Introduction
The Business Strategy Officer roles at the Australian Taxation Office support business strategy, work programs and service improvement across Compliance and Engagement, and Enterprise Solutions and Technology. The work involves gathering information, analysing problems and helping teams put practical solutions into action. It suits applicants who can connect careful analysis with organised delivery and clear communication.
This guide explains how to apply for Business Strategy Officer at APS 4 and APS 5, with particular attention to the four-page resume. Your resume is an assessed part of the application, so the examples within your employment history need to make your contribution and results clear. Read the official candidate information kit alongside this guide.
Applications close at 11 pm AEST on Thursday 17 September 2026. You can select which roles you want to be considered for, with separate merit pools established for each classification. Choose the level that your experience can support, then make the scope of your responsibilities easy to see throughout the resume.
In This Guide
- Role snapshot
- Application requirements
- Essential role requirements
- Candidate evidence
- Resume structure
- Before you submit
- Help with your application
Business Strategy Officer Role Snapshot
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Australian Taxation Office |
| Business areas | Compliance and Engagement Group; Enterprise Solutions and Technology |
| Classification | APS 4 and APS 5 |
| Reference | EXT_CEG_EST_458_2026 |
| Salary | $84,028 to $99,307 plus 15.4% superannuation across the advertised levels |
| Employment | Roles may be offered on an ongoing or non-ongoing basis |
| NSW locations | Albury, Gosford, Newcastle, Parramatta, Penrith, Sydney CBD and Wollongong |
| Other locations | Adelaide, Box Hill, Brisbane CBD, Canberra, Dandenong, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne CBD, Moonee Ponds, Perth, Townsville and Upper Mount Gravatt |
| Closing date | Thursday 17 September 2026, 11 pm AEST |
| Official information | ATO candidate information kit |
Application Requirements
- A four-page resume tailored to the advertised roles.
Include your job titles, specific dates of employment and detailed examples of relevant outcomes. Give your strongest accomplishments enough space to show the problem, your actions and what improved. A short list of routine responsibilities will leave the panel with less evidence to assess.
Your four-page resume is the written application document. Check the ATO's candidate guidance on using AI, and make sure every statement reflects work you actually performed and can explain yourself.
Essential Role Requirements
Australian citizenship is required to work for the ATO. Successful applicants must agree to pre-engagement integrity checks, and some roles also require a security clearance. Further integrity checks can take place during employment.
The recruitment process includes online assessment and a virtual group assessment for shortlisted candidates, followed by referee checks. Suitable candidates enter a merit pool that is valid for 18 months from the advertisement date. Placement in a merit pool does not itself confirm an appointment.
Candidate Evidence For Business Strategy Officer
Use the following evidence areas to select achievements for your resume. Examples can demonstrate several related strengths at once, especially where you analysed a problem, worked with stakeholders and helped deliver an improvement. Keep enough detail for the reader to understand your personal contribution.
| Requirement or capability from role | How to demonstrate it |
|---|---|
| Understanding tax and superannuation systems, or the ability to develop that knowledge quickly | Show where you learned a complex policy, regulatory or operational subject and applied it accurately. Explain how you checked your understanding and used it to support a business outcome. |
| Supporting business strategies and work programs | Describe a work program you helped deliver, the organisational priority it served and your responsibility for progressing the work. Include the practical outcome. |
| Analytical thinking | Use an example of reviewing information, identifying an issue, risk or opportunity, and contributing a workable solution. Explain the evidence behind your conclusion. |
| Clear, professional communication | Describe a report, briefing, explanation or advice that helped someone understand an issue or make a decision. Identify the audience and how you ensured accuracy. |
| Collaborative stakeholder relationships | Explain how you worked across teams, clarified different needs and kept people informed so a shared task progressed. Include how you handled a disagreement or changing requirement where relevant. |
| Managing tasks and competing priorities | Show how you planned work, monitored deadlines and maintained quality when several tasks competed for attention. Make your prioritisation decisions clear. |
| Continuous improvement | Describe a process or practice you helped improve, what prompted the change and the effect on accuracy, timeliness, service quality or efficiency. Use credible measures where available. |
Choosing Between APS 4 And APS 5
At APS 4, emphasise accurate delivery using established processes under moderate guidance. Useful examples show how you supported analysis, engaged with stakeholders, recognised when to seek advice and completed your part of a work program reliably.
At APS 5, show increased independence in analysing issues, managing competing priorities and contributing recommendations or advice. Explain the decisions you made, the reasoning behind your recommendations and how you responded to business needs. Make the level of judgement visible in the example itself.
Example Resume Structure For Business Strategy Officer
The assessed written component is a resume tailored to these roles. Keep it within four pages. The structure below is a practical way to organise your experience so the panel can find relevant evidence quickly.
| Resume section | What to include |
|---|---|
| Contact details and short profile | Give your current contact details and a concise summary of relevant analysis, business support, strategy or improvement experience. |
| Recent employment | Include each job title, employer and specific employment dates. Briefly establish the team, business function and scope of your work. |
| Selected achievements within each role | Develop examples showing analysis, program delivery, stakeholder communication and improvement. Explain your action and outcome, with measures that you can substantiate. |
| Earlier relevant experience | Retain the roles that add useful evidence, giving the strongest and most recent examples the most space. Keep the employment chronology clear. |
| Relevant learning and qualifications | Include training, qualifications or professional development that helps explain your readiness for the work. Connect specialist knowledge to how you have used it. |
For an improvement achievement, explain what was going wrong, the information you reviewed, the change you proposed or supported and the result. If you cannot quantify the result, describe an observable outcome, such as an adopted recommendation, clearer reporting or an issue resolved before a deadline. Keep the example accurate and proportionate to your responsibility.
Before You Submit
- Check the resume is within four pages and opens correctly after upload.
- Include specific employment dates and job titles.
- Make the APS level you are targeting consistent with the independence and judgement shown in your examples.
- Cover the relevant candidate evidence through achievements.
- Check your citizenship eligibility and the roles and locations you select.
- Follow the ATO's candidate AI guidance.
- Recheck the official candidate information kit and submit by 11 pm AEST on Thursday 17 September 2026.
Help With Your Application
A four-page resume needs careful choices about which examples deserve space. Team 3Thirty can help you assess the relevance of your experience and present your contribution clearly for the Business Strategy Officer roles. If you have started, send through your draft; if you are still deciding, your current CV is a useful place to begin.
For tailored writing support, the Complete Government Job Application service is $497 incl. GST for one role. We check the accepted application requirements first and help prepare the required written documents, including your CV.