A degree

In business design our focus for 2013 is on analysis, skills and innovative problem solving.

This year applications will be open for those with a bachelor degree or higher in the following areas:

• industrial design
• business information technology
• human computer interaction
• interaction design
• business informatics
• information technology
• engineering
• human and information services.

The right skills

We are looking for successful business design graduates who can:

• think strategically
• achieve results
• manage relationships
• act professionally
• communicate effectively
• undertake business analysis, creative problem solving and perform the technical aspects of working in design.

Our business designers work in multi-disciplinary teams to help find better ways of doing things. They design new or improved products, services, systems and processes. Business designers explores opportunities to improve administrative practices to make the tax system easier, cheaper and more personalised for taxpayers. In doing so, business designers play an important role in enhancing the community’s confidence in our administration of Australia’s tax system, helping us towards our vision of creating tax and superannuation systems that are community assets.

What is design in the ATO?

For us, design is about facilitating change to benefit the community. Change may come in the form of new legislation, reviews, innovation, continuous improvement or business process re-engineering. The designer’s role is to help implement this change (or intent) in a way that takes into account the impacts on taxpayers and our organisation.

What sort of fields will you work in?

You can work in fields such as:

• solution design/business analysis
• user-centred design
• information design.

Solution design/business analysis involves analysing business problems to design the most effective solution to meet our needs and those of the community. The solution may be a combination of people, processes and technology.

A solution designer/business analyst will:

• act as a liaison between the client and the people who build the solution
• coordinate discussions and work with stakeholders to design solutions that meet client needs and business objectives
• ensure the final design for the solution fits with current systems and processes
• design and analyse information technology solutions to match business requirements and be able to translate between business and information technology builders
• take an ‘outside-in' approach (designing from the perspective of the end-users or taxpayers), being consultative, collaborative and willing to co-design.

User-centred design is about designing user-friendly products that make it easy for taxpayers to comply with the tax system. A user-centred designer may assist in a new tax form, an online service or an update to our website.

A user-centred designer will:

• test a product’s functionality and usability with users
• analyse and interpret user data to improve the functionality of a product
• write a detailed report on the findings of user research sessions.

Information design generally involves working with other designers and technical experts  to make an informed decision on an issue or process.

An information designer will do this by taking complex and ambiguous information and making it easy to understand by:

• structuring and combining information
• removing ambiguity and visualising concepts
• avoiding technical language
• converting content into an accessible and useful format for use by the target audience.

An example of a rotation

A business design rotation could be in any of our business areas where there is a design presence. Rotations can vary greatly to gain a better understanding of the various design roles.

A recent graduate, placed in our superannuation area, worked on large policy projects relating to changes in the superannuation system. Their role included attendance at design workshops with internal and external stakeholders to assist with analysing and documenting the design solution using information design skills. Through the design process they collaborated with various staff to develop design documents and conducted activities to understand user needs. This process very quickly developed their understanding of the design process and gave an appreciation of the superannuation system.

Join us to access diverse opportunities to sketch your future with us, enjoy excellent work conditions and experience an innovative culture. You can contribute towards the tax and superannuation systems that underpin the Australian way of life.

Daniel Bishop 

Since I was a kid, I always knew what I wanted to do when I grew up. I wanted to design things – design cars specifically. I went to uni and logically, I studied industrial design. I was absolutely passionate about design, and I never considered doing anything else. 

But then you finish uni, and for the first time ever, you don’t know what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. You have a skill set – all those all nighters at uni had some rewards after all. You want to do something that you enjoy. Something meaningful. Something where you can make a difference, and something where you can form a career. 

I found out about the ATO graduate program by accident but I’m glad I did. At a first glance, it has nothing to do with the career I wanted. Generally, people don’t understand when you say ‘I am a designer at the tax office’. To be fair, it took me a while to understand as well.  

To be a designer, to me, is to produce an improved outcome for the users. It can be the users of a product, a process, an idea. And my design skills that I learnt at uni are very relevant to the work we do in design at the tax office. I have found – by accident – a place where these skills can contribute to meaningful work that is going to make a difference to the community. 

The graduate program has given me the experience to transition between university and a career. It has supported my views of a lifestyle where you work as hard as you can in your job, so that you can play as much as you can outside work. You may have to get used to finding a routine, but there is plenty of flexibility in everything so you can still do what you have to do outside work. 

I think the most important thing for me, is that I have work I can feel passionate about. I’m not designing cars as I wanted, but I am engaged in what I do and I want to do it well. There are days that are more challenging than others but there’s always something interesting happening. There’s always a reward, and there’s a real sense of purpose behind what we do.  

I cannot recommend the graduate program at the ATO enough. I look back and see that insecurity about my career when I finished uni, and I look at the way this program has given me choices and helped me gain focus. It has given me the training to continue learning and the social network to make work so much more enjoyable. To find work that you’re passionate about, doing something that you can really see the benefits of is just fantastic.  

I hope that you will find the grad program at the ATO a great place to start your career too.  

Zoe Clarkson 

I have something of a mixed educational background. I initially studied a Bachelor of Arts with majors in English and Biological Anthropology and later returned to study Interior Design at both TAFE and university. On completing my recent studies I wanted to embark on an engaging career that optimised all of my skills, experiences and design knowledge. 

I knew of other designers who had joined the ATO as graduates in previous years who really enjoyed their time in the program and subsequently found rewarding career paths in the ATO. Their experiences in part, encouraged me to apply for the program. 

Upon commencing the program I echoed the similar sentiment of my design graduate peers in thinking 'What is the role of design in the ATO and where do I fit?' After surviving the intensive ATO graduate induction, I embarked on my first rotation. Through the enduring patience of my team, rotation manager and graduate manager I was exposed to the world of the ATO. Although I initially encountered a significant learning curve and frequently thought I was on the verge of information overload, I remarkably adapted and eventually everything came together which was enormously satisfying. 

During the program, I have undertaken two 6-month work rotations in separate areas of the ATO. Through my work rotations I have been exposed to challenges and rewards of designing for ATO projects and the ATO’s strategic direction. The work rotations also enabled me to practice different design disciplines across the ATO, and as a result I now know where my interests lie and can start planning my career. I found the work rotations to be a great way of getting to know how the ATO operates, discovering the diversity of work available in the ATO and importantly an opportunity to build and test my capabilities. 

The highlight of joining the graduate program for me was the continuous training to support building my capabilities through a combination of corporate and design training. My graduate experience has been really positive thanks to the supportive and nurturing learning atmosphere offered by the ATO and its staff. As a graduate, I have enormous support from managers, peers, design networks, buddies and other graduates. 

To anyone considering applying for the ATO graduate development program, I would wholeheartedly recommend the ATO as the launch pad for a rewarding career.