Manager Sector Partnerships

**About the Department**

The role of the Department of Education is to support Victorians to build prosperous, socially engaged, happy and healthy lives. It does this by supporting lifelong learning and healthy development, strengthening families and helping to equip people with the skills and knowledge for a 21st century economy and society.

**About the Victorian School Building Authority**

The Victorian 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**
- based programs. The Division also plans and co-ordinates delivery of new early childhood facilities and support for the wider early childhood sector to build, improve and upgrade infrastructure through a number of grants programs, including programs which provide funding to make kindergartens for inclusive for children of all abilities.

The Sector Partnerships & Grants branch supports the planning and coordination for the delivery of infrastructure needed for the successful implementation of the Three-Year-Old Kindergarten and Pre-Prep reforms. To support this work, the branch delivers a number of grant programs to the early childhood and non-government schools sectors. Grants available to the sector plan and build new kindergartens, as well as maintain, improve and upgrade existing infrastructure. This work is also undertaken in partnership with the sector to develop pipelines of kindergarten capacity-building projects through Building Blocks Partnerships. The Sector Partnerships & Grants branch also supports the non-government school sector to deliver the 21st century learning facilities that every student deserves. The branch delivers grants to low-fee Catholic and independent schools to expand and upgrade existing schools, as well as to plan and build new non-government schools across the state.

The Sector Partnerships Units delivers the 'Building Blocks Partnerships' program which agrees pipeline of projects between the Department and Councils, non-government school organisations, and not-for-profit providers to support the delivery of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten and Pre-Prep. They also Deliver the $250 million election commitment to deliver 60 kindergartens with the non-government schools sector. Building Blocks Program (BBP). The Building Blocks Program is a planning and funding program run by the Victorian Government to help deliver the early childhood infrastructure Victoria needs to support the Three-Year-Old and Pre-Prep Kindergarten reform. This includes strengthened partnerships with local councils and other kindergarten providers, a single streamlined grants program, and the construction and delivery of new kindergartens on or next to school sites. The Building Blocks grants program replaces the previous Children's Facilities Capital and Inclusive Kindergarten's Facilities Program for funding capital improvements. Building Blocks will retain those goals and be better equipped to grow the capacity needed for the Three-Year-Old Kindergarten reform and increasing demand for more kindergarten places for four-year-old's.

Building Blocks Partnerships (BBPs)are strategic, in-principle agreements between State Government and Councils, non-government school organisations, or not-for-profit providers to deliver funded kindergarten places via infrastructure investment projects. The objectives of BBPs are to provide greater funding certainty for both the State Government and partners about co-investment intentions in a forward pipeline of kindergarten infrastructure. Support the State Government and partners to forward plan their infrastructure budgets and deliver facilities in line with kindergarten enrolment growth, and support the successful roll out of the reform by identifying projects that will facilitate the delivery of additional kindergarten capacity over a multi-year period

**About the Role**

**Fixed Term (Maternity leave), Full time opportunity**

Key accountabilities of the Manager, Sector Partnerships 2 include:

- Engaging with kindergarten service providers to develop a pipeline of projects to meet long-term demand.
- Understanding kindergarten demand profiles and local pressures and ensuring that BBPs are agreed ahead of when demand appears.
- Working with the Non-Government school sector and not-for-profit providers to scope and plan projects to meet the commitment and support Three and Four-Year-Old kindergarten demand.
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