Purpose of specific work area and position

Rural Fire Service Queensland (RFSQ) Districts are focussed on supporting a range of operational and organisational functions in the management of rural fires, enabling field-based staff and volunteers to concentrate on immediate task execution and response. Each District encompasses operational and non-operational staff, RFSQ volunteers and rural fire brigades who provide fire management, mitigation, and response services for rural and semi-rural communities, including some urban fringe areas across the state.

As a Bushfire Mitigation Officer, you will be responsible for undertaking bushfire mitigation planning, implementation and evaluation across the District. You will enable use of fire in the landscape; support fire management groups, Volunteer Community Educators, Fire Wardens, and brigades; and coordinate community education and engagement.

Reporting to the Manager Bushfire Mitigation, the role works closely with Area and District stakeholders, including external agencies, to build robust bushfire mitigation networks in the community. You will be a member of the District Leadership team and you will contribute to the planning, implementation and evaluation of District-wide programs and initiatives.

Mandatory requirements

• Must meet the mandatory requirements and attributes as outlined in the generic RFSQ Rural Officer Two (RFSO2) role description.

Highly desirable requirements

• Knowledge of, or experience working with volunteers and/or within a volunteer organisation.

Primary duties

In addition to the generic RFSO2 role description, the primary duties of the Bushfire Mitigation Officer include but are not limited to:

• Support the Manager Bushfire Mitigation in the development of plans and strategies to reduce bushfire risk across the District, including undertaking risk assessments, coordinating activities and reporting outcomes on fire management plans.
• Undertake the role of Fire Warden for an Area/s or District (where vacancies exist and appropriately trained).
• Support the Manager Bushfire Mitigation to manage the Fire Warden network and Permit to Light Fire system across the District, including advice to landowners in relation to legislation affecting vegetation management and education on permit breaches.
• Assist the Manager Bushfire Regulatory Compliance with conducting of fire investigations and issuing enforcement notices for unplanned burns; and lead the identification of patterns of non-compliance and suspicious fire activities in the District.
• Manage the collection of data on environmental conditions and mitigation activities to support bushfire risk analysis, including leading the completion of fuel hazard assessments in the District.
• Support brigades and partners in the planning, development and execution of hazard reduction burning, including contribution to burn plans, coordination of permits, support to conduct community consultation, and participation in burns.
• Assist brigades and partners to develop bushfire mitigation capabilities and understanding of fire in the landscape, including supporting training to enhance prescribed burning techniques.
• Support and lead community education in bushfire prevention and preparedness, including collaboration with brigade initiatives and community events, and coordination of the Volunteer Community Educator Network.
• Coordinate Locality Specific and Area Fire Management Group meetings in conjunction with the Area Manager, and other relevant bushfire committees or working groups, including planning, logistics and secretariat.

Additional information

• Be able to meet the attributes of the generic RFSO2 role description.
• Rural Officer One (RFSO1) or applicants with equivalent industry experience, appropriate skills, and knowledge, are encouraged to apply.
• Volunteers and external parties with appropriate skills are highly encouraged to apply, noting that they may be asked to provide additional information to satisfy internal policies.
• Applicants will: have proven commitment to maintaining bushfire competencies and operating in a team environment.
• capacity to participate out of hours (i.e., night or weekends) shift roster during disaster operations.
• Thorough knowledge of the concepts, strategies and issues associated with managing rural fire services, particularly in a volunteer environment and have a sound knowledge of and ability to provide operational leadership at emergency situations utilising the AIIMS/IMS methodology.
• Incumbents may be required to travel and work within their area of responsibility and may also be required to undertake intrastate and/or interstate deployment and travel.
• This is a day work position yet may require flexible hours of work to meet functional demands, including working at night on weekends as part of the role.
• Officers appointed to this position will participate in a personal professional development program in conjunction with their supervisor.
• This Role Specification Statement (RSS) is linked to the generic role description, that provides the key accountabilities' and capabilities' to be addressed by the applicant. Applicants are strongly encouraged to review this RSS in conjunction with the role description and consider the requirements when preparing their application.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License.