Contracts Officer - Digital Governance

About this role

About the Branch The Digital Services Branch (DSB) enables the agency to achieve its mission by delivering innovative and adaptive digital and information and communications technology (ICT) capabilities. DSB provides modern tools, platforms, and services to facilitate a highly productive and digitally enabled environment for the agency and its stakeholders. DSB also runs a large-scale IT development and sustainment workstream to support the CER adopting new capabilities. DSB innovates and influences the agency in embracing new and emerging technology to remain at the forefront of our sector. About the Section The Digital Governance Section plays a pivotal role in enabling the Digital Services Branch to deliver high-quality digital services to staff and external users of our schemes. At its core, the section ensures strong governance by setting and upholding standards, supporting compliance, and championing continuous improvement. It drives transparency and accountability through: • financial oversight and reporting, • management of digital contracts and vendor relationships, as well as ICT assets. • facilitating conversations with business areas to ensure priorities are understood and reflected in governance practices, sustainment activities and continual improvement initiatives. The Digital Governance section is seeking a highly capable and experienced Contracts Officer to support the team manager by providing specialist advice and assistance with the procurement and management of digital services contracts. This includes hardware, software, hosting, contractors, consultancies and other related procurement activities. Working under broad direction, the Contracts Officer will manage various IT procurement and contract activities across the Agency and will: • Collaborate with staff from across the Agency to coordinate and support end-to-end digital procurements across the branch, including for software, hardware, personnel and services. • Draft and complete approaches to market, RFQs and contract variations, working closely with finance teams with consideration to how these activities contribute to financial management. • Draft and review submissions across agency-specific and Whole of Government procurement and contract management tools (e.g. Technology1). • Document procurement processes, decisions and contractual arrangements to provide an audit trail for probity and audit purposes. • Provide specialist advice and practical guidance to the branch on procurement and contract matters in accordance with Australian Government legislation and policy. • Contribute to the development and continuous improvement of procurement, asset and contract management processes in consultation with key stakeholders. • Develop and administer contract management plans, negotiate changes and modifications, manage supplier performance management and monitor compliance requirements through effective supplier relationships to enhance business outcomes. • Support asset management activities including procurement, stocktakes, maintaining agency records, sanitisation, disposal. • Build and maintain effective working relationships with internal staff and external vendors to understand business needs, support procurement and contract management activities, resolve issues, and promote clear communication and collaborative delivery of agreed outcomes. • Form strong partnerships to influence customer centric practices, advocating for consideration of the end users needs when sourcing and supporting ICT Contracts. • Exhibit emerging leadership capability by fostering a coaching culture, delivering meaningful feedback, and contributing to the growth and capability uplift of colleagues. Knowledge, Skills and Attributes The Contracts Officer will demonstrate: • Recent, relevant or transferable experience in procurement and/or contract management working within the Government Procurement Framework. • Experience and ability to manage high workloads, maintain strong attention to detail and effectively prioritise competing tasks to meet deadlines and business requirements. • The ability to: • manage time and plan own workload against performance expectations • communicate confidently in a clear and concise manner • build rapport and maintain stakeholder relationships • demonstrate personal resilience, and • research and make sound decisions within established guidelines. Desirable • Qualifications in procurement and/or contract management, such as a Certificate IV in Government (Procurement & Contracts). • Experience in advocating for consideration of the end users needs when sourcing and supporting ICT Contracts. • Experience in supporting financial aspects of contract management.