Assistant Program Manager — Defence ICT

Location: Symonston, Canberra ACT

Engagement: Full-time contract | Work Level 3

Contract period: 23 November 2026 – 28 November 2027

Security clearance: Current NV1 required

Working arrangement: Onsite

Reference: LCD-22-0466C (RFx31111)

About the opportunity

Azooa is seeking an experienced Assistant Program Manager to support the Department of Defence’s Land Network Integration Centre (LNIC).

LNIC helps Army integrate its digital networks and capabilities across Land, Joint and Coalition environments. Its work connects technical design, systems engineering, integration testing, security advice and operational planning to support effective information exchange and interoperability.

This role offers the opportunity to bring your program management experience into a specialist technical environment. Working alongside Defence personnel, industry partners and technical teams, you will help turn complex requirements into clearly defined work packages, coordinate competing priorities and support delivery of LNIC’s annual Program of Work.

We are looking for someone who combines strong planning and stakeholder management skills with a sound understanding of communications engineering and systems engineering.

About the role

Reporting directly to the Staff Officer Grade 2 Operations Officer, you will support forward work planning, internal project management, risk management and the coordination of incoming requests for LNIC support.

You will assist senior management with annual work programs, budget planning and phasing, vendor engagement and business support. You will also coordinate the Program Support Officer’s work outcomes to support effective work intake and delivery.

Your responsibilities

- Program planning and coordination: Assist with developing and maintaining LNIC’s Program of Work, translating Army tasking and requests from Joint forums and boards into coordinated activities and achievable delivery plans.
- Work intake and delivery management: Manage and synchronise external requests and internal activities across LNIC teams. Help establish clear scope, deliverables, resource allocation, schedules and dependencies.
- Project management processes:



Support the development and improvement of LNIC’s project management processes in consultation with the SO2 Operations Officer.
- Risk management and governance: Support organisational and project risk management, prepare governance inputs and provide secretariat support for engagements involving Defence, Joint, Coalition and industry stakeholders.
- Stakeholder engagement: Build effective working relationships across technical and non-technical teams. Communicate priorities, progress, risks and delivery requirements clearly to support informed decisions.
- Procurement support: Assist with simple and complex procurement activities in accordance with Commonwealth Procurement Rules and LNIC Procurement Work Instructions.
- Exercise and operational activity support: Help plan and coordinate LNIC’s contribution to activities including Exercise Talisman Sabre, the Exercise Mercury series and Joint Warfighting activities.
- Reporting and knowledge transfer: Maintain accurate project documentation, schedules, reports and records. Provide progress updates, executive briefing material and a comprehensive handover of work at the end of the engagement.

Essential requirements To be considered, you must have:
- A minimum of 10 years of industry experience in Program Management, meeting the Panel’s Level 3 Work Level Standards.
- A bachelor degree or higher in Project Management and/or Program Management, or relevant project management certification. Examples listed in the RFQ include PMI Program Management Professional, PRINCE2 Practitioner, Agile certifications and AIPM Certified Practising Project Director or Project Manager.
- A current NV1 Australian Government security clearance, held before commencement and maintained throughout the engagement.
- The ability to obtain and maintain NV2 clearance if subsequently required by Defence.
- The ability to work onsite in Canberra, ACT.





A solid background in communications engineering and systems engineering is also expected, enabling you to translate technical concepts into work packages that internal teams and external organisations can deliver.

Highly desirable experience

- More than 12 years of project/program support experience, preferably within secure Defence ICT environments.
- Proven experience as a program manager or in a closely related role.
- Experience developing project and program management artefacts.
- Excellent organisational, leadership, communication and interpersonal skills.
- A strong understanding of business processes and strategy development.
- Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office and Atlassian Jira.

Additional experience that will strengthen your application
- Detailed knowledge of Defence Capability System policies and processes.
- Experience with ADF network integration at tactical and operational levels, including interfaces with strategic network boundaries.
- Strong stakeholder management across organisational boundaries.
- Experience in organisational and project risk management.
- Experience delivering within the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act framework.
- Practical experience using agile project software.

Contract and working arrangements The engagement is based at LNIC in Symonston, ACT, with onsite attendance required. Standard hours are eight hours per day, excluding lunch, and 40 hours per week. The contract provides for 230 days of effort between 23 November 2026 and 28 November 2027. A three-month probation applies, and no extension options are available.

Approved travel may be required. The successful candidate must complete Defence onboarding, mandatory security training and the relevant ERP course within the probation period. Compliance with applicable Defence security and ITAR requirements is required.

How to apply

Please submit your current CV and a tailored statement outlining how your qualifications, program management experience and technical background meet the role requirements.

Candidates will also need to provide evidence of relevant qualifications and complete a Personnel Integrity Declaration as part of the RFQ response process.

Apply for Assistant Program Manager

📌 Assistant Program Manager (Canberra)
🏢 Azooa
📍 Canberra