The Opportunity

Are you eager to apply your expertise and technical knowledge to help evaluate applications to register agricultural products? Do you enjoy liaising with internal and external stakeholders, and possess effective people management capabilities?

The APVMA’s Agricultural Chemicals program is seeking applications for an Assistant Director Pesticides to evaluate the safety, efficacy, trade impact and labelling of regulated chemical and agricultural products within legislative timeframes.

Located in either Canberra ACT or regional Armidale NSW, you will gain experience in the Australian Public Service, have access to a variety of flexible working arrangements, and have the opportunity to exercise delegated powers for evaluation, to register new products, to vary existing products and to approve product labels.

The Role

As an Assistant Director in the Pesticides team, you will be required to analyse, evaluate and apply risk assessment and management principles to the assessment of complex scientific and/or technical information.

The role will also involve you prioritising action, effective people management, team capability development, continuous process review and improvement, and knowledge management. You may be required to represent the APVMA in a range of forums.

The successful applicant will also get to work in partnership with a variety of stakeholders, including state and territory governments, Commonwealth departments, industry, users, and members of the public to ensure that final regulatory decisions are scientifically-based and pragmatic.

Our ideal candidate

To be a strong contender for the role, you will have:

1. Experience within the agricultural chemical regulatory sector or equivalent regulatory regime in Australia and a thorough understanding of risk assessment and risk management principles
2. Demonstrated ability and experience in the interpretation and evaluation of data, scientific reports, policies and procedures within a regulatory framework
3. The ability to exercise sound judgement, demonstrate strong attention to detail, provide pragmatic advice and make decisions based on sound science and risk analysis for moderately complex application proposals
4. Highly developed leadership skills including managing teams, coaching others, providing performance feedback, conflict resolution, establishing team priorities and achieving outcomes
5. High level interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate clearly and confidently with clients, staff and service providers to establish and maintain productive working relationships, and to represent the APVMA in a variety of forums
6. A relevant tertiary qualification or demonstrated relevant experience.

For more information, go to our careers page.

Want to know more?

At the APVMA, we value your skills and potential. We provide a collaborative and growth-oriented environment where your contributions are recognized and appreciated.

If the prospect of working for a world-class regulator sounds like you and you're ready to take the next step in your career, apply for this position today! Applications close on 14 December 2025.

For further information on the position, please contact Gary Dorr, Director Pesticides on 02 6770 2326 or gary.dorr@apvma.gov.au.

We look forward to receiving your application and exploring the possibility of welcoming you to our team!

Please note that this role is being advertised as either ongoing or non-ongoing. If an offer of non-ongoing employment is made, the successful applicant could be employed for an initial period of up to 12 months, which may be extended in accordance with subsection 333E (1) of the Fair Work Act 2009.