EL2 Interview Questions and Sample Answers (APS Executive Level 2)

Situation: our program's funding was under review for the following year and the outcome was months away, while three teams still had to plan their work. Task: as director I had to keep the program delivering without committing resources we might not have. Action: I separated the work into what continued under any funding outcome and what depended on the review, and told my EL1s plainly which was which. I set a three-month plan with a checkpoint tied to the review timetable, and agreed with each manager the decisions they could make without coming back to me. I briefed my SES officer monthly on the exposure if the review went the other way. Result: the program met its commitments through the review, and when the funding came back reduced, we already had the scaled-back option ready and implemented it within a month.

Situation: my first assistant secretary favoured a national rollout of a new service model in one step. I thought the delivery risk was too high. Task: I needed to change the decision without undermining her. Action: I asked what was driving the single rollout and learned it was a ministerial expectation about timing. I came back with a phased option that met the same announced date for the first stage, with the risk data from our pilot sites and the cost of a failed national launch set out side by side. I made the recommendation clearly and said I would implement either option well. Result: she took the phased option to the minister's office, it was agreed, and the first stage launched on the announced date. Problems found in stage one were fixed before the wider rollout.

Situation: our grants program had been run the same way for several years and was measured on the number of grants paid. Task: I led the program and was asked to prepare for the next funding round. Action: I looked at what the agency's strategic plan said the program was for and compared it with what we were actually funding. Too much went to organisations that would have done the work anyway. I worked with my EL1s to draft revised guidelines that targeted the gap, tested them with two peak bodies, and took the proposal and its risks to my SES officer. Result: the revised guidelines were approved for the next round, and the program now reports on outcomes as well as grants paid.

Situation: two sections in my branch were merged into one after a restructure, with different processes and some unhappy staff. Task: I was accountable for the combined section delivering within six months. Action: I asked the two EL1s to design the new process together rather than adopting either existing one, which meant both teams had a stake in it. I held open sessions where staff could raise concerns and published what we changed as a result. I agreed three measures with my SES officer and reported them monthly. Result: the combined section met its service standards by month five, unplanned leave fell back to pre-merger levels, and both EL1s stayed in their roles.

Situation: one of my EL1s had a team member whose performance had been poor for months, and the EL1 had avoided raising it. Task: I needed it resolved without taking it over myself. Action: I met the EL1 to understand what was holding her back. It was her first formal performance issue. I talked her through the agency's process, helped her prepare for the first conversation, and agreed fortnightly check-ins with her, not with the staff member. I made sure HR was involved early. Result: the team member's performance improved under a documented plan, and the EL1 handled the next performance issue in her team on her own. I used the experience to run a short session on performance conversations for all my managers.

Situation: a routine check showed a contract manager in my branch had approved invoices for a supplier he had a personal connection with, and the connection had not been declared. Task: I was accountable for the branch's contracts. Action: I did not investigate it myself. I referred it the same day to the agency's integrity area, moved approval of that supplier's invoices to another manager while the matter was assessed, and briefed my SES officer. I kept the circle of people who knew to those who needed to. Separately, I reviewed our declaration process and found it relied on people remembering to update their declarations. Result: the integrity area handled the matter through the proper process, and the branch moved to an annual conflict-of-interest declaration for everyone with approval rights.

Situation: our program depended on referrals from a state health agency, and referral numbers had fallen with no clear reason. Task: I needed the referrals back without any authority over the state agency. Action: I asked to meet my counterpart director and learned their staff found our referral form slow and could not see what happened after a referral. We agreed a shorter form and a quarterly report back to their staff on outcomes, and set up a joint meeting every quarter between our two teams. Result: referrals recovered within two quarters, and the quarterly meeting became the forum both agencies used to resolve issues before they escalated.

Situation: I decided to move my program's client contact to an online-first model to free staff for complex cases. Task: the decision was mine, endorsed by my SES officer. Action: I had tested the model with internal staff but not with clients, and within a month complaints rose from older clients who could not use the online forms. I told my SES officer what had happened and why, restored phone contact for clients who asked for it, and ran testing with client groups before redesigning the forms. Result: the revised model went live three months later with a clear phone option, and complaints fell below the original level. I now test any change that affects clients with clients before it goes live.