Manager, Early Childhood Operations

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
The Major Projects & Property Division is responsible for delivering educational infrastructure projects and programs, including the acquisition and management of land as well as delivery of capital infrastructure projects.
The Property Branch represents the Minister for Education and Minister for Children's interests as land owner, and provides specialised land and property related advice and support to schools and other areas within DE and the VSBA. The Branch's work covers the whole of the property life cycle, being:

- Acquisition of land for new schools and early childhood facilities and to expand existing educational facilities
- Property agreements and general support for the management of the land and property issues on behalf of the Minister for Education and the Minister for Children.
- Land Regeneration, covering closed or vacant education sites. This includes management and disposal of land no longer required for education use, as well as management of sites being retained for future school or early childhood provision.

About the Role
The Manager, Early Childhood Operations is located within the Early Childhood Operations Unit (Property Branch) and reports to the Senior Manager, Property (Early Childhood).
The role is responsible for operational oversight of property within the Department of Education's early childhood program. This includes:

- managing a small but efficient team (up to 4 staff members)
- program management, including reporting risks to executive for senior oversight and monitoring
- property advisory, focusing on assessing developability of land and complex legal issues
- managing the leasing and licensing portfolio for existing early childhood facilities (approx 180 in 2024)
- facilitating and implementing leasing and licensing agreements for new early childhood facilities (approx. 30-50 new agreements per annum)
- supporting construction project managers to navigate complex issues relating to development
- managing the team's operational budgets and leading budget bids to support team priorities.

VSBA staff have a shared responsibility to meet the same service standards outlined in the VSBA Customer Service Charter. Our goal is to make every interaction with the VSBA a positive one for our customers, colleagues and key partners regardless of our individual role or team.
This role is fixed term for up to 3 years and may be offered as ongoing unattached thereafter.
Attributes
The Early Childhood Operations Unit is a strongly collaborative environment that works closely with its key project partners within the project planning, delivery, regional and operational areas to deliver the best outcomes for the early childhood portfolio. The role would suit someone with well-developed interpersonal skills and strong experience in working cohesively in a small group.
Desirable Qualifications and Experience
- Relevant tertiary qualification Property or related field are highly desirable
- A strong working knowledge of the land titles system, Crown land, leases, licenses, and other legal property arrangements is essential
- Experience with Nearmap, VicPlan, LASSI, and other specialised property systems is essential
- Experience with program and portfolio management software including asset management software and PowerBI would be highly desirable.

Further Information
Applicants requiring adjustments can contact the nominated contact person.
Applications close 11:59pm on 23/10/2024.