About the Department

The department provides a wide range of learning and development support and services.

The department provides policy leadership, plans for the future of education in Victoria and leads key cross-sector collaboration. The department plays an important system steward role by providing support, guidance, oversight and assurance across early childhood and school education systems, as well as directly providing school education.

About the Victorian School Building Authority

The Victoria School Building Authority (VSBA) is part of the Department of Education. Established in 2016, it oversees Victoria’s largest school building program since the state introduced free public education in the 1870s.

The VSBA upgrades and expands existing schools and plans, designs and builds new schools to meet enrolment demand. We also support schools to maintain their buildings and grounds by offering expert advice and coordinating maintenance programs and grants.

With Victoria recently introducing two years of funded kindergarten, the VSBA is also working with the early childhood sector on a massive kindergarten construction program.

About the Division

The Asset Management Division helps schools maintain and manage their buildings and grounds and ensures they are more energy efficient. The Division trains school leaders as facilities managers and supports them to develop school maintenance plans. They coordinate programs, assessments, and systems to ensure schools are routinely maintained and cleaned. The Division includes the Asset Management Branch, School Asset Management Support Branch, Facilities Branch, Maintenance Delivery Branch and the Programs Branch.

About the Role

The School Cleaning Unit (SCU) is a large business unit that is responsible for supporting all Victorian Government Schools with the delivery of cleaning services, including management of the Metropolitan Area-Based School Cleaning Agreements. Reporting to the Director of the Facilities Branch, the Senior Manager, SCU oversees the successful delivery of all department programs and initiatives and is an important part of the Facilities Branch leadership team.

In this key senior leadership position within a state government agency, you will provide strategic direction, managing and developing a large team of project administration to senior contract management disciplines, whilst also providing expert advice and guidance to ensure best practice in the delivery of cleaning services across government schools.

As an expert negotiator and key influencer demonstrating strong stakeholder management, you will leverage your excellent written and oral communication skills to build and manage key relationships, secure project commitments, address and mitigate risk, and manage internal and contractor relationships to drive procurement outcomes, value for money and operational excellence.

Harnessing your leadership experience within a government environment will enable you to drive the successful development, implementation and delivery of key strategic initiatives and programs in alignment with key departmental objectives, school cleaning policy, legislative requirements, service delivery and quality assurance, further supported by your strong technical writing aptitude. Your applied knowledge of the program lifecycle within an asset and facilities management context will be instrumental in the oversight of complex program schedules, timelines, and forecasting for project outcomes. Additionally, as a SME on contract management, you will ensure compliance by addressing identified contractual issues with senior management, providing innovation suggestions for swift resolution.

About You

• Expertise in administration and management of large contracts, and interpreting complex contract documents, with an eye for detail, innovation, quality control and continuous improvement
• Demonstrated ability to lead programs and projects, manage commercial and financial challenges, navigate high-risk, high-value, complex contracts and interpret legislative requirements
• Experience leading, managing, and developing large, high-performing administrative teams within complex and politically sensitive environments
• Extensive exposure working with public sector language and leading key policy documentation highly advantageous
• Excellent technical writing, reporting and presentation skills, enabling you to lead meetings, communicate complex problems and propose solutions clearly to a variety of audiences, including senior leadership
• Experience building and maintaining positive relationships with key stakeholders and facilitating complex program delivery, through broad collaboration and transparent communication both internally and externally
• Highly developed strategic planning abilities to achieve results in congruence with organisational objectives, with flexibility to adapt to deliver the best outcome
• A skilled problem solver and negotiator, with the ability to navigate difficult conversations, provide expert advice to influence and ultimately make commercial decisions that drive successful outcomes while balancing the needs of stakeholders, the team, and the department.

Role-specific requirements

• Relevant qualification in Project Management or similar, or equivalent experience (desired)
• Demonstrated knowledge or experience in Facilities Management (desired)
• Experience or demonstrated understanding of the public sector environment (desired)
• A valid Drivers’ License
• A valid Working with Children Check (or eligible to obtain)
• Evening and/or weekend work may be required, including some travel, particularly in the event of an emergency
• Hybrid working arrangements are available, but regular attendance of at least 3 days per week at our newly refurbished office in East Melbourne is a requirement of this leadership role.

What we offer

• Meaningful work that is varied, satisfying, and rewarding by making Victorian government schools clean and safe for school communities
• Professional growth and development opportunities across the department and the wider Victorian Public Services
• A hybrid working model focused on collaboration and teamwork
• Diversity and inclusion - as one of Victoria's largest employers, the department is committed to creating an inclusive organisation and ensuring its workforce represents the community it serves.

Further Information

Please do not apply directly to this ad. All applications must be submitted directly via the Careers.VIC portal to be considered at https://jobs.careers.vic.gov.au/jobs/VG-DE-VSBA-20008382A , where you will also find a copy of the Position Description and information on how to apply, including capabilities required for the role and key selection criteria to address in your cover letter of no more than 2 pages.

Preferred applicants may be required to complete a police check and may be subject to other pre-employment checks. Information provided to the Department of Education will be treated in the strictest confidence.

The Department values diversity and inclusion in all forms – gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. For more information about diversity and inclusion at the Department, visit the Diversity and Inclusion page on the Department’s website. Further information about the Department of Education’s operations and employment conditions can be located at www.education.vic.gov.au.

If you require reasonable adjustments to enable your full and equitable participation in the recruitment process or would like additional information regarding the role or what to expect during the recruitment process, please contact Taya Bickle on 07 3231 2680 or email [email protected].

Applications close 11:59pm on Sunday 6th April 2025.