About the Anti-Dumping Commission
We are Australia’s international trade remedies authority - the Anti-Dumping Commission. The commission is responsible for undertaking investigations into allegations of unfair practices in international trade and administering Australia’s anti-dumping system. These investigations seek to deliver a level playing field for Australian manufacturers. Professionalism, excellence, and independence underpins the commission’s world-class reputation.
The commission is a connected team of professionals with skills and experience across various fields. Our strengths include international trade, investigations, economics, and the law. We are committed to a positive workplace culture. We encourage and support flexible working arrangements. We embrace diversity and inclusion and encourage staff to be their authentic self. This reflects the importance we place on our people and on creating a workplace culture where each and every one of us is valued and respected for our contribution. Our ideal candidate adds to this culture and our workplace in their own way.
We strive to support staff to reach their full potential. We do this through engaging work and career growth opportunities. We also provide options for studies assistance, training, and an internal mentoring program. The commission is part of the Industry, Science and Resources Portfolio.
About the team
Senior Legal Counsels are part of the Legal and Regulatory Affairs team, a small group of lawyers with legal expertise in international trade, regulatory investigations, and administrative law. In an ever-changing global environment, the Legal and Regulatory Affairs team is at the forefront of legal developments in international trade and proactively strives to identify innovative solutions to new challenges.
The opportunity
The Senior Legal Counsel works independently under limited direction/supervision from the Principal Legal Counsel in performing their role and providing client-focused specialist legal advice and support to the commission staff on complex matters related to trade remedies law and investigative practice.
The commission has a collaborative investigations model where Senior Legal Counsels work as part of commission-wide teams undertaking anti-dumping investigations. As a Senior Legal Counsel in the commission, you will provide advice throughout investigation processes and be involved in merits and judicial review processes. As part of a best-practice regulator, you will be informed by developments in foreign jurisdictions and the jurisprudence of the World Trade Organization. Drawing on novel issues arising from investigations and other international developments, you will take the initiative to identify practice-related improvements to enhance the commission’s outcomes in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
Our ideal candidate
As a motivated and skilled legal professional you will have:
- Experience providing legal advice that is client-focused, solutions-oriented, and evidence-based. This includes identifying legal risks and developing legally compliant options for managing those risks in a way that meets the client’s objectives.
- Highly developed collaboration and advocacy skills, including the ability to negotiate, liaise and influence colleagues and stakeholders, including those from a non-legal background.
- Well-developed leadership, planning and organisational skills.
- High standards of professional and personal integrity.
- Knowledge of, or the ability to quickly acquire knowledge of, Australia’s anti-dumping legislation (Part XVB of the Customs Act 1901) and Australia’s obligations under the World Trade Organization Anti-Dumping Agreement and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.
Legal experience in advisory, government/regulatory practice or litigation in areas such as international trade, administrative/public law, or commercial/competition law will be highly regarded.
What you will do
This role’s key duties include:
- Providing client-focused legal services to investigators, including from non-legal backgrounds. This includes taking a proactive partnership approach to identify and resolve matters and help decision-makers to manage risks.
- Providing effective legal advice verbally and in writing, such as in relation to statutory interpretation, trade remedies law, evidentiary matters, and investigations practice/procedure.
- Managing merits review matters, including drafting submissions and participating in conferences with Anti-Dumping Review Panel members, and providing input to judicial reviews.
- Monitoring developments in the Anti-Dumping Review Panel, the Federal Court, and the World Trade Organization, and informing the commission of consequences for legislation, policy, and practice.
- Identifying opportunities for continuous practice and operational improvement, aligned to the commission’s strategic direction.
- Providing input to develop legislation and policy.
- Mentoring and supervising more junior lawyers.
- Actively contributing to a positive, productive, and collaborative team environment across the commission.
The Senior Legal Counsel will perform the role and manage their workload in a manner consistent with the APS Values and Code of Conduct and internal Anti-Dumping Commission procedures.
Eligibility
Tertiary qualifications in the field of law and admission as a legal practitioner of the High Court or the Supreme Court of a State or Territory of Australia are required for this role.
To be eligible for employment in the APS and the department, candidates must be Australian Citizens.
Positions require a Baseline security clearance and successful candidates will be required to obtain and maintain a clearance at this level.
Notes
This role is available on a full time, part time or job share basis. The preferred location for this role is Melbourne or Canberra, although other flexible or remote working arrangements may be considered.
A merit pool may be established and used to fill future vacancies within 18 months from the date the vacancy was first advertised in the Gazette.
How to apply
Your application must not contain any classified or sensitive information. This includes in your application responses, CV and any other documents. The selection panel may not consider applications containing classified information.
Please provide a pitch explaining how your skills, knowledge and experience will be relevant to this role and why you are the best candidate for the position. Your pitch can contain no more than 5000 characters (approximately 750 words) and should align to the key duties listed above.
Please complete your application online and provide your current CV with your application. (CVs must be in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format).
Accessible application documentation is available in other formats on request. Please contact recruitment@industry.gov.au or (02) 6276 1235 if you require assistance with your application.
Please refer to our Applying for a position information for additional information on how to apply.
Contact Information
For more information on this vacancy, please contact Gabrielle Munro on (03) 9268 7921 or Gabrielle.Munro@adcommission.gov.au.
