Our client is a large Commonwealth department responsible for Australia’s international relations, diplomacy and development cooperation. It manages a broad program of bilateral and regional partnerships, including treaty-level agreements covering development, security and mobility cooperation with international partner countries. The department places a strong emphasis on explicit, coordinated public communication of these partnerships across government and with its overseas posts.

The Opportunity This six-month contract, with a possible extension to 12 months, sits within a bilateral relations team responsible for one of the department’s international partnerships. The role centres on maintaining and delivering a strategic communications plan for a treaty-level partnership, with a particular focus on development and security cooperation, alongside supporting communications for an associated mobility program, including its social media presence. You’ll work across multiple teams inside the department, with an Australian diplomatic post overseas, and with in-country stakeholders, to keep messaging aligned and on strategy.

Ownership of a strategic communications plan for a live, high-profile international partnership, not just execution support

Direct working relationships with an Australian diplomatic post overseas and in-country partners

Hands-on social media management for a live diplomatic channel and a dedicated program channel

Exposure to translation coordination, multimedia production and brand-consistent design work

The chance to help shape a social media moderation policy from the ground up

The Role This role spans two related workstreams:



strategic communications for a treaty-level partnership, and dedicated social media, content and information support for an associated mobility program. You’ll be responsible for

Maintaining and updating the department’s strategic communications plan for the partnership

Developing communications materials focused on the partnership’s development and security cooperation, under the direction of the relevant team

Building coordination mechanisms across government and with in-country partners to identify communications opportunities

Ensuring government communications about the partnership align with the agreed communications plan and branding

Managing an overseas diplomatic post’s social media channel, working closely with post-based staff

Developing and forward-planning social media content for the program’s dedicated channel, including designed tiles in line with agreed branding (requiring design software experience, e.g. Illustrator or InDesign)

Monitoring and moderating the comment sections of program channels, and maintain a moderation tracker

Helping develop a social media moderation policy based on existing government guidance

Drafting and coordinating translation of program fact sheets and information assets, and keep them current through regular review

Supporting image and video production for the program,



and help build a searchable media library

Supporting a strategy to capture and share program participant stories, including identifying participants and coordinating interviews and consent

The Ideal Person You’ve likely worked in government or corporate communications roles involving sensitive or high‑profile subject matter, where careful judgement, discretion and consistent branding all matter. You’re comfortable managing social media channels directly, and confident coordinating content and messaging across multiple teams and stakeholders. You will bring the following skills and experience:

Experience developing and maintaining strategic communications plans, ideally within government or a similarly high‑profile environment

Direct experience managing social media channels, including content planning, comment moderation and reporting

Experience using design software (such as Adobe Illustrator or InDesign) to produce branded content

Strong stakeholder coordination skills, with the ability to work across multiple teams and align messaging

Excellent writing skills, with the ability to produce fact sheets, talking points and other communications materials to a high standard

Due to the nature of the department a current NV1 security clearance is mandatory for this role.

Salary

$65/hr – $75/hr + 12% Super

Six-month labour hire contract, with a possible extension to 12 months

Canberra based only

HorizonOne is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce and we encourage applications from people of all cultures, capabilities and backgrounds.

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📌 Strategic Communications Officer (Canberra)
🏢 HorizonOne Recruitment
📍 Canberra