Australia seeks digital chief to lead build of gov.au

The federal government is searching for an executive to lead what it is calling one of the biggest digital projects it has ever undertaken, the build of the gov.au one-stop shop for government services.

Last week the Digital Transformation Office revealed its project to build a single website hosting information on all interactions with the federal government had reached the alpha prototype stage after a nine-week process.

The office released screenshots of the gov.au website, which it claimed had "done well" in concept and usability testing so far.

It is now hunting for an executive with digital nous to serve as the lead of the project, which it is touting as "one of the largest and most visible transformation programs in the federal government’s digital history".

"We are working to radically improve the Australian government’s online presence," the job ad states.

"Your role will be to lead this large scale effort and ensure that no user of government information or service needs to understand how government works to do what they need. If you are looking for a role with impact, this is it!"

The DTO has asked for someone with experience in leading and executing whole-of-government digital strategy and with "exceptional" digital, program management and stakeholder management skills.

The executive will be tasked with developing the strategy for the delivery of a "large-scale, online transformation program for millions of users" and leading cultural change across the Australian public service.

Applications close on December 28.

The DTO is currently working to assess the gov.au prototype against the office's digital service standard before the gov.au site can enter beta.

Gov.au aims to serve as a beacon for citizen services and make the process of finding out about fees, registrations and taxes, among other things, much less confusing and time-consuming by consolidating it in one location.

It will allow individuals to enter their specific circumstances and access everything they need to know about what the government needs them to do.

“We learned people often struggle to get a ‘mental model’ of everything that government needs them to know and do, because this information is often spread over several websites," the DTO’s head of service design Leisa Reichelt wrote in a post last week.