Program Officer

**Program Officer
- Ongoing/Full Time**

**About the Department**

The Department of Education (DE) leads the delivery of education and development services to children and students both directly through government schools, government early learning centres and indirectly through the regulation and funding of early childhood services and non-government schools.

**About the Division**

The Conduct and Integrity Division provides expert advice and support to Victorian government school principals and other people managers in the Department of Education on managing employee conduct and performance including child safety concerns and fraud and corruption. The Division has been expanding and it's an exciting time to join.

**There are four branches within the Division**:

- Child Safety and Integrity (Policy and Operations) Branch
- Preliminary Investigations Branch
- Child Safety Investigations Branch
- Child Safety and Fraud Investigations Branch.

The Division leads critical functions with respect to both school and corporate employees and operations, including:

- child safety misconduct and reportable conduct investigations, including notifications to the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) under the Reportable Conduct Scheme in relation to departmental employees and others engaged in departmental workplaces and notifications to the Disability Worker Regulation Commission
- pre-employment screening, and expert advice on suitability for employment and management of the department's Employment Limitation policy fraud and corruption investigations, including mandatory reporting to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) and public interest disclosures
- developing and maintaining the department's guidelines on managing complaints, misconduct and unsatisfactory performance for the government teaching service and the public service
- providing expert advice and support to principals and people managers to manage allegations of misconduct, unsatisfactory performance, fitness for duty
- expert advice and management of fraud and corruption, conflict of interest, and integrity performance monitoring and reporting
- managing relationships with oversight and integrity bodies (including the Victorian Institute of Teaching, CCYP, IBAC, Victorian Ombudsman and the Victorian Public Sector Commission)
- capability building and training activities aimed at increasing staff confidence to prevent, speak up, identify and respond to inappropriate behaviour, reportable conduct and misconduct
- strengthening avenues for staff to speak up about inappropriate behaviour and misconduct
- driving behavioural and system change to build a stronger culture of integrity in the department.

**About the Role**

Reporting to the Manager of the Child Safety Compliance and Operations Team, the Program Officer manages record entry and directs incoming enquiries to the appropriate teams. The role requires resilience, accountability, and a dedication to high-quality service.

Key duties include:

- Handling enquiries professionally
- Maintaining accurate records
- Using case management systems
- Administrative support
- Building stakeholder relationships
- Supporting the operations team and branch functions
- Contributing to reporting and improvements
- Drafting communications, and
- Adhering to Public Sector Values and departmental policies.

**About You**

This role requires a proactive individual, who has experience working in a sensitive, confidential environment. You will be a team player, someone who can support and motivate those around you.
- Experience in communicating with a range of external clients
- Excellent stakeholder engagement and relationship building skills, able to successfully communicate, support and negotiate with stakeholders
- Highly developed written communication skills across a wide range of mediums
- The ability to operate with an integrated phone system and other data collection software
- A current Employee Working with Children Check, or ability to obtain one

**How to apply**

Applicants are required to submit a CV and cover letter (max 2 pages for cover letter) summarising their skills, relevant experience, and suitability to the role in line with the duties, required capabilities and the Key Selection Criteria. (PD attached).

**Further Information**

For more details regarding this position please see attached position description.

Applicants requiring adjustments can contact the nominated contact person.

Preferred applicants may be required to have a Working with Children Check, a police check and other pre-employment checks. Information provided to the Department of Education will be treated in the strictest confidence.

**Applications close** 11:59 pm on Friday 22 August 2025