The Manager Investigations at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development leads a small team handling sensitive workplace investigations, professional standards matters and public sector complaints across a geographically dispersed organisation. View the official job ad for the complete vacancy details.
Working out how to apply for Manager Investigations means treating the two-page cover letter as a concise investigation brief about your own suitability. The panel needs enough detail to judge your investigative method, leadership and decision-making, while the resume establishes the breadth and progression of your experience.
This work involves alleged misconduct, fraud, bullying, harassment, public interest disclosures and other matters carrying personal and organisational risk. Strong examples will show how you protected procedural fairness, handled evidence objectively and gave advice that remained useful under scrutiny.
Your application checklist
- Manager Investigations role snapshot
- Application requirements for Manager Investigations
- Evidence to include in your Manager Investigations application
- How to structure the cover letter and résumé
Manager Investigations role snapshot
| Role title | Manager Investigations |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development |
| Location | Statewide, across DPIRD NSW locations |
| Job reference | 510138 |
| Classification | Clerk Grade 11/12 |
| Work type | Ongoing full-time |
| Salary | Starting from $154,231 per annum, plus superannuation and leave loading |
| Closing date | 11:55pm AEST, 7 September 2026 |
| Official job ad | View role 596823 |
Application requirements for Manager Investigations
The application instructions shape the panel’s first assessment of judgement and attention to detail. Follow the stated limit and make every paragraph answer a question the panel needs resolved about your suitability.
- Current resume or CV
- Cover letter, maximum 2 pages
The cover letter needs to outline your relevant skills and experience and explain why you are suited to lead this function. No resume page limit is stated, so keep the document focused on investigation leadership, complex casework and advice to senior stakeholders.
Essential role requirements
The role requires relevant tertiary qualifications in law, investigations, human resources, industrial relations, public administration or a related discipline, or equivalent demonstrated professional experience. You also need a Certificate IV or Diploma of Government Investigations, or willingness to obtain one shortly after starting, plus a current NSW Class C driver licence and capacity to travel across regional NSW. The successful applicant can be required to complete police, health and other relevant checks.
Evidence to include in your Manager Investigations application
The hiring team wants an investigation leader whose decisions can withstand challenge. Your examples should show the full path from intake and risk assessment through evidence gathering, findings, recommendations and improvement to the wider conduct framework.
| What the role needs | How to show it |
|---|---|
| Complex workplace investigations | Use a matter that involved competing accounts, sensitive evidence or serious allegations. Explain your assessment, interview approach, evidence analysis and defensible conclusion. |
| Procedural fairness and investigative practice | Show how you applied legislation, public sector frameworks and fair process while protecting confidentiality and giving affected people a proper opportunity to respond. |
| Leadership of investigators | Describe how you allocated work, reviewed quality, coached staff and maintained consistency across difficult cases. |
| Judgement in sensitive, high-risk matters | Give an example where reputational risk, trauma impacts or senior stakeholder attention required careful decisions and calm communication. |
| Systemic improvement and trusted advice | Explain how investigation findings led to a practical recommendation, policy improvement or stronger workplace conduct practice. |
How to structure the cover letter and résumé
The application requires a current resume or CV and a cover letter that carries the main suitability argument. The cover letter can be up to two pages. The table below shows how to use that space around the role’s investigation and leadership requirements.
| Cover letter section | What to include |
|---|---|
| Opening paragraph | State your investigation leadership background, the settings in which you have worked and the scale of matters or teams you have managed. |
| Complex investigation example | Show your method across assessment, evidence gathering, interviews, procedural fairness, findings and recommendations. |
| Leadership and quality oversight | Explain how you guided investigators, managed competing case priorities and maintained consistent standards. |
| Frameworks and stakeholder advice | Connect your knowledge of public sector or comparable frameworks with an example of clear advice on a sensitive matter. |
| Closing paragraph | Confirm the contribution you would make to integrity, respectful workplace behaviour and stronger investigation practice across DPIRD. |
What strong investigation-leadership evidence looks like
- A disciplined investigation process that protects procedural fairness
- Objective assessment of complex or conflicting evidence
- Leadership that improves the quality and consistency of casework
- Clear advice for senior stakeholders facing risk
- A practical outcome for policy, culture or organisational capability
Help with your Manager Investigations application
Check the official Manager Investigations advertisement before you upload the final documents. You can use Team 3Thirty’s NSW cover letter template to plan the two-page response or request application writing support for help selecting and presenting complex investigation examples.