Innovation Consultant
Reporting to: Head of FutureGov Australia
Hours: Full time
Based: Sydney, will require travel between states
Salary: Based on skills and experience
About the role
As an Innovation Consultant you’ll be working at the cutting edge of FutureGov helping us to create, prototype and develop our future products, and implement existing products. Working closely with public service partners you will manage a range of diverse projects, working within a team to develop ideas and prototype products arising from these. As part of this role you will also be required to undertake consultancy work to make sure that the FutureGov product suite is implemented well and that the desired change is created and sticks.
Working inside large bureaucracies can be hard. Large scale public services are the frontline of supporting users needs and changing them takes time. As an innovation consultant you will need to work with change managers from within the client's organisation as well as users and experienced practitioners from inside public services. You will need to have strong project management skills, be able to collaborate, know when to challenge and when to listen, and be able to come up with and spot good ideas and bring clients along the journey with you.
FutureGov employ service designers, product designers, researchers, visual people, and strategic wizards. We are looking for creative people who are passionate about re-designing local public services so that they better meet the needs of those who use them. You don’t need to be a technology expert, but you should be excited about how technology can be used to help make people’s lives better.
Your experience
You will have significant experience in planning and managing a range of diverse projects to time and budget. You’ll enjoy managing stakeholders, clients and team members and you’ll know how to bring the right people on board to get things done. As well as your understanding of design thinking, agile and waterfall project management, you’ll also be aware of the challenges being faced by public services and you’ll be passionate about improving the sector as well as new technology.
You are
- Familiar with the local government context and passionately want to change how the sector thinks about technology
- A magnificent juggler, able to manage a variety of different projects for a range of customers at the same time
- A great networker and you build relationships with the right people to bring about change
- Not fazed by working in large organisations, thinking on your feet and being politically savvy
- Excited by good design, you are a creative and inspirational thinker
- An excellent communicator, you are as comfortable speaking to senior managers as you are front line workers and their clients
- Super organised and you thrive best working in a fast paced environment with a demanding workload
- Passionate about making a social difference and excited about the application of technology in the public sector Happy working across teams and independently, you’ll be self aware, emotionally intelligent and calm under pressure with a good sense of humour!
Role requirements
- Manage a diverse range of projects with responsibility for overseeing the whole project from develop idea, prototyping through to implementation.
- To inspire the people you are working with and be excited by the projects you manage, you’ll need to be creative and able to spot a good idea when you see one.
- Designing projects and a consultancy approach to drive and embed behaviour change each step of the way.
- Coordinate project resources and use your creative skills to exceed clients aspirations.
- Manage products to time and budget and regularly report on progress to the wider FutureGov team.
- Stakeholder management at all levels in an organisation; you should be just as comfortable talking to a Chief Executive, as you are a front line worker or service user.
- Regularly communicating about projects and sharing learning with the wider FutureGov team.
- Telling the story of the projects and consultancy work through writing engaging blog posts and using social media.
- Understand the design approach and use FutureGov tools and processes to get the job done.
- Plan and undertake workshops with clients and users pulling together the right people and tools, and be able to think on your feet to make these a success.
- Be willing to travel and to spend time on site managing projects or undertaking consultancy, and be prepared to stay overnight on occasion.
- Providing your own catchphrase is optional...
Salary
Based on skills and experience
To apply
Email Kirsty Elderton with a CV and portfolio of work, or if you have any further questions. Deadline for applications is 5th of February 2016