I did the same. When I asked about starting on a higher pay point on my grade for a government position in Australia (Senior Delivery Officer i.e. project manager), I was asked to put together a brief business case by email.
Below is the email I used in case it is handy for anyone else! – I looked at the role, showed alignment with my experience, and made a guess that someone who has handled constant government change would be popular.
It worked; this email scored me about a $10-14k pre-tax increase from day one.
(Actually, in reviewing the email now, I realise I only asked for what I thought was reasonable in a $3,000 increment, one point increase and that instead they maxed me out at a $10-13k, three-point increase – so I got better than I asked for!)
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Hi [HR],
The [Specific] Award lists the base salary for a Grade 9 – Year 2 as $116,531, which is the amount I’m hoping to start on [instead of Grade 9 – Year 1 which was about $113,000]. In my current [comparable state government] organisation, generally an employee will progress incrementally within their band each year until they reach the top, subject to satisfactory work performance.
I’m entering the third month of my second year as a 9/10 clerk now at [current agency], so would be bringing more than a year’s experience at this level. I receive continually positive feedback from my manager that I’m a ‘safe pair of hands.’
I also bring more than 10 years’ project administration/management experience across small business, community services and health.
I have the capacity to enter the role as a high performing team member who is able to take on advanced level duties. For example, in the last few months, three of my team members at [current agency] have left, and I have absorbed their work. Working with my manager, I’m now the sole team member across four programs budgeted at around $10 million, including taking on a program that was completely new to me (called [Program name]), and learning the ins and outs of it in around two weeks.
In addition, our organisation’s centralised PMO function has reduced their support for our programs, so I am carrying out a higher level of duties in relation to grants management e.g. operating our grants system independently.
My current work aligns with the duties of a Senior Delivery Officer – such as developing, delivering and implementing a portfolio of strategy initiatives, and working with stakeholders to identify issues and conduct analyses – meaning that I would aim to be able to jump in and add value straight away.
I have also gone through four Machinery of Government changes in the last year with [current agency] (or, from today, [new agency name]) which has given me a good understanding of increasing the profile of programs internally and adapting to growing or changing teams and priorities over time.
I’m excited about the role and Department, and look forward to bringing my skills and experience to the [Specific] program area.
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