• Parliamentary Executive Level 2
• Full-time on-going• Parliament House, Canberra
• $133,385–$158,900 per annum + attractive employer superannuation

About the Parliamentary Budget Office

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) supports the Parliament by providing independent, authoritative and non-partisan analysis of budgetary issues and the fiscal cost of policy proposals.The PBO’s role comprises three main elements, which are to:

• enable fiscal impacts to be considered during policy development by providing policy costing and budget analysis services to all parliamentarians

• improve public understanding of budget and fiscal policy issues by conducting and publishing research in these areas

• enhance transparency around election commitments by preparing a post-election report on the budget impacts of the election commitments of parliamentary parties.

About the roles

The PBO is seeking people with an aptitude for analysis to lead a unit in either of the two analytical areas of the PBO (Budget Analysis Division and Fiscal Policy Analysis Division). 

As a Director, you will be responsible for managing a unit to deliver high quality outputs in an environment of competing priorities, leading and coaching staff to build capability and deliver outcomes, identifying areas for improvement in the operation of the Unit/Branch/Division and contributing to the strategic direction of the PBO. You will build and maintain networks with stakeholders, including Government agencies and staff in parliamentarians’ offices. 

While successful applicants will be offered roles in an area focused primarily on either undertaking costings of policy proposals (Budget Analysis Division) or conducting budget research (Fiscal Policy Analysis Division), the PBO supports mobility within the organisation as part of career development and expects Directors to undertake work across both of these functions at times in response to peak pressures. There are annual opportunities for rotations and opportunities to be seconded across areas for particular projects.

Duties

The duties of the position vary across the two analytical Divisions. 

The primary focus of Budget Analysis Division is preparing estimates of the costs of policy proposals for parliamentarians. The duties in the Division include: 

• leading a unit in the preparation of costings and evaluations of revenue proposals (Revenue Analysis Branch) and expenditure proposals (Program Analysis Branch) 

• analysing large datasets using tools such as SAS and Excel 

• building and/or adapting models and frameworks to analyse the budget

• applying strong written communication skills to the drafting of costings, costing evaluations and published reports that are accessible to a wide audience 

• working across the PBO and with other organisations to obtain data and information to assist with costings, costing evaluations and PBO research reports and to test and communicate our findings 

• supervising, guiding and mentoring staff and providing leadership to small project teams 

• contributing to the preparation of PBO research reports, including analysing budget and economic data to provide insights into budget and fiscal policy settings 

• contributing to external engagement activities, including presenting on PBO models and reports. 

The primary focus of Fiscal Policy Analysis Division is conducting quantitative analysis and publishing research papers on budget and fiscal policy matters. The duties in this Division include: 

• leading a unit in the preparation of several PBO research reports each year, including building and/or adapting models and frameworks to analyse the budget 

• applying strong written communication skills to the drafting of published reports that are accessible to a wide audience 

• contributing your technical expertise and understanding of the budget and fiscal policy matters to help shape and deliver the research program 

• supervising, guiding and mentoring staff and providing leadership to project teams 

• working across the PBO and with other organisations to obtain data, test and communicate the findings of our research, and enhance our understanding of the budget 

• contributing to external engagement activities, including presenting on research papers 

• supervising costings of revenue and expenditure proposals as required with appropriate training to respond to periods of elevated demand for costings from parliamentarians. 

Contact officer:  John Clark (02) 6277 9500 or John.clark@pbo.gov.au For further information and how to apply, go to the PBO’s recruitment page at

https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Employment/Parliamentary_Budget_Office 

Applications close Sunday 9 February 11:30pm AEDT