Job Title: HCD Senior Communications Practitioner

Duration: 2-month contract with the potential for extension for additional projects

Start Date: ASAP

Location: Canberra

This role is a 2-month contract opportunity with potential extension until August. A part of the Local Peoples Team you will help support the Department of Health and Aged Care’s Human-Centred Design (HCD) team to leverage user journeys to develop strategic communication documents to improve communication channels.

Local Peoples is a preferred partner for the Australian Federal Government’s Department of Health and Aged Care’s HCD Centre of Excellence (CoE). Local Peoples is a preferred partner for the Australian Federal Governments Department of Health and Aged Care’s HCD Centre of Excellence (CoE). Beyond this project, you would be contributing to impactful co-design projects that improve services, policies, and products for communities across Australia.

The initial project:

The Human-Centred Design (HCD) team is seeking a highly experienced Senior Practitioner with a strong background in strategic communications to support a human-centred approach to change management and communication efforts. This role requires expertise at SFIA Level 5 or 6 and the ability to work in a fast-paced environment.

A new function has been established within the Navigation and Access Branch, with two key purposes:

1. Establishing a general contingency plan leading into 1 July 2025, operating as an operations room/command centre to manage responses effectively.

2. Developing a comprehensive channel strategy to integrate communication efforts across My Aged Care channels and interdepartmental communication pathways—all centred around the user’s needs.

The Senior HCD Practitioner will play a pivotal role in shaping and implementing these initiatives.

Responsibilities:

• Develop strategic communications documents, including a channel strategy for the Aged Care Transformation Program.

• Leverage existing user journeys and blueprints to craft key messages and optimise communication channels.

• Provide expert HCD guidance for the command centre’s responses

• Work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure user-centred communications are effectively designed and delivered.

• Engage with stakeholders across government departments to align messaging and improve service accessibility.

• Ensure all communication strategies align with best practices in human-centred design and accessibility standards.

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Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience as a Senior HCD Practitioner with a strong strategic communications background.

• Expertise in developing communication strategies and executing user-focused messaging.

• Proven ability to work in complex government environments and manage stakeholder relationships effectively.

• Strong understanding of human-centred design principles and their application in large-scale government programs.

• Experience working within Aged Care transformation programs is highly desirable.

Ability to hit the ground running and drive outcomes in a fast-moving project environment.

Residency and Clearance

• Must have Baseline Clearance or be able to obtain one

• Australian Citizen

Who are Local Peoples?

Local Peoples is a strategic research and design studio based in Melbourne and Canberra.

Our mission is to design healthy, resilient and resourceful communities. We are proud to be a certified B-Corporation with a strong focus on our social, environmental and economic impact.

We work across brand and digital design, place and experience design,, content and community engagement. Our key partners include state and local government, social enterprises, universities and large commercial organisations. All are experiencing complex challenges right now and we believe that design research, thinking and delivery can help to solve these challenges and make positive change for people and the planet.

We produce www.mattersjournal.com, a publication and community of 100K+, which focuses on design-led social innovation and impact.

Why join Local Peoples?

• Representative and inclusive - we are dedicated to building an inclusive and accessible workplace for people from diverse backgrounds

• Impact driven - work towards achieving real impact for people and the environment

• Fantastic culture - driven by a welcoming, supportive and collaborative team environment

• Professional support for design excellence- benefit from being a part of one of Australia’s fastest growing design and delivery communities

• Flexible working arrangements - including the ability to work remotely

• Market rate salaries - attractive remuneration packages in line with the market rate

• Flexible employment types - including the preference for permanent, but will consider contracting

Local Peoples proudly supports the LGBTQ+ community, neurodiverse individuals, and First Nations people. We are committed to creating inclusive spaces where everyone, regardless of their identity, feels valued and respected. Together, we strive for equality and a positive future for all.

Local Peoples works, creates, and plays on the lands of the Wurundjeri, Bunurong, and Wathaurong peoples of the Kulin Nation, land which has never been ceded. We thank them for caring for this land for over 40,000 years and recognize and pay our deepest respect to Elders past, present, and emerging. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land