpose of the role

QFES’ Human Resources Directorate’s vision is to manage and improve the end-to-end workforce management by providing strategic and value-added people-focused programs and services while supporting QFES to be a diverse, inclusive, and safe department that fosters and supports innovation. The role will work with the Fire and Rescue Service and the Rural Fire Service to develop our workforce to serve the community while cultivating the leaders of tomorrow to deliver future services.

Reporting to the Deputy Commissioner, Strategy and Corporate Services, you will be a key member of the Executive Leadership Team, contributing to the strategic direction of the department as a whole. You will lead, manage and provide direction in the development, implementation and delivery of active Human Resources, culture, capability and employee and industrial relations functions across the department to support operations and organisational capability. You will have full responsibility and delegated accountability for all operational and financial aspects of the Queensland Fire Department Human Resources Directorate, and will manage all staffing, resources, systems, and processes in order to achieve effective and efficient service delivery which is in line with both QFES’ legislative and corporate governance requirements. Training priorities will be set by the fire services, but the role will be responsible for managing the Queensland Combined Emergency Services Academy as a key delivery arm of training including its Registered Training Organisation status and capital improvement program.

Key requirements

Highly desirable requirements

• Possession of relevant tertiary and/or post-graduate qualifications in Human Resource Management or a related discipline.
• Extensive experience in the public, private and/or not for profit sector and in strategic human resource management, service delivery, stakeholder engagement and strategy implementation.
• Experience in working with industrial partners to meet organisational obligations and achieve outcomes for employees and organisational objectives.
• Proven success in a senior leadership role in driving a culture of collaboration and participation in the design, implementation, optimisation and maintenance of contemporary Human Resource operating models.

Your key accountabilities

Your part in the ongoing success of our department, in supporting key services will see you responsible for a variety of work, including, but not limited to:

Leadership

• Provide strong and effective leadership to QFES’ Human Resources Directorate, fostering a healthy and inclusive culture that is innovative and high performing.
• Provide excellence in service delivery and create a strong culture of customer support excellence and client focused outcomes.
• Represent QFES in a range of forums, meetings and negotiations that impact on departmental, Ministerial and whole-of-government strategic human resources, and industrial relations matters.
• Lead effective planning processes and decision making for the directorate and across QFES, and its partners, in meeting their legislative obligations and the requirements of regulatory bodies.

Strategy

• Provide strategic advice to senior executives and stakeholders in the context of Strategy, Systems, Standards and Performance to achieve QFES strategic objectives.
• Contribute to the development of QFES’ strategic direction and future service planning by developing plans, policies and processes and providing advice and recommendations to the QFES’ senior leadership.
• Deliver strategic advice, direction and end-to-end human resources and people services to QFES and its staff and setting organisational direction to deliver departmental and whole-of-government priorities and initiatives.
• Develop strategic partnerships with key stakeholders and partners which contribute to the effectiveness of QFES as a department. Develop and maintain networks and relationships with other agencies, jurisdictions, customer groups and key internal and external stakeholders.

Expertise

• Lead and implement negotiated industrial relations awards and agreements for QFES, successfully encompassing multi-disciplinary streams of employment across the department that deliver simpler, easy-to-understand employment arrangements that will underpin ongoing improvements in service delivery and ensures a sustainable department into the future.
• Effective delivery of services, which keep QFES and Queensland Government values and the needs of the community at the core of its operations and decision making, in an environment of competing priorities including the integration of industrial obligations, whole-of-government processes, constraints and opportunities.
• Improvement of existing service delivery and provision of HR functions including human resource policy and strategy development, employee relations, industrial reform, executive remuneration frameworks, diversity and inclusion, cultural capability, safety and wellbeing systems, capability and leadership initiatives, workforce management and recruitment services.
• Provision of meaningful insights of major staffing trends and analyse their potential impact on the governance and performance of QFES service delivery and identify opportunities to improve QFES workforce strategy and performance and maximise outcomes for QFES and its partners.

Capabilities

As a leader in Queensland Government, you will display outstanding judgement, high-level integrity, strong agility to adapt to a constantly changing environment, a strong achievement orientation, and excellent communication and negotiation skills.

You will be a member of a flexible, mobile leadership team with the ability to transfer your skills between functions to have an impact across the department.

You will have extensive experience across the public, private and/or not for profit sector with a strong track record of delivering Human Resources services, high level policy advice and development, leadership, strategy implementation and service improvement in a large and complex organisation.

QFES actively encourages productive working relationships, a healthy work-life balance, workplace diversity and innovation. As such you will be committed to implementing a safe, healthy and secure workplace, and flexible work and lifestyle options. You will be expected to embed quality of life principles into your working life and role model behaviour’s that demonstrate a work-life balance.

To determine your suitability for the role, you will be assessed on the following Leadership Competencies for Queensland behavioural profiles that link to the “key accountabilities” for this role:

Leadership Competency Stream – Executive (leading the function) in particular:

Vision

• Stimulates ideas and innovation
• Leads change in complex environments

Results

• Develops and mobilises talent
• Inspires others

Accountability

• Fosters healthy and inclusive workplaces
• Pursues continuous growth

Once you join us we will want you to exemplify the QFES shared values:

• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Courage
• Loyalty