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Described as "a key leadership role", the director would be looking after "three new strategic portfolios". In the job description, these are put as "design lead city"; "integrated transport and land use planning", and "knowledge and smart city".
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It also explains the portfolios have been developed to create "a Bigger, Better, Bolder Ballarat."
Positions within the marketing and communications department include marketing officers, a graphic designer and a digital content producer.
There are also four new positions within the council's development and planning department, including two in the events team, an investment officer and a coordinator of the visitor economy.
There are 16 people on a mix of full and part time contracts at Visit Ballarat. When news of the funding cut first emerged, there were hopes some of the new council positions would be filled by existing City of Ballarat staff.
The positions are all newly created. While some roles are funded by the $2.7 million previously allocated to Visit Ballarat in the budget, a council spokesperson said that other roles were funded through different sources.
The combined salary for the new jobs would be between $1.16 million and $1.24 million annually.
Paul Armstrong, the chair of the Visit Ballarat board of directors, said current employees had seen the job descriptions. He also said Visit Ballarat's future was still unclear, with "ongoing communication" to see "what the next version of Visit Ballarat will look like."
The decision to bring tourism marketing services back in house proved unpopular among many tourism operators, who criticised the council for a lack of communication and consultation.
However, the council has robustly defended its decision saying it was due to a variety of factors, including visitor numbers, market share, and "competing priorities for public money."
