Associate Director, Government & International Relations

Export Finance Australia (EFA) is the government’s export credit agency. For almost 70 years, EFA has helped Australian businesses grow and succeed internationally with finance to secure opportunities, expand into new markets and diversify their presence. We support critical minerals and defence sectors, finance projects that strengthen economic resilience and advance net zero, and back Australian investment in sustainable infrastructure. Working with banks, other Government agencies and international partners, we back Australia’s exporters, supply chain businesses and industries, contributing to a more stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific while advancing Australia’s trade, investment and economic security objectives.

Our mandates enable us to support domestic exporters and their supply chains, directly support Australian businesses expanding overseas, support strategic reserve initiatives, finance overseas infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region and provide finance on behalf of the Australian Government on the National Interest Account (NIA). The NIA includes the $5.0 billion Critical Minerals Facility, the $3.8 billion Defence Export Facility, the $4.0 billion Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific and the Government’s $2.0 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility. We maintain flexibility in delivering our mandate with the ability to support projects and companies via debt and/or equity. Due to our increased growth from our new Strategic Reserve mandate we are seeking to add an Associate Director to our Government and International Relations team.

Your new role

Location: Sydney / Canberra
Role Type: Full-time, Permanent

About you

Reporting to the General Manager of Government and International Relations (GIR) this role will help with the delivery of EFA’s key government mandates, including the new Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve and other support delivered under EFA’s Strategic Reserve function. A key focus of the GIR team is supporting the consideration and delivery of transactions on the Australian Government’s National Interest Account (NIA). As part of onboarding, the successful candidate will work across all areas of NIA transactions, with a specific focus on strategic reserve transactions. 

As an Associate Director, you will represent EFA in a range of Government and Industry settings, help execute EFA’s input into Government policy processes related to strategic finance and work with the GIR team to execute strategies to grow our organisation’s international engagement, enhance its reputation and mitigate risk. You will also engage directly and represent EFA with international counterparts

• Ability to lead and plan strategically, leveraging your background in policy development, international relations, or infrastructure to support activities that are aligned to our Corporate Plan objectives.
• Proactively engage across EFA and the Government landscape to identify opportunities, and address challenges, to EFA mandate delivery.
• Display strong analytical skills, enabling you to understand and explain complex political issues, and present a range of potential solutions.
• Build strong working relationships with key government stakeholders including the office of the Minister for Trade and Tourism and portfolio agencies including DFAT and Austrade, as well as other agencies including the Department of Industry, Science and Resources.  
• Identify and respond to risks and opportunities in the domestic and international trade landscape through internal and external consultation in a timely manner.
• Drive positive reputational outcomes to protect and grow our brand.
• Support execution, monitoring and measurement of Export Finance Australia’s Partnerships Strategy, including the CEO’s international and domestic engagement program. 

Qualifications & Skills

• At least five years’ experience in policy development, foreign policy, national security, economics and finance or corporate affairs or in a similar role  (EL1 equivalent).
• Good understanding of the machinery of government and policy frameworks which could include direct experience liaising at ministerial, Parliamentary and/or departmental level. Existing knowledge of EFA’s mandates and enabling legislation is preferred.
• Experience in representation in complex Government and/or international settings.
• Advanced verbal and written communication skills, including developing high quality briefing documents, report writing and general email communication tailored to diverse stakeholder groups.
• Ability to work as part of a small collaborative team in a dynamic environment.
  Work effectively across functions, juggling competing priorities from different stakeholders based on business needs.
• Ability to effectively manage budgets and external vendors to optimise value, working within our risk and compliance framework.
• Desire to contribute to our culture including supporting a diverse and inclusive workplace.
• Australian citizenship and eligibility to obtain and Australian security clearance to the level of Negative Vetting Level 2.
• Tertiary qualifications in government, economics,  political science or international relations or equivalent experience gained in complex public or private sector organisations. 

Even if you haven’t ticked every box but this role resonates with you, don't rule yourself out just yet, we'd love to hear from you!

Our benefits and culture

We are small enough to have an impact, BIG enough to make a world of difference and it starts with our people.

We support flexible working and pride ourselves in fostering a culture that is inclusive, diverse and collaborative. We are proud to be certified as a 2025 Great Place to Work for a fifth consecutive year, recognised on the 2023 AFR BOSS Best Places to Work list and listed as one of Australia’s Best Workplaces for Women in 2025. 

In line with our commitment to our people, we have a comprehensive array of benefits available to our employees:

• Generous leave provisions (e.g. Annual Wellbeing day) and leave purchase opportunities
• 18 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers
• Thorough induction onboarding program
• Fitness Passport along with other Health & Wellbeing initiatives
• Gender affirmation leave
• Income Protection Insurance
• Community volunteering
• and many more!

Our headquarters is based in Sydney CBD, and we have a national presence across Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Eligibility

Australian Citizenship - To be eligible to apply for this position, applicants must hold Australian Citizenship at the time of application.

Security Clearance - To be eligible to apply for this position, applicants must be able to obtain and maintain a Negative Vetting Level 2 security clearance.

How to apply

Applications close: 31 May 2026.  

Interviews will occur in parallel, so please apply ASAP.
Enquiries: Careers@exportfinance.gov.au      
  
To apply, please email your CV to Careers@exportfinance.gov.au      

By choosing to apply, you agree to the recruitment privacy policy.

We invite and welcome applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from diverse cultural backgrounds, people with disability and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

If you are a candidate with a disability, let us know how we can provide you with additional support.

About us

The reason our people join us, stay with us and grow with us is because they wholeheartedly believe in our purpose. They can see the impact we create for our customers.

We are a highly purpose-driven organisation. We seek to create an inclusive culture that values our customers and employees. Our people are expected to champion this and play a key role in achieving those outcomes. In working towards our strategy, our people display our IMPACT leadership behaviours of Frank & Fearless, Dexterous & Agile and Careful & Diligent

For more information about us, please refer to our website. 

Applications from recruitment agencies will not be considered on this occasion.