Who we are The Post-Entry Quarantine Group (PEQ) is responsible for the post arrival quarantine of plants and animals at the Mickleham Post-entry Quarantine Facility located on the outskirts of Melbourne. The Mickleham PEQ Facility is purpose built for accommodating high risk plants, horses, cats, dogs, ruminants, birds and bees while undergoing post-entry quarantine. Working in partnership with plant scientists and veterinarians, we ensure that all plants and animals passing through the facility meet all necessary requirements to demonstrate compliance with the regulatory requirements for their safe import and that the health and welfare of the plants and animals is maintained throughout the period of their stay in PEQ. The Avian Operations Team primarily facilitates the import of hatching poultry eggs and live pigeons for industry and other stakeholders but is also responsible for other commodities such as ruminants (camelids) and bees. The management of avian species within quarantine involves the highest level of physical containment undertaken at the PEQ facility - Biosecurity Containment Level 3 (BC3). This is a seven day a week operation. The Avian Operations Team is also required to work across other PEQ operational teams and commodity areas as operationally required. The key duties of the position include The Job The role of an Operations Manager within the Avian Operations Team is to lead and manage a small team of Technical Team Leaders and Biosecurity Officers to support the achievement of operational outcomes in line with the business plan. This role requires working with intensive poultry techniques and you will be required to shower in and out of the consignment units to meet strict BC3 requirements. On occasion, you may also be required to support other commodity areas within the PEQ such as companion animals, horses and plants, as operationally required. The duties of the role may include some or all the following: • Leading and managing a team of Technical Team Leaders and Biosecurity Officers to deliver biosecurity services related to avian import processes in a high-containment (BC3) environment, in addition to ruminant and bee imports at the PEQ. • Overseeing and supporting the team's operational performance (including workforce management and utilisation) and monitoring and reporting against KPIs. • Building team capability through coaching, personal development and training opportunities performance feedback, conflict resolution and encourage career development. • Continually monitoring and reviewing practices and processes to ensure effectiveness and efficiency to assist in strategic planning and business improvement initiatives. • Acquiring relevant technical knowledge and applying relevant legislative requirements, financial and administrative frameworks to ensure your team complies with these requirements. • Making decisions relating to biosecurity requirements under the Biosecurity Act 2015 . • Ensuring your team adhere to the relevant instructional material, undertake training, competency assessments and verification activities, and participate in audits for business and regulatory assurance. • Contributing to the development of standard operating procedures as well as training and instructional material. • Managing, modelling and monitoring compliance with appropriate standards of behaviour in line with departmental expectations and including the APS Code of Conduct and Values. • Promoting and ensuring compliance with departmental WHS and Rehabilitation policies and guidelines and being alert for and reporting risks to WHS. • Effectively communicating and liaising with internal and external stakeholders to achieve successful biosecurity and welfare outcomes for animals in quarantine. • Gathering, understanding and interpreting complex operational and technical matters and resolving problems, including providing advice. • Fostering a culture of safety, diversity, inclusiveness, positive attendance and high performance. • Handling property-related issues and coordinating with property managers to resolve them, including overseeing maintenance and repairs. Please note that this recruitment process will initially be used to fill one ongoing vacancy in the section . The merit pool established through this selection process, which is valid for a period of eighteen months from the date the vacancy was advertised in the Public Service Gazette, may be used to fill future ongoing and non-ongoing vacancies in the branch where the duties are of a similar nature. If an offer of non-ongoing employment is made, the successful applicant would be employed for an initial period of twelve months with the possibility of extension up to a maximum period of two years in total. To see more on work at the Post-Entry Quarantine Facility please click here .
